Well I heard from some owners with some in the rear that it makes it much more stiff doing corners and the like. I notice a slight change in the car when I go fast around a corner. Don't know how to describe it sorry.

I didn't think it would be worth it to get a front one anyways, because everything looks pretty packed in there already. So why get a bar to make it stiffer when the space is tight and looks stiff anyways..?

 

If the strut towers were in the middle of the fender on a long-nosed car (Mustang), then strut bar probably helps, but on the xD where you have to take off the windshield wiper cowl to get to the strut bolts it's just a decorative piece. Strut towers are not going to flex.

 

Looks cool - For handling though you can't beat a second set of light wheels with some R compounds.

 

And 4WD with limited slip and proportioning center diff.

 

yeah, trd strut bar is on stop sale due to not only function but install as well... if you can find one, the YARIS strut bar will fit on your scion as well.......

 

hmmm i wonder what the installation difficult was. Has anyone installed the TRD strut bar on the xD?

 

Not sure about the strut bar, but to get the springs installed (namely to take the top strut bolt off) you have to take off windshield wipers, wiper cowl, AND entire wiper motor assembly (that's another dozen bolts).

I think that's why the strut bar was such an install nightmare.

 

Really, from the picture it looks pretty easy to install. Im no mechanic by any means, but I think I can tackle this one. Wonder what exactly the problem was with the TRD. Has anyone contacted Toyota?

 

Can you see the bolt in the picture that's next to the firewall? Probably not, and taking the windshield wiper cowl won't help, either. Big steel "bucket" that has the wiper motor assembly in is covering up the strut bolts and makes it borderline impossible to reach the area where TRD intended to bolt down the strut brace.

At least that's what it looked like when I was doing the spring install.

 

A new shipment of these just arrived this morning, so those of you that have placed an order should be recieving your strut tower bars shortly.

 

the fitament isnt the problem, the bar fits on as good as any other. its the bolt location that causes issues. but again, a strut tower bar just isn't very helpful on this car in particular.

from some digging online, the front sway bar does have a positive affect, though.

(i think some people are getting the two confused - the strut tower bar goes on top, and it only changes the response of the car - it doesn't let it turn any better, just easier to control. the sway bar goes on the bottom and will have an affect on turning capabilities)

 

So have the bars been all preordered?

 

Alot of them will be fulfilling backorders, but there is a limited supply that are not already purchased.