After getting blown around pretty good on my commute home tonight I decided to look into the various chassis stiffening plates available for the Prius. Found the G7 Performance Stiffening Plate on eBay for $60 shipped so I placed the order tonight. It might just be a placebo effect but a lot of members seem happy with this modification so I'm excited to try it out.
The G7 is an older technology that works better than the OEM flexible brace. It was pioneered by Brian at BT Tech about 7 years, ago. Brian died a few years back in a motorcycle crash. he had a good idea, but there have been a few improvements since then. The BT weighs more than twice the OEM brace and is not torsion compliant, which can stress the mounting bolts and nuts of the thin sheet steel rails. A "box beam" can be had that is stiffer than the G7. Yet, it weighs less than one pound and is torsion compliant to prevent damage to the mountings on the rails.
Seems to be OK so far. It's only been installed for about 1 week but the stability seems to have improved. I will keep an eye on the frame rails and see if I notice any issues going forward.
The G7 is fine and we will most likely never see any issue with it. I replaced my stock one with the G7 because I like the fit and finish and wanted to replace the ugly rusted stock brace.
I am an average fabricator... would I be better off building a brace that has twin 1" tubes or so, spaced apart to handle the need for torsion? My search for braces is mainly because I am going got be towing an ultralight (about 500lbs with trailer). I am also looking for a reasonable priced airbag assist design for the rear suspension. Not interested in "lowering" or "pimping" the prius... not that there is anything wrong with that.
There's one of these still on ebay. Maybe you could get it for a good offer? Just search for a G7 Performance Stiffening plate
For me it does seem to have helped keep the car from swaying as much with high winds. We have A LOT of wind here in OK and my Prius really moves around on the road at 70 MPH. I think the brace has helped, especially at lower speeds, but with as much wind as we have here I think it was worth the $60.
Tangental question - how much does just adding a hitch "stiffen" the ride? Are there any down sides to doing both a hitch?
I drive often on a stretch of interstate that gets 30-40 mph winds. I installed the stiffening plate and I definitely feel the difference. I do not really understand why it made such a big difference but the car is planted on the ground and the winds do not throw me around anymore. One day, at 50 mph winds I could feel them but still was not pushing the Prius around. I got mine on Ebay for $60 and took 10 minutes to install. I would definitely recommend. Very happy!
I have the original BT plate for 8 years under my car. I makes a big difference. 2 weeks ago I had part of the exhaust pipe replaced and the plate had to be removed for easy access. Everything looks still like brand-new, the plate as well as the frame of the car. It was easy to remove and easy to put back, so I wouldn't be worried about bolts or threads stripping.
After lowering my car that bar hits on some spots.Thinking of selling my bar for a G7 plate. Is the G7 slimmer and give the same benefits?
The other suspension parts are lower. It's your car, your money, and your time. Do what pleases you. The only time that I've a user has express the scraping of a mid-brace occurred when the midsection of a Gen III Prius landed on a speed bump on the downward stroke onto a speed bump. That can happen to any vehicle. Any car, given to the same situation on a high speed bump would scrape. That was a non-lowered Prius Gen III that had more clearance than an unmodified Gen II. So, if it satisfies you, try it.
