Shock Tower Brace

Little progress has been made on the Mustang in the past week. I've been preparing for the holidays and enjoying the warmth of the house after a recent cold front.

I received a Drake Scott export brace for the Mustang from my in-laws for Christmas. My Mustang originally came with a straight brace connecting each shock tower to the firewall. The export brace is a single piece attaching in the same manner. The use of a single piece makes the chassis of the vehicle a little stiffer.

The piece is called an export brace because it was originally installed on vehicles exported out of the US. I'm told the brace was used as road conditions in other countries required a stiffer suspension. The piece was then added to the GT350 and GT500 by Shelby.

I'm very impressed with the quality of this export brace. The piece is easily two or three times as thick as the metal used on the original braces. There are also deeper concours to the brace which should reduce any twisting.

In my opinion this piece is integral to the chassis strength. The upper control arm mounts about one foot up the shock tower. The support for the shock tower is basically the structure provided by the square created by the radiator support, firewall, and inner fenderwells. This metal is not very thick and no doubt flexes under load. This new brace will provide the missing support at the top of the shock towers.

Original Braces:


New Export Brace:


Thickness Comparison: