2 or 4 or 6 Point Pierce Motosports Brace

[Rhinopolis]

I don't know how much past spec Ford de Mexico torqued my bolts, but they were on tight! I ended up blowing a gift card to Home Depot on a corded Milwaukee 1/2" drive impact gun, and I have never had to use anything other than a breaker bar on whatever it has been at any particular time that I was working on..lol.

FYI and a small tip to anyone interested - I have the Cobb "upgraded" charge pipes, and on the hot side it's a tight fit to get the impact or even a breaker bar plus socket on to the front bolt without having a few different sized (3/8" plus 1/2") drive extensions. I snugged the impact (it's large) in just enough using the 1/2" drive extension to loosen the bolt, and I finished loosening it with a 3/8" drive extension plus ratcheting socket set. No biggie, just sharing in case any tinkering beginners are reading and decide that they want to install this. Nothing is ever too hard with the right tools.

 

[Induced_drag]

Shouldn't these braces be installed with weight on all 4 wheels? I know with the mustang sub frame connectors it was suppose to be weight on wheels so you don't brace the chasis in a flexed position.

 

[D1JL]

Shouldn't these braces be installed with weight on all 4 wheels? I know with the mustang sub frame connectors it was suppose to be weight on wheels so you don't brace the chasis in a flexed position.

Simply put, yes that would be best.
However most people do not have a Pit in their home garage.
It is also very hard to get under the car without lifting it somehow.

Another method would be, with the car on jack stands, after the brace is in place (not tight).
Using a floor jack and a block of wood, place the floor jack where the transmission connects to the engine block.
DO NOT PLACE IN THE MIDLE OF THE OIL PAN.
Lift the engine slightly only to relieve the pressure.
DO NOT LIFT THE CAR OFF THE JACK STANDS (but just at that point).

At this time you will tighten the rear 4 bolts (6pt.) or rear 2 bolts (4pt.).
Next (or for just the 2pt.) place the floor jack with wood block under the lower ball joint on one side.
Lift the A arm until the car just comes off the jack stand on that side.
Tighten the front A arm bolt on that side.
Next do the same on the other side.

I hope that helps.




Dave

 

[Brick]

put front of car on ramps, jack up rear? viola? it's tight, but if you're slim, should be doable.

 

[Joszer]

Installed my 6 point today. The only ones that lined up were the two front bolts. Every other one was off. Had to lift using a jack at different spots to get them to line up. I will never uninstall it. I'll sell the car with it before dealing with it again. RPITA!!

Holy hell man, that brings back memories when I put mine in Without a Lift and By myself! I was pressing on each end with my knee, hip, and arm trying to bend it and getting it to line up. I said fuck it and ended up cross threading one of the bolts. I was thinking about upgrading the turbo a while back but then thought about taking that thing off and said, hell no.

 

[D1JL]

put front of car on ramps, jack up rear? viola? it's tight, but if you're slim, should be doable.

I have never written it up that way because they don't make ramps tall enough for me. LOL


I have installed a few of these now and not had much trouble.
I have had these on and off my own car many times without issues.
The tolerances are tight because if they were not bracing would not work very well.
I admit, the 6 point is the toughest.
The point is that once in place, things don't move.

Many methods have been suggested in this thread.
It is suggested that you read this thread before you install.


Dave

 

[NJBooST]

Just tried to install the 4-pt today by myself on jack stands and had to give up so I wouldn't cross thread one of the subframe bolts. I read through this thread before I started the install and tried all the methods listed, to no avail. The right subframe mount hole is just off on the brace by 1-2mm so the threads are making contact with the edge of the hole on the brace. Has anyone had to slightly widen the hole? Or has anyone had to loosen the front subframe bolts to shift things around to get it to align properly?

 

[jeff]

Hey fellers............

I just swapped out my 2-point for a 6-point and thought I'd leave a few impressions.

First thanks to all who contributed to this thread.

The 2-point was great on stock turbo but now with a hybrid I was wanting more. With the 6-point installed, the car feels solid and I mean solid. Hit uneven pavement, the car feels more solid. Steering feel, it feels more solid. The reason I wanted this was to help with torque steer, and I am happy to report that with 298whp and 322wtq I floored it today in 2nd gear and there was almost no torque steer at all. With the 2 point brace things were fine on stock turbo, but once I went X47 torque steer returned. Now it's back under control.

Install notes - 2 guys did this in 45 minutes start to finish in a normal garage, no lift no pit. I read all the advice about jacking the engine and such but we found a better way that I hope will help some folks in the future. We put the car on 4 jack stands and I tell you every one of the 6 bolts turned in with a ratchet, no cross threading. The only wrestling with anything was moving the wheel around a bit to get the front 2 in. But no jack was used, no come along, nothing. All done by hand. Amazing. Definitely do the front two first, then the back four will go in easy. Torquing them was another thing - I torqued to spec but like others said getting that extra 1/2 turn is about impossible. I probably got about a 1/4 turn but I'm not bionic so that was about it, but that thing is tight.

Also, there are two thin cross beams under there. The knuckle at the mounting point won't quite fit in there but if you hammer it a bit (take the beams off, hold the over the knuckle, hammer in) it will bend enough to fit. So you don't have to lose them in the install process. The more bracing the better.

Using this method resulted in no creaking like others reported. Hopefully that will remain the case, I only drove it about 20 miles so far but all is quiet.



GREAT mod - so glad I did it!

 

[Truth in Ruin]

Hey fellers............

I just swapped out my 2-point for a 6-point and thought I'd leave a few impressions.

First thanks to all who contributed to this thread.

The 2-point was great on stock turbo but now with a hybrid I was wanting more. With the 6-point installed, the car feels solid and I mean solid. Hit uneven pavement, the car feels more solid. Steering feel, it feels more solid. The reason I wanted this was to help with torque steer, and I am happy to report that with 298whp and 322wtq I floored it today in 2nd gear and there was almost no torque steer at all. With the 2 point brace things were fine on stock turbo, but once I went X47 torque steer returned. Now it's back under control.

Install notes - 2 guys did this in 45 minutes start to finish in a normal garage, no lift no pit. I read all the advice about jacking the engine and such but we found a better way that I hope will help some folks in the future. We put the car on 4 jack stands and I tell you every one of the 6 bolts turned in with a ratchet, no cross threading. The only wrestling with anything was moving the wheel around a bit to get the front 2 in. But no jack was used, no come along, nothing. All done by hand. Amazing. Definitely do the front two first, then the back four will go in easy. Torquing them was another thing - I torqued to spec but like others said getting that extra 1/2 turn is about impossible. I probably got about a 1/4 turn but I'm not bionic so that was about it, but that thing is tight.

Also, there are two thin cross beams under there. The knuckle at the mounting point won't quite fit in there but if you hammer it a bit (take the beams off, hold the over the knuckle, hammer in) it will bend enough to fit. So you don't have to lose them in the install process. The more bracing the better.

Using this method resulted in no creaking like others reported. Hopefully that will remain the case, I only drove it about 20 miles so far but all is quiet.



GREAT mod - so glad I did it!

Now I want a 6 point brace.

 

[bombo107]

I've been going back and forth on this decision for awhile now and after reading this thread I might be even more indecisive. For a daily driven, weekend mountain carver, would a 2 point brace suffice? I am currently running a Stage 1 93 octane stratified tune and the wheel spin and torque steer has increased quite a bit from stock. I have a rmm but looking for added bracing to help reduce these issues. Since there is quite a price increase from the 2 point brace would a 4 point brace be needed for what I used the car for? Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys/gals

 

[RAAMaudio]

Having modified cars for 51 years and always to be faster(all aspects, not just drag racing) and within a budget even when it was a very high budget, studied all the best books written, less is almost always more.

