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Review: Cobalt Transmission Brace

2K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  ShadowMX5 
#1 ·
Got this yesterday (late Christmas FTW!) and threw it on last night.

Impressions: IIiiiiinteresting.

Definately firmed up the feeling that the tranny is always in the same place.
There's no subtle shudder into Reverse like every other car I own.
There's a HUGE resonance from 18-2300 RPM.

I don't mind it but I think a lot of people would.
Daily driving this brace as-is doesn't seem like the best plan for some people, but surprisingly, it did lend a change to how the front of the car feels. It's tough to quantify (especially on snow tires), but it is 'different'.

The instructions were good, but missing one tool. They state a 17 shallow, a 19 deep, and a 19 end wrench. You also need a 6" extension.

The piece adds a ton of vibration/noise, and while I expected this, I'm taking it apart this weekend, and removing/replacing the outer spacers between the subframe and the brace. There's 2 metal bushing/spacers there that'd benefit greatly from being replaced with Poly, and I doubt there'd be a significant reduction in how well the piece works. We'll see this weekend.

Overall, I'm not getting rid of it, but it might not stay in place outside of track season. On track, i wouldn't care. On the street you realize exactly how many times you cross below 2000 RPM. :)

Overall it's what I expected, but I see places that it could be easily, and inexpensively improved. Would buy again though. :)
 
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#2 ·
Okay. FINALLY got to pull this apart tonight to swpa to poly!

... 3 of 4 lock washers had cracked and failed. I've never done that to washers. I question the quality of the lock washers. I'd recommend buying different lockwashers when you buy the poly bits. :)
 
#5 ·
So i got pics of this. Of course they're still in my cell. I'll get them up, but I needed to post a followup review on this part after pulling it apart a few weeks ago.

So i did the poly swap outlined above. The car is MUCH MORE drivable, and more importantly, I can hear what the engine is doing again. There was enough resonance before to drown out lifter tick.

Now with the poly, it's still very present, but no worse than most other cars with poly mounts. Definately an improvement, and doesn't seem to have hampered that "solid" feeling the brace gives.
 
#6 ·
whered you get the poly bushings at? what are the red ones the kit comes with? i just installed the brace myself and love the feel of shifting through the gears. at first at around 2-3.5k rpm i had serious dash ratling vibration. tomorrow i'm going to make sure everything is tight and check the washers condition.
 
#7 ·
The red ones go between the tab that comes off the trans, and the bolts that go through the brace.

I replaced the 2 metal spacers on the outside of the bar that go between the bar and the LCA with the poly.

I found Energy Suspension shock-end bushings. 4 for ~5.00 at my local parts store. Drilled the center bore bigger, and cut them to the right height with a hacksaw. Then took the metal ones and replaced with poly.
 
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