REVIEW: Pierce Motorsports 2pt lower chassis brace + rear torsion bar = A+ mods

[jeff]

I bought these and installed about a week ago and thought I'd share a few thoughts. I am doing so because as we all think of "first and necessary mods", I believe that after all the parts I've put on my car, these are among the most helpful and necessary. If you do ANY power mods to your car, these bars (particularly the front one) are a MUST.

PRICE - ****
I got both on sale for around $220 shipped. All of their stuff is on sale right now at their website.

QUALITY - *****
Excellent

SERVICE - ***
These guys are pretty great, they have accurately advertised products and quick communication. Shipping took only 3 days, I was surprised. I do wish they had better install guides; I didn't need them but it would be nice and probably bring more sales if they spent some time doing a write-up or video for these products; neither are available, I was just directed to "look at the installs on the forums". I asked for torque specs and was told to "use the factory specs". The PM guys could spend a bit more time simply noting the torque they used and providing it for people along with simple install instructions - for new modders this would be helpful.

INSTALL - ****
I did the rear bar in 5 minutes on ramps; the front bar took 30 minutes with a lift, that includes lifting the car. Both are simple and require nothing special if you have basic tools. I was unwilling to do the front bar with weight resting on the wheels so I enlisted a friends' help and we used his shop lift. But I've heard it can be done on ramps.

RESULTS - *****
Again this is a "must do" mod in my opinion. Why? Well, the rear bar is decent enough, the car feels tighter and the seats definitely hug you a bit more during hard cornering. I installed the rear torsion bar first and drove a few days without the front one to experience the difference. Then I added the front bar. While it does tighten cornering a bit, the reason I am such a fan of this product is the reduced wheel spin. I was at stage 1 when I installed the bar. Before the bar, wheel spin was becoming a real annoyance in 1st and 2nd gears and I found myself not flooring it as much because I couldn't go WOT without major torque steer and wheel spin. In the same week I installed the front bar, I also installed my FMIC and BIG MOUTH and went stage 2 OTS tune. Of course we all know there is a good bit more power/torque at stage 2. However, even with more torque the wheel spin/torque steer is greatly reduced. I mean greatly. I was pleasantly surprised at the power my car had with the new hardware, but even more surprised that I could use it. First gear still has some spinning and the car pulls to the right a bit....but it moves along and grabs the road much better. Second gear is a delight; without the bar at stage 1 I was spinning from 3-6k. Now with the bar at stage 2 there is almost no wheel spin, the car just moves. You fight the wheel enough to make it fun, but the car still stays planted and you can enjoy all that this engine has to give. I've found myself "taking the long way home" more than usual - these inexpensive parts have supplemented my power mods in wonderful ways, the car is super fun.

So in conclusion - I bought these bars with handling in mind...while they do help with handling, by far the greatest benefit is the reduction of wheel spin. I am loving this car at stage 2 and these bars are IMHO a must have if you're doing power mods.

2PT LOWER CHASSIS BRACE INSTALLED:

REAR TORSION BAR INSTALLED:

 

[Sirsinclair]

Great review! I just placed an order for their track package because of it

 

[arlisscm]

I already have their midship brace, I'll probably get the track package in the summer or fall after I recoop a few dollars since I decided to go big turbo.

 

[jayrod1980]

Im debating getting the 6 point Pierce or the TB performance traction bar (2-pt) and cross brace. Regardless I will get the Pierce rear torsion brace with either. I like the TB parts because they seem lower profile, but I worry about them being less rigid with joint welds. I worry about scraping big speed bumps with the Pierce stuff

 

[jeff]

Im debating getting the 6 point Pierce or the TB performance traction bar (2-pt) and cross brace. Regardless I will get the Pierce rear torsion brace with either. I like the TB parts because they seem lower profile, but I worry about them being less rigid with joint welds. I worry about scraping big speed bumps with the Pierce stuff

I've been fine so far, haven't scraped anything and I hit plenty of speed bumps/driveways. But my car is not lowered at all.

The 6-pt or 4-pt brace would presumably decrease wheel spin even more, but the 2-pt does a great job as it is and probably takes care of the majority of it, just having something down there bracing R to L.