I had my car on a lift being looked over by the shop manager at the Ford Racing shop at MMP and he agreed, a two point was all that was needed and the only brace the whole car needed as it has a very stiff chassis. Of course stiffness is a cornerstone of real performance and always will be but weight will always be the absolute value to consider in any performance mod even including power adders.

I built my 2 point with some scrap 1" tubing, two rivnuts, two bolts, two washers and about 15 minutes of work and barely over 1 lb added weight.

It also served at the rear mount for the full length undertray with ducting added to draw air out of the engine compartment.

Though some braces may help stiffen the chassis(always a good thing) most are a placebo effect part and add weight which slows you down in all aspects of real performance.

Even if you can log a gain it will almost always be tied to class rules than not always make any real sense but if it helps you in your class restrictions then it might be the way to go.

There is a far more to gain putting your funds and efforts into other areas depending on what you are building the car to, if for just you, put the money elsewhere by all means.

Rick

 

[Gimlet]

So...I'm a firm believer in having the 4pt. I know others say the 2 pt will suffice, but I'm good with overkill on a street car for minimal additional $$ (just skip a night or 2 at the pub). I'm aggressively e30 tuned and can say that in my accelerated 40mph sweepers on the way home, the car does not shimmy or move in any way. Soo predictable, no corrections needed, lots of boost and spinning the tires, yet the chassis is settled and IMO feels great. I never had high expectations of a FWD, but damn this thing is fun. I didn't see the reason for going all the way back with the 6pt for a "semi" daily driver. I am really happy with the setup, and it clears the depo pipes just fine. I'll admit I had it installed and aligned professionally. Used to live in OK with a tornado shelter in my garage floor (I miss it)... doing it on jack stands and dropping to be loaded was too much work for this old guy....

 

[jeff]

We all have our opinions and no disrespect to anyone but as someone that had a 2 point on for a year and then upgraded to a six point I can tell you it made a dramatic improvement, which I described a few posts ago. If I had not tried both products on my car I would have no room to talk about this but I have and I do.

 

[speed_easy]

I'm with Jeff on this one.

4pt brace - or better. It's worth it

 

[green_henry]

I would consistently get wheel hop exiting turn 7 at Thunderhill West -- until I installed a 2-point brace I wouldn't rule out trying a 4 or 6-point brace, but only if I run into another specific problem that I'm trying to correct; however, I'm pretty confident that won't be necessary.

 

[bombo107]

Having modified cars for 51 years and always to be faster(all aspects, not just drag racing) and within a budget even when it was a very high budget, studied all the best books written, less is almost always more.

I had my car on a lift being looked over by the shop manager at the Ford Racing shop at MMP and he agreed, a two point was all that was needed and the only brace the whole car needed as it has a very stiff chassis. Of course stiffness is a cornerstone of real performance and always will be but weight will always be the absolute value to consider in any performance mod even including power adders.

I built my 2 point with some scrap 1" tubing, two rivnuts, two bolts, two washers and about 15 minutes of work and barely over 1 lb added weight.

It also served at the rear mount for the full length undertray with ducting added to draw air out of the engine compartment.

Though some braces may help stiffen the chassis(always a good thing) most are a placebo effect part and add weight which slows you down in all aspects of real performance.

Even if you can log a gain it will almost always be tied to class rules than not always make any real sense but if it helps you in your class restrictions then it might be the way to go.

There is a far more to gain putting your funds and efforts into other areas depending on what you are building the car to, if for just you, put the money elsewhere by all means.

Rick

Thanks for the reply, I agree I need to sit down and figure out a game plan as to where I should focus my funds on. From what I've read and going on what my current goals are I will most likely stick to the 2 point brace and a rear torsion bar.

 

[bombo107]

Can I ask how much they charged you to have it installed? I can do small things like the rmm or brakes but I feel I would need a lift to install the brace and have no access to it.

 

[Kalter]

I completely disagree that a 2 point brace is all the car need. While it might be the brace that make the biggest impact on the stock turbo, the car can benefit greatly from stiffening other parts of the car. Shit, even just a trunk brace changed the dynamic of the back. I have the TBPerformance stage 3 package and the car is just so much stiffer and you can most certainly feel it even just at stage 2 power level in corners and straights.

