Seems that there seem to be a flood of different lower suspension braces on the market, that's it's hard to tell if one is truly better than the other. I have personally spoken with Mike DiGrappa and I feel that his brace is probably the highest quality, but which of these braces would be the best decision? Muz offers a brace that's under $175 shipped, which seems to be the cheapest.

If anybody out there has tested more than one brace, I would love to see which they felt was better.

*EDIT*

Current Models Available:

DiGrappa
Spoon
Whiteline / Muz
Cusco
Neuspeed

 

okay the Diagrappa brace is hard to get as of now
The Muz is available and people think its great!
The Spoon Everyone and their mom has and loves it!
Now the Cusco.. i dont believe anyone has tested that piece.

 

im on the same boat as you.

spoon - blocks access to the oil drain plug. stupid design flaw.
digrappa - overpriced aluminum
whiteline - they're strut bar doesn't look all that impressive. the angle at which the bars are situated is terrible. don't know who was the guy that thought that one out. material is also aluminum.
cusco - no info on that.

i wanted to try and design a bar, but w/o any retail experience, funding, and time it's not really worth the effort. the spoon bar is the best design for it's function. too bad it's in the way of the drain plug.

 

i'd love to know too...
i'm assuming spoon is out b/c of oil plug reasons.
some said that where the spoon one fails, the digrappa shines, yet i also heard differently where the digrappa blocks the plug as well????

 

There are too many rumors on the internet...

 

ReedZ, thanks for the pics. Which brace is that though? Good thread if the information is accurate

 

For those seeking an informed opinion here's some information from Whiteline (makers of the lower brace and strut tower bar I stock) who have been making suspension components for over 30 years and are in a good position to offer qualified advice on these kind of products.

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Whiteline Automotive has its roots in the original Selbys Steering and Suspension company, started in the early 1960's making sway bars. Whiteline Automotive purchased the sway bar manufacturing division and retained the Selby's Swaybars brand continuing a proud 30 year history. At that time the company only manufactured sway bars for the majority of the Australian aftermarket suspension brands. Shortly after, we changed the company name to Whiteline Automotive and started to increase both the product range and brand awareness for Whiteline products. The company now markets many separate brands covering a variety of suspension and under car related products.

Whiteline are the registered owners and manufacturers of the following brand names:

Selbys Swaybars
Selbys Springs and Shock Absorbers
Whiteline Springs
Whitelign Alignment Products

Whiteline Automotive are backed up by a keen and willing group of dedicated enthusiasts who are trained in the company's products and philosophy. The R & D department drives the company to constantly find new and innovative solutions to suspension and handling problems. Jim Gurieff heads up the section with support from Wojtek Rogulski and Gary Cook. Many will already be familiar with Gary as the author of many handling and suspension articles in popular magazines. Gary has been designing and building race cars for over 25 years.

All Whiteline products are extensively advertised through the motoring media. We sponsor race and specialty cars, supplying product and technical support to the enthusiast market. All the major motoring magazines regularly review vehicles featuring our products. Through our racing promotions we have a great deal of experience with front wheel drive cars. This has given us an enviable reputation as THE front wheel drive handling specialists.

We distribute our products through a variety of channels. Most of our products are available through the larger national chains like Repco, Bursons, and Coventrys down to the regional suspension specialist fitter. We also manufacture private brand lines for major suspension names in Australia including Lovells Springs.

We have customer loyalty programs for suspension specialist wholesalers and fitters called the Whiteline Preferred Distributor (WPD) network. All WPD's are accredited suspension and undercar specialists with comprehensive alignment diagnosis and correction tools. Together they form a national group of independent suspension specialists that provide a high quality fitting and alignment service.

The complete range of Whiteline coil springs, swaybars, alignment products, lowering block kits, and accessories have all been engineered and manufactured to AS3902 standard from the finest materials under strictest quality controls. Our research and development and commitment to motor sport will continue to improve the range.
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There are dozens of research articles on suspension and alignment products available on their web site if anyone would like further reading.

 

That is the DiGrappa Brace. Soon to be re-released with a much improved manufacturing/shipping process.

 

The Digrappa brace is machined out of a single aluminum billet and takes 3-4 hours to make. All the others are welded tubular steel or other metals. That explains why the Digrappa is more expensive.

If you're concerned about cost, I'd advise you to buy one of the others.

 

which don't get in the way of the oild plug... other than the digrappa?