 

[Deli]

[MENTION=3995]jeff[/MENTION] This is a good price for actually making the torque usable, and it's good to know it works well at stage 2. This will be added to the list of future mods I'd like to make. I'm running stage 1 now and my next purchase will be a shift adapter and bushings, but would like to go to stage 2 eventually (no interest in stage 3). Not to completely get off topic, but do you find the big mouth and intake necessary or worth it for stage 2? I know it can be done with just an intercooler upgrade and a drop in filter. Just getting an idea of how I want to do my build down the road and like opinions of people who are already there.

 

[jeff]

[MENTION=3995]jeff[/MENTION] This is a good price for actually making the torque usable, and it's good to know it works well at stage 2. This will be added to the list of future mods I'd like to make. I'm running stage 1 now and my next purchase will be a shift adapter and bushings, but would like to go to stage 2 eventually (no interest in stage 3). Not to completely get off topic, but do you find the big mouth and intake necessary or worth it for stage 2? I know it can be done with just an intercooler upgrade and a drop in filter. Just getting an idea of how I want to do my build down the road and like opinions of people who are already there.

Ditto on no interest in stage 3 - quoting myself from something I articulated well in another thread earlier:

After the initial "holy crap there's more torque now" when I went stage 1 I found myself waiting till 3rd gear to floor it. I'd pepper it in 1st and 2nd trying not to spin the tires. Real off the line acceleration wasn't possible without fighting the car. Then in 3rd gear I could finally go WOT. After a while of that I was sort of thinking "wow this is disappointing, I have this fast car and can't go fast without all these side effects." I love the small turbo of the FiST and the low end power - it matches the car's personality. To me the perfect setup is lots of low end kick but kick that is useable - followed by consistent smooth power to redline. Recently going stage 2+ has brought tons of new power and torque; the car feels like my STi did. Adding braces has removed most of the tire spin. Power does taper off but not until 5,000 rpm or so. By then I'm ready to shift - no need to redline every time.

So now I find myself flooring it in 1st and 2nd again and really enjoying what this car can do. It feels perfect on the street, which is where I intend on driving it 100% of the time. I'm not chasing big numbers, just the optimal street setup for this car.

All of this logic factored in to my decision against stage 3 as I'd originally planned. Right now the car feels perfect - the right amount of engine bolt-ons and suspension bracing working together very nicely.

Definitely go stage 2, FMICs are cheap and it makes the car so much better. The improvement from stage 1 to stage 2 is way better than the one from stock to stage 1. But you need those bars as I mentioned.

As for the intake and big mouth, I cannot give an educated answer. The data shows that some intakes - not all - but some will bring in more air and lower temps which results in more available power. There is plenty of great data on the CP-E intake which is why I chose it. The big mouth is the same. So my reasoning in adding those parts is that they are proven to bring much more air in, and as we know cooling is the weak link for the Fiesta ST, so if I'm upgrading the FMIC I also wanted to bring in as much air as possible, hence the CP-E intake and the big mouth. And there is plenty of air. You can hear it, you can feel it, the car feels quite alive as if its lungs have been expanded significantly on the intake side.

I am sure the intake and big mouth are bringing in some HPs....how much, who knows, but they definitely help. But the FMIC probably brings >80% of the improvements I am seeing.

 

[SeanBonham]

Do you feel these pair well the stock suspension?

 

[Bluedrank]

So realistically, how doable are these mods without access to a lift, only myself, and basic hand tools? Would I need ramps under the wheels or could I just Jack the car up and put it on stands?

 

[jeff]

Do you feel these pair well the stock suspension?

Definitely.

So realistically, how doable are these mods without access to a lift, only myself, and basic hand tools? Would I need ramps under the wheels or could I just Jack the car up and put it on stands?

I am merely a shade tree mechanic but here is my thought on this:

The rear torsion bar is no trouble for anyone, simply get the car aloft and put it in. It is not dependent on the car; there are already holes in the torsion beam so you simply bolt it in. Nothing to remove, just bolt it in, 5 minutes. The only challenge at all is that I could not fit my torque wrench up in there to tighten it to spec, so I just tightened it, but it seems fine. After day 1 it rattled a bit and upon inspection I discovered that the right bolt had worked loose a bit....I retightened it and it has been fine since. You might use threadlock to avoid this but I prefer it being truly tight to stay in place.