As for weight, I agree that you never want to add weight on a performance car, but there comes time where added weight will make the car better, like braces. And those braces are not adding 50 pounds, the package I received with my braces was IIRC 10 pounds for all 4 braces, it is well worth it for the better dynamic. I have to lose weight anyway!

I want to add: I got a good deal on the braces. My plan was to wait until I had a stage 3 pro tune before adding stiffness to the car to better handle that power and "prepare" it for a bigger turbo. Would I recommend the whole kit for someone on stage 1 or 2 that doesn't want to go much higher? No, go for just a 2 or 4 point, maybe trunk brace. Do I regret it? Absolutely not because it still makes a difference vs no braces, but before stage 3, there are better places to put your money.

I will sound like an asshole maybe, but here it is: Years and years of experience in different cars doesn't mean much to me. Every car is different. And cars from 25 years ago and cars from now are very different beasts. I'm glad people with experience are sharing their knowledge, but saying the Fiesta ST doesn't benefit from more than a 2 point is flat out wrong.

One thing we can agree though, before going full braces, there are indeed better places to put your money. Add more power until it can't handle it, then find the bottle neck. You will eventually get to braces.

 

[alexrex20]

We all have our opinions and no disrespect to anyone but as someone that had a 2 point on for a year and then upgraded to a six point I can tell you it made a dramatic improvement, which I described a few posts ago. If I had not tried both products on my car I would have no room to talk about this but I have and I do.

This is the only evidence worth mentioning. Empirical anecdotal evidence means a lot more to me than the theory of a self-proclaimed expert who has zero experience with the parts in question. I also have the 6pt and though I never had a 2pt to compare it to, I can attest to the huge difference it made. It ties the control arms to the crossmember to the unibody. How could that not help? There are two chintsy braces from the factory and the 6pt replaces those. So obviously Ford was on the right track but for cost reasons (I'm sure) they opted to not go full ham.

My only complaint with the 6pt is that it stiffens up the lower "chassis" so much that the upper chassis begins to squeak and jiggle because it's the only place that can deflect. I had a huge amount of dash creak and squeak after the 6pt but that's all gone now that I added the upper strut brace. It really tied things together and eliminated dash creak and improved steering response and handling as well.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Quisp]

I completely disagree that a 2 point brace is all the car need. While it might be the brace that make the biggest impact on the stock turbo, the car can benefit greatly from stiffening other parts of the car. Shit, even just a trunk brace changed the dynamic of the back. I have the TBPerformance stage 3 package and the car is just so much stiffer and you can most certainly feel it even just at stage 2 power level in corners and straights.

As for weight, I agree that you never want to add weight on a performance car, but there comes time where added weight will make the car better, like braces. And those braces are not adding 50 pounds, the package I received with my braces was IIRC 10 pounds for all 4 braces, it is well worth it for the better dynamic. I have to lose weight anyway!

I want to add: I got a good deal on the braces. My plan was to wait until I had a stage 3 pro tune before adding stiffness to the car to better handle that power and "prepare" it for a bigger turbo. Would I recommend the whole kit for someone on stage 1 or 2 that doesn't want to go much higher? No, go for just a 2 or 4 point, maybe trunk brace. Do I regret it? Absolutely not because it still makes a difference vs no braces, but before stage 3, there are better places to put your money.

I will sound like an asshole maybe, but here it is: Years and years of experience in different cars doesn't mean much to me. Every car is different. And cars from 25 years ago and cars from now are very different beasts. I'm glad people with experience are sharing their knowledge, but saying the Fiesta ST doesn't benefit from more than a 2 point is flat out wrong.

One thing we can agree though, before going full braces, there are indeed better places to put your money. Add more power until it can't handle it, then find the bottle neck. You will eventually get to braces.

Did you install all the braces at once or individually ?