Cusco Suspension Parts

I recently bought a second hand Cusco Type OS Strut Brace for my Nissan 180sx. I already had installed a rear one about 18 months ago, and it's a Type AS I believe, as it's of round cross section. I found there to be quite a difference with the strut braces compared to without, especially the front. I won't get into the workings of strut braces here, as it's been covered many times before but the basic idea is to enhance the cars' structural rigidity. When the car passes over high frequency undulations in the road, the suspension transfers these high frequency forces into the framework of the car. The effect is that the tower mounts kind of 'wobble' and this then results in extra noise and vibrations which permeate through the whole car. Strut braces form a rigid beam between the tops of the tower mounts, which all but eliminates the vibrations, and makes the car feel a lot more rigid. The force then is transferred from the shock absorber, into the strut brace, then over to the other shock absorber, without being transferred into the body of the car. After installing these, I've come to wonder why they don't put these on cars to begin with!

My car feels noticeably 'harder', like my suspension has been tightened. The difference is especially noticeable when going over perpendicular, long bumps like speed humps and train tracks because then the forces by the shock absorbers are totally taken into the strut brace, as both wheels exhert the same force at the same time on the shock absorbers. My 180sx used to hate speed humps and train tracks but now, I must say, its so much better.

Things in my car still rattle, but a different kind, and my car feels even more sure on the road. I'd highly recommend this upgrade to any car, because it's both easy to get for most makes of cars, and it's an affordable worthwhile upgrade. Cusco strut braces are some of the best of the industry, and I have no complaints about these at all. There are lots of cheap no-name copies but I'm sure they are flimsy and breakable, which is why I went with a Cusco.