Stephanie Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) Hi Guys, Had the Zed in the garage yesterday and was able to take a quick look underneath, immediately obvious the "W" brace needs replacing, it could probably last a while longer, maybe even a wire brush and hammerite jobby at a push (see attached photo of current brace) ..but I've had a quick search on eBay and you can pick up a brand new Ultra racing brace for £139 delivered, the Zeds booked in the garage in a couple weeks anyway and will be on ramps so will be easy/cheap enough labour wise to take off the old and bolt on the new -well that's what I thought... Done some reading and spoken to ZMANALEX and the UR braces stick out more than OEM, which could prove a problem.. she's sat on tein lowering springs so is pretty low, but is she too low for a UR brace? Don't want every speed bump being a PITA. Anybody have a UR brace with a low Zed? Trying to show the clearance in the above photos - not the easiest to take, not the best shots 😬 Side skirts do make her look lower than she is alsoâ˜ºï¸ Any experience/advice of the braces will be greatly appreciated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited January 19, 2017 by Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 TBH, that W brace looks in pretty good shape compared to some I've seen on here....I would give it a wire brush and a coat of hammerite 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 I ran the Summit braces on my old one (the UR ones are a copy of their design), and even though my car wasn't lowered it did scrape a bit. Not a lot, but enough to take the paint off it. Personally I'd just brush over and paint your existing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Hi Stephanie, We have brand new OEM W braces and hardware kits in stock, see here: https://www.torqen.uk/nissan/350z/suspension/braces/3346-350z-nissan-oem-undercarriage-body-tunnel-w-brace-74870-cd200.html https://www.torqen.uk/nissan/350z/suspension/braces/5596-350z-nissan-oem-w-brace-hardware-kit-74870-cd200-hwk.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayd350 Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the aftermarket chassis braces designed to be used along side the OEM W brace rather than being a replacement option? As i said, correct me if I'm wrong, it's happen once before, back in 92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 They are, but they also do a much better job structurally so can be used in place of as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Your Tarmac side steps will probably hit before the brace. But as others have said, it doesn't look too bad, just a bit of surface rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) Hmmm decision time🤔 Thankyou for all suggestions/advice -much appreciated. Perhaps this is one thing that doesn't need splashing on. More in the pocket for other partsðŸ‘🼠Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited January 19, 2017 by Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissanjuke Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 My car is lowered my 25mm and I had the same problem as yourself and I just put the ultra racing brace on ,simple to fix and I have had no problems,its been on a year and my car past its mot with flying colours. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modo Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 That looks better than mine, stick with it a while longer if I was you. Im hanging on until mine starts to crumble, or fails MOT if it is checked. I like welsh cakes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPhoboS Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 My one was looking similar, got a tin of POR15, coated it and a bunch of other stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry40 Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Removed mine last year and cleaned as much of the surface rust off as possible, gave it 2 coats of Bilt Hambers Hydrate 80 which I must say is fantastic stuff and then 2 coats of smoothrite on top. Refitted using copper grease on all the bolts, also while doing an engine & gearbox oil change gave all the bolts holding any covers underneath the same treatment. Just a note on the Hydrate 80, I gave a rusty old antique wheel that I had from my old farmer mate a couple of coats of it at the same time, it stands out in all weathers and the surface rust that it had changed to black looks like I painted it yesterday, didn't put any top coat paint on that by the way. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPhoboS Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Yup, Bilt Hamber products do what they say, very good ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Got my OEM form Torqen then sprayed it with black smootherite, should last years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly350z Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Sorry to hijack your thread Stephanie and its probably going to be a extremely novice question but how important is the W brace? Can you run without one? Its just mines pretty rusty and I wonder if I can run without one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 I've often thought this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Safe? Yeah. Good idea? Nope. It'll make the car wobbly as anything, as essentially it's doing a very important job of connecting the two sides of the car together, so you'd find extra wear on suspension components and a hell of a lot of scuttle shake. The chassis would be trying to twist itself every corner. It may look a bit naff and flimsy, but you'd be surprised at just effective things like that are from an engineering POV. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Boss. How was QT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 I fell asleep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 That's rock 'n roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Still better than listening to Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly350z Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Safe? Yeah. Good idea? Nope. It'll make the car wobbly as anything, as essentially it's doing a very important job of connecting the two sides of the car together, so you'd find extra wear on suspension components and a hell of a lot of scuttle shake. The chassis would be trying to twist itself every corner. It may look a bit naff and flimsy, but you'd be surprised at just effective things like that are from an engineering POV. Noted, ill get hunting for a new one then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Noted, ill get hunting for a new one then Hunt over https://www.torqen.u...4870-cd200.html https://www.torqen.u...-cd200-hwk.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carbon.Ninja Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Wondering if there are scope to do a group buy on the OEM brace as most of the 350z including mine are rotten! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis350 Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 Hello, I wonder if I can get the kidneys for the W brace from somewhere different then scrap yard. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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