gsRt5

Was it me or was this thing a pain in the ___ to install........I mean it wasnt hard but I had to remove a few thing to get to the nuts.....

bighvyxb

mounted mine yesterday. didnt have to remove anything but i did jack up each side where the wheel was 3 inch off of the ground, then you just push down on the wheel about an inch to get the bolts out. i did do this myself but a friend would have helped alot (expecially putting the nuts back on) all and all not to bad for a 83.00 mod. i will be putting a precision muffler on as soon as it gets here. they say that one should only take 1/2 an hour, well see

gsRt5

Yea, I finally decided to look at the tech article in here......LOL, If I would have known...I had it jacked up but didnt press down on the wheel.......Oh well it worked with jus a little more work....

vintage42

I just installed the DC strut bar on my xB, following DC's instructions to jack the car to lower the strut bolts so the bar can be slipped over them.

I wonder how much good this bar, maybe any of these bars, can do. It is only as good as the tightness of the nuts.

When placed over the nuts, the bar is loose and can be moved around. The openings in the bar ends fit loosely around the collars of the struts, and the slotted bolt holes in the bar ends fit loosely around the strut bolts.

The ability of the strut bar to tie the two struts together is only as good as the tightness of the 6 nuts that prevent any sliding movement around the 6 slotted bolt holes. I wonder if 6 nuts tightened to only 16 lbs can clamp the ends of the strut bar to cause enough friction to resist movement of the car's body at the stuts. I would have expected the 6 bolts to only hold the bar in place on top of the struts, not be the primary resistance to strut movement.

The ends of the bar only have a friction connection to the body, not a rigidly locked connection.

bighvyxb

that is a very good point, i noticed the slop but didnt give it a second thought.

gsRt5

Only 1 way to find out, drive it.........
As soon as I took it around the block I noticed a difference.......
Now I catch my self acting as I f this thing can really take corners.......
It does feel alot better though.......Not such much going on up front as I turn....

jct

i found it very easy to install didn't have to jack anything up

vintage42

That means that previously the strut towers in upper fenderwells had been flexing, just going around the block, and now they don't any more.

However, the strut bar literature says the bars only prevent fenderwell flexing in high speed turns. I take that to be autocrossing.

I have driven 20 miles since installing my strut bar, including a few fast corners, and I notice absolutely no difference. I don't know what fenderwell flexing would feel like, or what the absence of it would feel like. I imagine some kind of difference might be felt under the cornering stresses of autocrossing on bumpy pavement, which might try to cause movement of the strut towers, but not in the driving I can do around here.

I did notice a difference after installing the rear sway bar. The car cornered with less lean and steered better in turns. But the strut bar? Can't feel a thing.

RTon20s

It has been stated time and time again on this site that the front strut brace does very little to improve the handling characteristics of the xB. It is more for looks than anything.

The strut towers are so close to the firewall that "fender well flex" is already kept to a minimum. You might see some gains with a strut bar, but most likely only in the most extreme of circumstances.

vintage42

I guess extreme means taking a tight corner at 60 on a bumpy road. I have not done that without the strut bar, so I wonder the difference will be with the bar. I also wonder if the friction clamping of the bar ends in their slotted holes will withstand the force of fenderwell flex, should it occur. Indeed, who has even said that fenderwell flex is a problem on these cars?

In addition to being of dubious benefit, the bar also makes it hard to change the air filter and fill the brake fluid reservoir.

gsRt5

I dont know why you cant feel the difference???>....
I felt it immediatly, I mean it wasnt dramatic but a difference.........Sure I caught myself
trying to speed up to feel it in the corners....but I can tell it was there........
Maybe ur not a person who can feel the road????..........Did u torque it down enough??????............And ur right something in the rear would help plenty....i cant wait
to get something for it.........

cz3ch

Jacking it up makes all the difference int he world...