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Just wanted to post something on this since I havent been able to find anything regarding it anywhere. I had been wanting a differential brace on my G for a few years now, but my dilemma was there not being any diff brace out there stating it was compatible with a G that has AWS. Looking at the Bell Raceworks diff brace for the z1 cover, it seemed that brace might fit without any modifications, but I was told by Z1 that they had never tried installing it on a G with AWS. During black friday deals I pulled the trigger and ordered the diff brace hoping I could make it work. Once arrived and upon a quick look under the car it seemed very possible to install it without any modifications just as I had thought before buying it. Well I was wrong. It took me and my mechanic friend close to 5 hours to get it installed due to the modifications required and trying to come up with the best way of doing it. Each time we thought we almost had it, another hurdle would come up, but in the end I want to say the result of this brace makes the car so much more enjoyable to drive that it was worth it. Would I do this again? Not sure, I think I would try seeing if someone could fabricate one for specific for this drivetrain instead. Work involved to get this brace installed was, dropping rear steering rack slightly out of the way, grinding off a top section of the diff brace, grinding/shaving down the upper bolt that goes into the diff cover, drilling an inch or so sized hole in the back portion of the subframe for access to the subframe mounting bolt, and drilling a hole into the diff brace for the mounting into the subframe as the factory hole in the subframe didnt align with the mounting hole the brace had.
From this pic you can see the reason that top bolt going into the diff cover had to be shaved down. It comes real close to the steering rack. Top section of the brace cut off to clear a bulge in the subframe where the steering rack mount is. New mounting hole closer up and to a side to align correctly to subframe. Used some heavy duty metal squares as washers for that top bolt, and have one between the subfame and the brace since the brace was about an 1/8 on an inch away from the subframe.
Lmao, I just commented on Gktechs IG on a brace for 4WAS. I too have 4was and this has been on my list.
Just wanted to get more info on this prior to purchasing.
Thank you for this. Anymore pics you can share?
This is the only other picture I have on hand, I can take some more pictures later on if you're interested. This picture was taken before a full tightening. You can see a piece of metal we had to use to fill in the gap between the subframe and diff brace.
I feel like someone should be able to make a fairly simple designed brace for the AWS. It seems like an upside-down L shaped brace would be the shape we needed for an easy fitting brace.
Here you can see the "spacer" piece of metal we had to add between the subframe and diff brace.
The steering rack was the only thing I had to remove. Just dropped it a couple of inches to give us the clearance to put in the upper bolt that goes into the diff cover. For the steering rack we just removed the 2 bolts that hold it in place. Funny thing is the week before we did the Z1 motor mounts, and I was expecting that to be a tough and lengthy install yet we got those motor mounts installed in under 2 hours without removing anything, and here this brace I thought was going to be a quick install and instead this brace was the time consuming one.
Lmao, I just commented on Gktechs IG on a brace for 4WAS. I too have 4was and this has been on my list.
Just wanted to get more info on this prior to purchasing.
Thank you for this. Anymore pics you can share?
So does Gketch have a brace for our AWS cars? I had never heard of them, and since you mentioned them I've been checking out some of there stuff, and they have some good looking products.
So does Gketch have a brace for our AWS cars? I had never heard of them, and since you mentioned them I've been checking out some of there stuff, and they have some good looking products.
Bad wording on my end, they posted a picture of their brace which is significantly thicker towards the "rack" and would not work. I had asked them if they've heard any 4was members install.
after looking at what you did there's no way their brace would work.
Their brace has additional bracing towards the surface that bolts to the differential and this is an area where modifying would compromise the brace unlike yours where it doesnt look compromised
Did some work underneath my car today and took some pics showing a better view what was done to get the brace on. As can be seen the mounting point for the steering rack has a bit of a budge that goes up not flat with the subframe, which is the reason for the need to grind that top section of the brace. Also you can see the hole we had to make on the back of the subframe to help hold and get the bolt on through that end. Would have been nice to have gotten that hole drilled perfectly straight to where the bolt is, but it worked out anyhow.
i have found out the gktech diff brace indeed fits the 4was steering rack, but is unable to put the bolt,nut and washer inside the subframe as there are no entry points inside.
i have a 07 370gt coupe with 4was system. although the brace fits perfectly in, im unable to get the bolts in wiuth the rack and subframe closed off, how hard was it to get the steering rack off? is it easy or would i need a professional to help drop it to install the 2 bolts in the diff cover, then drill a hole on the subframe to fit in the washer,nut and bolt for the top of the diff brace?
It's fairly easy to drop the rear steering rack. I don't recall 100%, but I believe the rack is just held by 2 bolts, but maybe it was 4. Regardless it wasn't hard to drop, and mainly we just moved it slightly to get what we needed done.
was a bit worried having to drop the whole steering rack but hopefully its simple and i am able to get the 2 bolts for the iff in. Did you need to disconnect anything else other than the 2/4 bolts or have any recommendation in doing so?
Ill probably drill a hole at the rear subframe to slot in the washer and bolt in to tighten the top of the brace. or is there a better alternative to get the top bolt/washer in through the subframe? how close the rack is to the diff holding the brace in place, it looks like flush fitment so far
Trying to get that brace on was like seeing a mirage lol. It kept looking like it would be an easy adjustment, then something else would come up.
Regarding the steering rack, I don't recall having to remove anything else other than the 2/4 bolts holding it to get it out of the way.