The front brace could be done by yourself but it might be a bit of a challenge. I took it to my friend who has a lift to make it easy. But I'm pretty sure I could have done it in my garage. You'd just need to put the car on jack stands first. Then you would need a breaker bar because those bolts are seriously torqued in there. Once free, remove them....the wheels will drop slightly as the suspension pieces are no longer held together with the bolts out, but you can easily push the tires up to align everything again. This will need to be done to get the bolts back in once the bar is in place, one at a time of course. If you had a second person there to move the wheels up and down while you thread the bolt that would help. Or you could use a jack under each tire to achieve this if you're working by yourself. If you tried to do it on ramps I see even more issues because there is no play once the 2 bolts are removed and you'd have a hard time getting the bolts back in. But even on ramps I suppose it could be done, you'd just need a bottle jack or regular jack with a block of wood to lift the necessary area against the weight of the car to realign the bolts.

So it could be done, this is not how I did it because I wanted to avoid these headaches but as I see it, it is possible by yourself, you just need to think about these things.

 

[2Cool]

You can do the front bar pretty easily on jack stands. Just unbolt one side at a time, attach the bar and start the bolt, leave it loose. Then go to the other side and repeat. You can grab the wheels to move the control arm into alignment for the bolt to thread. Pretty easy, took me longer to get it on jack stands than to do the job.

 

[Dsquared46]

I have the torsion bar installed and plan on getting the trunk brace. I have the Mountune front strut brace and their chassis brace installed to tighten up my front end. Would the 2pt brace help? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt but is it necessary? Also, does the 2pt brace hang lower than other points of the chassis? I have Mountune springs and am worried that it may hang too low for a street application. Speed bumps/humps are everywhere!

 

[OffTheWall503]

I plan on getting both the 2-point lower front brace and the rear torsion bar. I also want to get the midship brace. They appear to be solid pieces that are a great price with solid benefits. Does Pierce include installation instructions for these pieces with torque specs?

Can you attest to how these pieces feel on a car that is daily driven? I know these tend to make the ride more harsh.

 

[Waterfan]

I plan on getting both the 2-point lower front brace and the rear torsion bar. I also want to get the midship brace. They appear to be solid pieces that are a great price with solid benefits. Does Pierce include installation instructions for these pieces with torque specs?

Can you attest to how these pieces feel on a car that is daily driven? I know these tend to make the ride more harsh.

I don't agree that bracing will decrease ride comfort. If anything, the car will be more tied together and more solid-feeling.

Perhaps you are thinking of harder/solid/delrin/whiteline suspension bushings (a-arms, strut bushings, etc), which increase feedback but also NVH.

 

[jayrod1980]

I just installed my low 2-piece brace. I have to say, if you have big charge pipes, the Pierce ones are probably the only ones that work. I've yet to drive with it, but fit and finish is good. I liked the TB ones too... Lower profile, but unfortunately it touched my pipes which made the car vibrate like crazy!


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[jeff]

Glad to hear others are getting this great mod. I'd be curious to hear your feedback as to the benefits as I described them in the beginning of this post.

For the few folks who asked questions about this and that, I shared all that info in the first post. Ride is not stiffened at all, it feels fine. No instructions for install came with these parts. Meh.

 

[OffTheWall503]

I'm not looking for instructions but mainly torque specs. I wish manufacturers weren't so lazy nowadays.

 

[Bluedrank]

Probably a silly question, but do you need an alignment after installing the 2 point brace?

 

[jayrod1980]

Torque specs on the torsion beam bar when I called Pierce is 85ft-lbs. The A-arm bolts you have to remove and reinstall are 115ft-lbs. I just torqued the crap out of them. They were almost impossible from the factory to remove. I've removed them 3 times now and I'm Unable, even with a breaker, to tighten them to the level they were from the factory. I re-applied thread lock to them as well.


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[parapraxis24]

Probably a silly question, but do you need an alignment after installing the 2 point brace?

I stupidly removed both a-arm bolts when doing my TB traction bar and assumed I'd need an alignment afterwards because of how much everything shifted. Surprisingly, nothing changed after getting it all put back together.

I might have gotten lucky, but my guess is if you do one side at a time you shouldn't need an alignment at all.

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