Explaining Miata Shock Tower Braces (FM Live)

This week on FM Live, Eric talks about shock tower braces. What makes a good one? Why do you need it? Why is ours different?
This is a quick overview video to inform our customers of this product, and is not intended to be a guide or installation tutorial of any kind.
Flyin' Miata NA/NB SHock Tower Braces:
www.flyinmiata.com/fm-shock-tower-brace.html
Delrin Door Bushings:
www.flyinmiata.com/delrin-door-bushings.html
Original live video recorded 11-7-19. Join us every week on Facebook at 2:00 PM (Mountain Time) for new live videos!
Flyin' Miata is the world leader in Miata performance. We offer a wide range of parts for all years of the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
www.flyinmiata.com
970-464-5600

[@ascgazz]

This guy is sooo chill 😎

[@motorpsykler]

Easy to see you guys put a lot of thought into your products. Could you please tell me what door sill plates are on that car.? They're exactly the type I'm looking for, but all I can find are the polished aluminum jobs. I'm kinda sweet on that cowl cover too.

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

As far as we know, these should be the black plastic OEM sills from 1995. They are obnoxiously hard to find. If you can't find new, try Treasure Coast or Ebay to see if you can find a good used set.

[@hillbillysportsman5818]

Love these videos keep them coming!

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Thank you!

[@fisker_na]

Hope you get it in stock again soon

[@lindkvistandreas]

Such good videos, and thank you so much for posting!

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Thank you for watching!

[@kCI251]

The FM version is a lot like the factory one. I've found several factory versions on NBs being parted out for around $50 and a slim jim.

[@shadowraith1]

Well if your the only Eric there. It's nice to put a face to a name.👍

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Yep, he's our only Eric! :)

[@EdoardoBaldi]

Lots of people on internet complain about more understeer with the shock tower braces installed: what do you think? Thanks for those great videos!

[@Nasonix2]

it probably depends on every different setup. Imk/e it would add less understeer for a Miata in comparison to being installed on a car with MacPherson strut suspension. If you do research, you'll find that strut tower braces effect handling characteristics on MacPherson strut suspension vehicles far more than Double A-arm wishbone cars. However, adding a strut tower bar on a Miata will add chassis rigidity and we all know that due to the convertible aspect of these 20+ year old cars that that is always a saught after bonus!! What you do is, say the strut tower brace adds understeer. Then u add some more negative camber to the front wheels. If that didn't help, or already was there then try grippier tire compound. Then lastly there's always the option to go with a slight increase in rear stiffness to balance things back out. But with first gen miatas, you'll find that as long as your front spring rate isn't too crazy, you can probably never get too much front chassis rigidity. At least not overly easily. The guys that say a strut tower brace on a NA/NB miata is what tipped the edge and finally caused it to understeer, are probably the guys that are either still running OEM alignment specs or too high spring rate for tire compound or both. In my personal opinion, I think the stiffer door bushings upgrade is a MUST on NA's and NBs. where as with the strut tower brace, you could probably do fine without, only because if u compare the strut tower brace to other products such as sway bars, flyin miata frame rails, butterfly braces, rear roll bars, or even fender braces.. I'm pretty sure all of the other products would be more effective at a similar goal without replacements. But that's my opinion. I also am the guy that wants each and every one of those things on my car including a strut tower brace which can't hurt :)

[@EdoardoBaldi]

@@Nasonix2 I'm talking about Miatas with or without shock tower braces, not other cars with different suspensions ;)

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

It's plausible, but not something we've experienced personally. IF the shock tower brace increased understeer, then it should be easily remedied by dialing in adjustable sway bars.

[@EdoardoBaldi]

@@FlyinMiataVideo thank you for the answer but I wrote understeer, not oversteer: with the brace installed, the front of the car "flex" less and maybe there's more grip for the rear tires and consequently more understeer... Correct?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

@Edoardo Baldi Corrected. Sorry for the typo, I edited the response above to read understeer.

[@JeanPaulConnock]

Does FM offer a brace for the ND, or is the stock brace 'good enough'?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

The stock brace is actually pretty good, but we think it could be better. It's something we will be developing soon!

[@christianzinn7636]

I learned a couple of things by watching this. Thank You!

[@cherryXcanary]

Thanks for the video! Good info

[@awesomecooly123]

Awesome informative video keep it up!

[@raulbustamante8337]

does the ND benefit from a triangulated tower brace? I couldn't find a FM triangulated brace for the ND, which has stock bracing attached to the firewall

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

In theory, yes. However, the stock one works pretty good and I doubt most of us could tell the difference on the street between them. This is one reason why we didn't develop one of our own.

