I just got my neuspeed upper strut tie bar but I have resorted to swearing at the car trying to install the darn thing!!

Ok, I have removed both 14mm rear most nuts on both left and right sides. I have loosened the third on both sides. I have both sides of the car jacked up.... no gosh darn luck.

loosening the third nut did move the studs a little bit closer towards the inside of the car (towards the engine) which is the exact opposite way I need them to move.

And jacking the car up on either / both sides appears to do jack sh*t. Am I missing something? Isn't jacking the car up suppose to take pressure off? Why doesn't anything 'move' when either/both sides are jacked up?

I only need to squeez another 1/4" it looks to be able to get it on.

Any suggestions? Should I go invest in a vise to bend the strut tie bar??? Or should I just stand and curse and scream at my car for a few hours

 

I removed the four nuts with the car on the ground per a previous post I read. one side of the strut matched up and I jackeded up the opposite side until the holes matched. You`re going overboard on the jacking. You only need to move one side to get the bar aligned and then you torque it down. you only want to jack it a small amount at a time and then check alignment. you don`t need both sides jacked up. and try to start with a flat surface. Give me pm if you need more help.

 

copland007:
Ha...we should've switched bars...mine was too long. I suggest you do the opposite of what I did...go cool your engine bay off...use a garden hose if you have to...that'll shrink the metal...then heat that bar up good...think oven. Sounds crazy but if you stick the bar into an open oven...that steel will expand surprisingly well...get it up to 250+ degrees...handle it with a hotpad or mitt...and then just lay it in your car. You could also get a friend to help you out and hold the bar steady while you bow it out by pushing down in the middle...again the opposite of what I did. Good luck.

Austin519

 

tlj711:
I started on flat surface, than I loosened third bolt on just one side, then I jacked up one side, than the other side, than both. None of the scenarios worked.

Austin519:
Time to cook my bar That makes sense, I'll give it a whirl.

Thanx for the replies!

 

I give up. This stupid bar is too big, it won't fit no matter what I do.

Anybody interested in a strut bar that WON'T fit your car?

Any boston people that can recommend a place I can go to get it done?

Too much blood and effort have gone into this '10 minute' mod. It's not worth it...

If it helps the equation at all I have comptech springs/sways already installed. Anybody else who have these installed tried to install strut bar yourself? Did you go through the god d*mn hassle I am?

Jacking the car up helps 0%, could I be that stupid enough not enough to know how to jack a car up??? The instructions that came with the bar even say to jack the car up, but it doesn't do anything!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

Ok, I think I am done *****ing, time to move onto the tips

 

It was good to succesfully install something after all the trouble with the strut bar. The 3A racing tips were truly a '10 minute' mod.

I can't wait to get my body kit now

 

copland007:
So the heating didn't work...or the bowing? You can always ship it back for a new one...or you could get your Acura dealer to install it. And did you jack the car up from the center or from one side?

Austin519

 

Nope, nothing worked. I only jacked up the car from the sides. Where would I prop the jack for a center position? If I had a vise I would bend it. If I don't slide one side onto the studs and just rest the bar across the holes don't match up at all, about 1/2" off. And the inner most bolt isn't lined up correctly it looks like. So I would have to bend the joint further down and twist it outwards to just get it to line up with the studs.

At any rate, I threw it in my trunk and enjoyed my tips I called up a local performance shop who said they would give it a try monday for me. If they can't get it on either I will talk with autocarparts or nuespeed for returning it. I don't think that they will be able to install it without bending it honestly, and I don't know if that is a good idea

Thanx for the input anyways.

[ edit ] I didn't even think about asking the dealership to install it because it's an aftermarket part. My dealership wouldn't install my comptech sways/springs, so I just assumed they wouldn't install neuspeed stuff either. Maybe I'll give them a ring in the morning and see.

 

All jacking up the car does is take tension off the wheels, allowing the mount points to move around. They will naturally fall to a certain position if they're totally free, and that position might not have anything to do with the length of your bar. When I installed mine, I ended up spraying wd-40 all around the mount points for one wheel, and getting a friend to apply pressure (read: kick) the wheel until it moved where I wanted it to, and then the bar dropped right on. It took me about 8 minutes to realize it wasn't going to go straight on, and then about an hour to go through the process described.

 

copland007:
There's a plate around the engine to prop it with. And I'd go contact Tim before trying to get a shop to bend it and install it. Once they screw it up physically...well...it'd be hard for Tim to resell it...

Austin519

 

That must do wonders to the alignment Did you have an alignment done after you 'kicked' your tire into position?

Thanx for the description.

 

OK, this is what I did to get it to fit last summer...

1. Car flat on the ground on 4 tires.
2. loosen all the nuts on one side.
3. loosen 2 nuts on the other side.
4. jack up the side where all nuts were loosened.
5. fit the bar onto the jacked up side first and push towards which ever way you need to make it fit.
6. fit the bar on the ground standing side.

That should work. Good luck.

 

My bar also seemed like it was a little too long. In this case, jacking up one or both sides of the car wont help because that would cause the car to flex and bring the mounting points closer together. Think about it for a second. You are making the problem worse.

Jacking the car up from the center would cause the car to flex and bring the mounting points a little further apart. So this is what you have to do to get it on.

Put the bar on with the help of a friend by trying to put on both sides at the same time equally. If you put one side completely down on and then try to force the other side on it wont work. You have to get the mounting points lined up on both sides as best as you can at the same tie and then push down. I used a hammer and rubber mallet. I put the soft handle of the hammer up against the bar near the mountying points, and then hit the top of the hammer with the mallet so I woudlnt damage the finish of the bar. What also helped me was I loosened the mounting points for the stock upper strut brace also. One side of my Neuspeed bar was touching it, and i had to pry it forward a little so the Neuspeed one would go down.

Keep at it man, get the help of a friend so you can both push at it from both sides at the same time. It'll go on, but doing all the above took me longer than 10 minutes. More like 30-40. Good Luck, and I hope I helped.

 

Well I took it into a local shop and it took two guys with crowbars and a third pulling with all his might to get this SOB installed.

I am happy this is finally in. It works well in combination with the sway bars.