EXTERIOR
INTERIOR
LIGHTS
PERFORMANCE
SUSPENSION
BRAKES
DRIVETRAIN
WHEELS


TRD Member Brace Installation

TRD Member Brace Install
By: Whelp 

Disclaimer & Intro:

This is not the definitive guide to installing the TRD MEMBER BRACE. This is simply a quick write up of the experience I went through when I installed mine. I hope it helps anyone else that may have questions, but by no means is this, the 100% official way to install it. So if you make a mistake or mess up please DO NOT BLAME ME. I have included the torque specs in this article. For anyone who is curious I am not a mechanic, but I have and do work on cars. IMHO anyone who knows how to use basic tools (wrenches, ratchets, jacks…) should be able to do this. This is VERY simple to install, and will take about 1.5hours if that. My brace set came with English instructions, so most of this is based on those instructions. (Part of the reason it took so long to write this, TRDs English instruction are fairly good) I also lost some of the pictures I took, So SilverStreak was kind enough to allow me to use some of his. THNX Bro!

Tools Used:

½ inch drive Torque Wrench (ft/lbs.)
½ inch drive Ratchet
½ inch drive extender 3 inches in length
½ inch drive sockets
Car ramps (2 ½ tons)
Ramp extenders (If your car is lowered, Sportivo, Springs, extc…You will need to use extenders in the rear, the ramps even with extenders they may/do not work up front.) 
Floor Jack 2 & ½ ton  (5 ¼ inch to 15 ½ inch lift)
Jack stands 2 ton (When you use jack stands, be sure to follow the jack point guidelines. Damage has occurred to some others cars due to improper lifting.)
Neighbor & a 25lb bag of rice & a socket style Screwdriver (I will explain later)

Torque Specs:

Front Member Brace 

Front bolts are at 77ft/lbs

Rear bolts are at 43ft/lbs

Rear Member Braces

Front bolts are at 45ft/lbs
Rear bolts are at 64ft/lbs  

 

TRD MEMBER BRACE SET:

Front Member Brace

Left Side Rear Member Brace

Right Side Rear Member Brace

Strip of rubber insulator

There is no additional mounting hardware provided. You will need to re-use all of the old hardware.

 

Part I Front Member Brace:

Following the TRD instructions I started work on the Front end first. I lifted the car at the jack points and placed it up on my Stands.

Next I removed the Factory Braces and tossed them to the side. (cheap stuff) I kept the bolts off to the side and close to where I had removed them.

I then lined up the new brace and installed the rear bolts. (Unless ya have a big tummy, be sure to hold the brace up or when you move down to the front bolts it might just smack ya in the face!) Be sure that the “TRD” badge is facing down towards the ground.

Next I installed the front bolts. I then inspected how the bar fit to see if it would rub up against the chassis at any point. If it did, then I would have cut a portion of the rubber insulator and placed it between the chassis and the bar to protect from damage and squeaks.

I had no areas of concern so I torqued everything down in an X pattern. Left Front-Right Rear-Right Front- Left Rear.

All done! On to the rear!

Driver side front rear mounting point
Side view of front driver mounting point
Passenger rear mounting point
Passenger front mounting point
Installed view from front of car
This is the front member brace installed
 

Part II Rear Member Braces:

First I placed the front of the car back down on the ground. Next I rolled the rear end up on to the ramps. If you do not have a wheel lift, USE ramps! You will eventually need to load the suspension down while torqueing down the rear member bolts, and if your wheels are dangling freely up in the air it is rather difficult to load down the suspension. Also make sure that the brake lines are up above the brace and not below it. Some have had damage occur to their brake lines with them being below the brace. You may also want to add some insulator to the brace where it looks like the brake line will rub against it.
There are no Factory Braces, and this is part of the photo set I lost. There are 4 bolts that need to be removed to install the brace. 2 on each side. The first bolt is found on a small factory chassis brace. It is a very small piece of Grey metal on my car. The TRD instructions do contain a diagram of this. Hopefully my Editor will also add one in here. ;) There are some pictures below that show what it will look like after the install, I hope they help in locating the correct area. DO NOT remove the chassis brace; just use the bolt and mounting point.
The other bolts are located where the lower Arm connects to the Member. Keep in mind to only do one side at a time so that you will always have a model to refer back to.
This is where it gets tricky and many people have different ways of doing the install. I followed the TRD instructions and after removing the blots attached the member brace and torqued down the front bolt, that mounts to the chassis brace. Next is where you need to load the suspension and where my BAG O RICE came into play. (hmmm does this mean I know have a rice car)  The TRD instructions state, that you need to place aprox. 240lbs in the passenger compartment, or 2 adults. I used my neighbor and my bag of rice. He sat on my rollbar and held the bog of rice. We figured he weighed close to 220 + 25lb bag of rice gave me what I needed. ;) So while everything was loaded down I tried to insert the bolts back in…No go! The lower arm was off alignment just slightly, but enough to prevent me from getting the bolt all the way through. I pushed up on the arm, but no luck. So I applied some basic principles of leverage. I used a screwdriver that allows for different bits to be placed in it, as my lever. I wrapped with a shop rag, and inserted it into the mounting hole…a little pull on the lever and the bolt slid in nice and smooth! I know some have used their jack to raise up the arm and the mounting point, and some have played with the amount of weight to get things to line up. Where there is a will there is a way! Once everything was in I torqued it all down and did the other side the same way. Then back to earth, and off for a test run!

Driver's side rear brace
Passenger side rear brace
Impressions:

Simply Sweet! The car should of came this way! This is a major improvement! Road feel is improved cornering speed has gone up. No real discernable change in ride comfort for me. Even the wife noticed the difference! I have been asked more than a few times if I had to do things over with would I go about it the same way?  Will not counting the roll bar, IMHO this should be done the day you buy the car! I would still go with the front strut tower brace first, but I would next go with the member brace, and move on to the rest. If your are on a budget like I was I thinking this is the way to go!




POPULAR CATEGORIES