Steeda Mustang Rear Chassis X-Brace (05-14)

weather man

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Alright, decided I wanted to install a rear chassis brace onto the car. I thought about the Steeda rear seat delete X brace, but decided it might not work with my Scott Rod Fabrication Rear Seat Delete, so went with the trunk mount version they offer.

The actual install is pretty straight forward. The only issue I had is that my hands are to big to fit into the bulk head openings. I figured a way around that, after putting a few nicks on :)

First thing is Steeda does a really nice job protecting the brace while shipping. I liked the foam tubes around the bars. Brace arrived in great shape.

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The side fabric pulls back out of the way easily.

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I have the FRPP suspension kit installed, so my bolts may not look like stock. I used a 6MM and 15MM wrench to loosen.

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I actually used the camera to make sure the brace was lying flat. I did not have to jack either side to make it fit. It set down nice first try.

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It was sitting nice and flush on the top part of the brace. A 90 dgree drill will make it easier to drill the holes. My drill with bit made me drill at a slight angle.

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As I said before, hand to big, duct tape to the rescue! You do not want to drop a bolt. If it bounces forward, it goes down into the bottom fender area, good luck getting it out. This will only be bolted for me, no welding. I will recheck torque every once in a while.

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Tightened up the bottom first and then went back and installed bolts and torqued them down to spec.

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I did use a scissors to make a cut on both sides so the trunk mat lay nicer.

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If I can do this, anyone can. A little wintertime TLC and hopefully a more solid car.
 

weather man

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Noticed today when I went to jack up the front a little higher for some work, anywhere I tried to jack, it immediately lifted the whole side of the car. It has done that before, but there was always a delay, not anymore. It freaked me out, I don't like how it is tipping up on the far side jack stands.
 

irishpwr46

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looks good, but it doesnt work with a shaker 1000 correct?
 

TGR96

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That's a great looking piece, weather man. I must admit that I am surprised that you can tell it stiffened up the car, since that area of the chassis doesn't seem to me that it would need any stiffening.

I may have to look into this mod.
 

m1neral_GT

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Really does make a night/day difference. But I'm a little biased because when I did it I also did rear sway, panhard, panhard support also
 

oldVOR

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That's a nice clean install. I'm guessing you'd notice even more chassis stiffness from welding the brace into the car at all four points.
 

weather man

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That's a nice clean install. I'm guessing you'd notice even more chassis stiffness from welding the brace into the car at all four points.

Did not weld. Metal is thin and did not want to risk issues, If I was road racing, I would maybe weld it up. The bolts have a large bearing surface, I doubt it is moving now.
 

ZmanM3

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I've been thinking of this one since they came out with it. I don't want to give up my back seat so the original x brace was out. I'm putting it on my list but it comes behind a boss torsen diff, and getting my steeda wheels powder coated and on the car with my GT500 breaks. Maybe behind an upgraded fuel system too. I still need to buy 3 fuel pumps and fuel line for that one though, I have the hat, regulator and Y block for a return fuel system already.
 

weather man

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Initial thought after a couple of drives and a few pot holes is that the car feels more solid.
 

hctr154

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It is a nice piece, but I had to use an impact to tighten shock mounts back on...problem was that I didn't have access to one at the time!
 

weather man

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I don't think the unibody will flex much :)

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