[@businessmanph]

how much better is this part compared to the nd1 club stock part?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

This particular shock tower brace is only for the NA & NB Miatas, so that isn't a fair comparison. We are working on an ND version, but don't have an ETA at the moment.

[@charliehustle2579]

I have that red/aluminum shock brace. It's a freedom design brand brace. Now I'm replacing it with the FM tower brace after watching this. Lol

[@adamreed31]

Available currently and fit properly on my 95 m edition? Maybe im overlooking on your site. Thanks!

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

The 1990-97 version is not currently available as we sort out some manufacturing issues. Sorry about that, it'll be back as soon as possible.

[@emadabulfaraj4488]

Greeting I’ve purchased Strut Tower Bars, QNDA-56-490 and QNDA-56-49X, for my 2019 MX-5 ND; however INSTALLATIONS AND USER’S INSTRUCTIONS manual doesn’t help! Can you share with me a link from your channel how to install them? Thanks appreciated

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

We do not sell these products and therefore do not have an install video for them. We'd recommend you reach out to the vendor that sold them to you for technical help.

[@elbarrigon7155]

Will you guys put these back in stock or will no longer carry them?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

We are hoping to have these back in stock eventually, but supplier issues and material costs have made them difficult to acquire.

[@KS-ro6in]

Does Flying Miata make this bar for the ND Miata?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Not yet, sorry! It's possible we'll make one in the future, but no promises.

[@lauracollins7566]

Any idea when you might be caring this again

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

We're working on it, but unfortunately don't have an ETA at the moment. So sorry for the hassles!

[@raulcferraz]

@@FlyinMiataVideo Thanks for the reply, there is a lot people waiting on these!

[@kingmarty5032]

Any update when it will be back in stock? Does it fit over the an LS1 with the V8R subframe kit?

[@michaelh.9866]

Where did you get the cowl cover that even has a fill hole for the Cappaccino washer bottle? Thanks!

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

It might be a Garage Star part. We're not completely sure.

[@timmiller5029]

Explained well!

[@tomacatipovic7854]

How do fm shock tower braces compare to the stock nb ones?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

There were two stock NB designs. The first one isn't great, it has hinges in the middle. The second is quite good, it should be as good as the FM unit. However, our master cylinder brace is not compatible with the stock NB braces.

[@francoguillen25]

What’s up with that cold air intake going all the way behind the engine?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

On the blue car? The intake filter is behind the driver's side headlight, which feeds air into the turbo charger. There is no intake behind the engine. What are you seeing?

[@contactrkb]

Why does a car with double wishbone suspension need a "strut" brace? It doesn't have struts like a Macpherson strut setup.

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

We call them shock tower braces, because they're not strut braces. The video will tell you why they're still useful.

[@raulcferraz]

Is this product coming back?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

We've got a new updated version in testing now, but don't have a solid ETA yet. So sorry for the delays, we appreciate the patience!

[@raulcferraz]

@@FlyinMiataVideo thanks for the update, looking forward to seeing the new version!

[@gearswitch5692]

@@FlyinMiataVideoI’m def looking forward to the rerelease of an NA bar, preferably with an integrated Brake MC stopper. Any updates?

[@Brian-nh8ic]

Hi FM! I have an MSM that's mostly track driven and on coilover suspension. I've put a lot of emphasis on brakes and left wondering if I should remove the factory tower brace and install your brake master cylinder brace or leave the tower brace on. I don't know which has more advantages.

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

If you are emphasizing brakes, you'd probably appreciate the master cylinder brace. Just watch the firewall when someone else pumps the brakes for you. It is compatible with our shock tower brace so you wouldn't have to give anything up.

[@Brian-nh8ic]

​@@FlyinMiataVideo Thanks for the reply. I did place an order once for your tower brace but then cancelled. The site does say the factory tower brace was quite good on MSMs and I didn't want to deal with the rerouting of lines. If only our CAD wasn't dollars to your USD pennies.

[@thesilentwarrior6769]

I agree the back should have a tower brace

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

It's bling, and only bling. On a hatchback with strut suspension with all the cornering and vertical suspension loads going into a big empty box, yes. It's not necessary on a Miata as there is a whole lot of structure between the shock towers and the cornering loads are all going through the subframe.

[@ssj2xxgotenxx]

That’s a nice car!

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

We've got a virtual tour of the car on our channel if you want to see more!

[@ericraherimanjato9688]

Awesome video but the volume is too low and I can barely hear it