TiC Fender Brace Installation

[Legacy777]

I finally got around to putting these in. You can't replace the stock ones without removing the fenders. There's just not enough room. Plus, those bolts were REALLY tight. I had to use a 1/2" breaker bar to loosen them.

Removing the fender wasn't too bad. Only kind of pain was the metal bracket that clips onto the front bumper. I had to remove that so I could slide the fenders forward to remove them. There's a little stud that sticks backwards that prevents the fenders from being removed.

In doing this, I felt the stock bolts were inadequate in length with the extra thickness of the TiC braces. The bolts I used were 10mm x 30 mm long and had 1.25 pitch. I used 10mm flat and lock washers in combination with those bolts.

I don't feel I tightend them as tight as the stock bolts because I believe the TiC braces are made of aluminum so with the softer material, they didn't need/could take the higher torque the older bolts had. However the TiC braces are a tight/perfect fit. I had to wiggle things in just right. When tightening the bolts, some of the wrinkle coating came off. Oh well. It didn't appear to be the most durable coating, but looked good.

Here's some pictures

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... ticbraces/

[Legacy777]

I drove the car yesterday and I don't know if it's a combination better seats, new end links or these braces, but the car feels much more rigid and planted. I need to drive it some more, but I was pretty impressed!

[Legacy777]

Yeah the chassis definitely feels a lot more stiff.

[AWD_addict]

Good to know they make a difference. Did you specify model fitment, or are they the same part number for all years?

[Legacy777]

Same part # to my knowledge.