Has anyone installed the BT Brace on the 2006?

You probably know this, but just in case. Sockets come in 6 and 12 point (sides), and regular and extended (about 4 times longer). Some have thicker walls than others. I used a 3/8 drive Craftmans 6 pt extended socket 12mm by just laying on a gravel driveway reaching under from both sides of the car to get all four bolts off. They were not very tight and the socket had no problem fitting on the bolt. In a parking structure it should be easy. Just get an old towel or rug you can lay on and throw away if the floor has oil on it.

The six sided socket will not slip off the bolt head even if you rounded the corners of the bolt a little. You should be able to put the socket on the bolt and tap it gently with a hammer then put the wrench on the socket (make sure it's set to REMOVE the bolt) and just unbolt it.

 

cool, looks like a pile of silver ingots. What's that white goop
all over everything in the last pic with the vices?
.
vdub -- try using the car's own jack, you can probably raise the
back end enough to greatly ease crawling underneath. Just make
f'n sure the car can't roll...
.
_H*

 

Thanks... The white "goop" is the coolant/abrasive material that the CNC machine uses to machine each stiffening plate. Our plates start off from a billet 6061 T-6 bar and are machined to a precision closer than .010"!!

Watching this process happen is really something to see in person.


Thanks!!

Brian
BT Tech
305-652-3115

 

Just installed mine this morning. Although my wife thinks I am just "justifying the cost in my own mind" I think it helps. The car feels..."tighter." I cannot think of a better word to describe it. It seems more solid on corners and is better in cross-winds on the highway.

Another satisfied customer here.

Rick

 

You're in the perfect position to test the placebo effect by switching out to your wife's Prius for a few days. If you both notice the difference, then I suspect she'lll be requesting a BT plate too.

 

Be a MUCH better test to now secretly take it back off, and THEN tell her to drive the car and see what she thinks - assuming she still thinks the plate is installed. The only way a blind test works is if the victim (err. *subject*) doesn't really know what they're testing.

In my own testing, my wife was pretty confident that there was a significant improvement - and the car she was driving had NO brace installed. I'd removed even the factory one, and had her test out "the new brace I'd just installed."

 

And at the end of the day, that's all that's important. If you're happy, then you've won the game.

 

Well, after much drama, the plate is on my car!

Someone at the office recommended an independent auto body shop that charged me a mere $10 (!) to put the car up in the air, pop off the factory brace and install the new one.

I was so frustrated at the whole situation that by the time the brace was actually on the car, I could have really cared less whether it did any good or not. I just wanted it done and over with!

That said, the damn thing really does seem to improve the Prius! Chassis rigidity seems to be improved, particularly on the back (worst) half of the car. I know that it's not my imagination either because my hatch was getting a nasty set of rattles and squeaks due to the body of the car shimmying over broken pavement, and that has now been greatly improved. Don't worry, if you're attached to the myriad rattles in the Prius, many of them survived unscathed!

There is a particular section of Wilshire Blvd. that used to just make me think the Prius was going to come apart right out from underneath me. Going west from downtown L.A. in front of where the Ambassador Hotel used to stand (grrrrr...) the pavement is in terrible shape. The hatch of my car used to almost break into song it was making so much noise before, and now the car's behavior is much more refined and composed.

My Prius is a very very early car (delivered Nov. '03) and subsequent ones I've driven have seemed "tighter," so my particular unit is prone to all kinds of chassis squirms and noticeable reverberations though the floorpan when going over any kind of bumps. This stiffening plate has substantially reduced the ringing through the chassis in my car. Handling does seem mildly improved as well, probably because the rear of my car was flexing so much as to keep the suspension from operating as intended. Booming and other noises seem to have dissipated.

The overall effect is subtle, but noticeable and well worth the small investment. To those on the fence, I'd say go for it! Unlike me, however, take the stupid car to someone who knows what they're doing and have it properly installed!

-Drew

 

My brace is great!

Took 10 minutes in my pajamas on a towel in the garage with my kids laughing at me!

Everything went in perfectly!

When is BT going to offer other braces?

 

If the plate is anodized, why is there still coolant residue on it?

Anodizeing requires usually 3 dips, the first is a pretty good cleansing....

If your machining aluminum the coolant is usually 94% water 6% solubile oil

You can wash this residue off with dishwater.

Is the plate hard anodized or sulfuric anodized?

These statements make no sense

Also why would anyone bolt a piece of aluminum to steel in a corrosion rich environment like the underside of a car? I am betting that over a peroid of time there will be disimilar metal corroison at the contact points where the plate mates with the frame of the car.

i smell snake oil.

 

Read the whole thread, cellsorter. They're talking about a picture of the plates after they had been machined but before they had been anodized.

The corrosion question has been discussed and most believe it will not be a problem. Personally I think some zinc-coated fasteners might be a good idea. (My other car is an Audi A8 which is all-aluminum and they use zin-coated fasteners everywhere on that car.)

This isn't snake oil. Its the best mod I've made to my Prius so far.

 

I was pondering whether to even respond to your post but felt compelled. If you have read the thread you would see that we were referring to our plates that were being machined. The CNC machines use a water based coolant and this is what I was describing. After the CNC process all of our plates are checked and double checked for accuracy so that they bolt on to the car perfectly.

After everything checks out the plates are then taken to the anodizer where they are cleaned of any residue present in the machining process and then hard coat type III anodized.

There are literally hundreds of posts related to this part on PC so if you wish you could do a search for it and find all the information about it if you care to.

I see that you have only 4 posts to your name but you might want to read a little bit more about this part before passing judgement and posting in such a derogatory tone.


Thanks!!

Brian
BT Tech
305-652-3115

 

Since model year and tires seem to make a difference in perception: has anyone installed on an '06 with Comfortreds? If so, did you notice any improvements?

 

Yes, yes, and YES!

I actually put the brace on before I switched tires, but the effect of the brace is so different from tire-induced effects, I don't see how the tires could make the brace unnecessary.

I love my Comfortreds and I love my BT brace. If I had to give one up, the brace would stay.