Our 2009 Vibe GTs came with OEM front strut tower braces which were okay, but I highly recommend the
TRD front strut tower brace. I replaced our OEM braces with the TRD ones last summer and the difference is night and day. The OEM brace is 3 separate pieces bolted together and it's really heavy. The TRD one is a solid one-piece aluminum bar that weighs probably half as much as the OEM brace. It really tightened up the front end when turning, going around curves, cornering, etc. And it looks a lot nicer then the OEM brace which I always thought was pretty goofy looking.
I can't say from personal experience (because unfortunately it won't fit the 2009-2010 AWD or GT), but there are a couple members here (
vibedrivermatt &
MaSlade) who have installed the
TRD rear anti-sway bar on their 2nd gen 2.4L Base Vibes and have said it made a huge difference.
vibedrivermatt actually posted how-tos for installing both the
TRD front strut tower brace and the
TRD rear anti-sway bar. I can also vouch that the strut tower brace comes with excellent instructions with pictures and all. I'm sure it's the same for the anti-sway bar.
As Rayven said, it is pretty easy to remove the windshield wipers and all the plastic cowl pieces and it gives you a lot more room to work. I too took advantage and cleaned up under the cowl panels while I had everything apart. There was quite a bit of crud under there
.
As far as ordering, I highly recommend
TRD Sparks. I'm reasonably sure they will ship to Canada. Their prices are awesome and they have super fast shipping.
Here are a few pictures...
OEM front strut tower brace
OEM vs. TRD (I removed the TRD badge before installation. It’s held on with double sided tape.)
TRD front strut tower brace