Strut Bar

[gstjoker]

I've been thinking about getting front strut bars for my 96 GST. Do any of you know if there's any difference from other strut bars to the ones on ebay? Such as durability or its performance on the cars? Any recommendation or advice would be great. Sorry for the fact that I don't know much about this.

[Kracka]

Ractive makes very stiff yet cheap bars. There can be a difference, but probably not a whole lot.

[HiImBrian]

Yea I used a cheap ebay one on my last car and it worked fine. Couldn't feel or notice any differance though.

[Kracka]

FWD's (especially 1G's) have a lot more chassis-flex than the more well braced AWD's and respond more noticably to strut bars.

[Jakey]

Couldn't feel or notice any differance though.

Was all the weight of your car on the frame rails when you installed it? I installed mine on my Laser simply because I was sick of it laying around the garage. When I get around to installing it correctly, I will put my car on a lift.

[Shane55113]

Was all the weight of your car on the frame rails when you installed it? I installed mine on my Laser simply because I was sick of it laying around the garage. When I get around to installing it correctly, I will put my car on a lift.

I don't understand what you mean? How would it be different if you installed it on a lift instead of on the ground? As long as its standing still there is no load on the top of the strut towers, so if anything it would be better to keep it off a lift.

Just to chime in here, if you want a strut tower bar that would work really well just look at the stock one from the Eclipse GT, it connects to both strut towers and to the fire wall. That is a good design.

[94talonawd]

Its all the same. All it is is a metal bar. Heck you can just take a pipe and make one.. haha

[Kracka]

Its all the same. All it is is a metal bar. Heck you can just take a pipe and make one.. haha
There are differences, mainly in the mounting brackets. Jakey is right, at least get your front tires off the ground to unload the suspension when you install it. I installed mine with the car resting on the ground, drove it, came home and reinstalled it with the front tires jacked up and it made a difference. Also, tighten the bar so it pushes out, not pulls in. Do not tighten any of the mounts until the bar is adjusted tight; this will prevent any flex room in the bar to provide the stiffest bracing possible.

[Jakey]

I don't understand what you mean? How would it be different if you installed it on a lift instead of on the ground? As long as its standing still there is no load on the top of the strut towers, so if anything it would be better to keep it off a lift.

False. When your car is on the ground with the suspension loaded, the weight of the vehicle is placing an upward bending moment on the entire chasis of the vehicle resulting in chasis flex. With the car on a lift, the weight of the suspension will place a downward bending moment on the chasis but this is much less significant that the entire weight of the vehicle. So, to compensate for the upward bending moment cause by the weight of the vehicle, the proper way to install a strut tower bar is with the car supported by the frame only. Ideally, one would install strut bars with the suspension, brakes, and wheels removed but generally that's not realistic.

[Jakey]

Just to chime in here, if you want a strut tower bar that would work really well just look at the stock one from the Eclipse GT, it connects to both strut towers and to the fire wall. That is a good design.

I agree. If I ever get around to it I'm going to design a strut tower bar that links the struts and the struts to the firewall. Check out the 1993 Archer Racing Talon:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=62451&stc=1&d=1144098740

More information about the car:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222227