just got my strut bar in, i was wonderin what needs to be done to install it. Thanks in advance.

 

Remove plastic engine bay covers, use 14mm and 17mm sockets to remove the old nuts as well as a 10mm socket to remove other miscellaneous brackets. Install new bar and tighten to 32fl/lbs with torque wrench as per service manual. It is optional to use the included brackets from Richie to reattach the engine harness. I just zip tied mine in place down below. If you do, it kind of takes away from the clean look of the RV6 strut bar *In my Opinion.*

Done

 

If you need help I'd be happy to, I'm 35min upstate, pm me if anything

 

I've put these on. It is not rocket science at all, very straightforward.

Our FLP bar is a little more tricky because it is one solid piece. Installing the 3-piece RV6 bar give you more flexibility to fit it.

I'd also suggest installing with the car on jack stands.

 

thanks for the advice

 

wow man thanks i will let you know

 

I have to disagree...you wanna tighten the strut bar while the car is on the ground, with its full weight on the strut towers...when done on jack stands without the wheels touching the floor and tightening the strut, once the car's lowered, any flexing caused by the weight of the car on the strut towers, is now transfered directly on strut bar, which causes even more stress on the strut towers....with the weight on the towers, they sit where they're supposed to , and once the strut bar is tightened, they will be held in place once any flexing is attempted by them, when hard cornering and such....the other way, would put more strain towards the towers.

its like doing a wheel alignment with the weight of the car off the suspension, and thats not the way to go

 

I would argue that the strut towers are where they are supposed to be when they are without load. And that bracing prior to loading will keep the chassis in place to maintain proper geometry.

The loading of the suspension deflect the chassis. That is the entire point behind installing the brace in the first place. To limit deflection. Doing so stresses the brace, not the towers. Which is why having a strong brace is so important.

And I am sorry, the analogy to aligning the car with the wheels in the air is no way, shape, or form an accurate.

 

the point of the strut is to avoid further deflection, not to keep it from fdeflecting with its own load...and that happens during cornering/weight shifting.

 

We need a vehicle design engineer to settle this.

Question, is the vehicle suspension geometry designed to take into account inherent chassis flex exhibited under normal vehicle load?

My guess is no, because how could the engineers predict the load and therefore accurately design the suspension? I don't see how vehicle design engineers would allow for slop enough in the chassis to account for it in their suspension design. They would need to assume a certain amount of rigidity. When that rigidity doesn't exist they install tower braces. So my thinking is, rigidity is assumed to be there loaded or not. The car is designed and built, then deflects in real life. As long as it doesn't deflect too much, it is marketed and sold.

 

excuse my knowledge level, but a strut bar is suppose to help me with cornering, etc?

Will this make my drive any more bumpier?

 

^^ Yes it helps retain rigidity in corners. No, it will not affect your ride quality.

 

No, it is designed to reduce body roll during cornering (keep the body of the car from folding over on itself). It gives a stiffening point to the car. Rougher ride would come from changing suspension spring rates and shock rebound points.

BTW, has there been any talk on making a rear strut bar?

 

That would IMO be essentially pointless because the rear deck area has been designed as a permanent brace. The rear suspension doesnt really have separate strut towers in a sense

 

They are somewhat connected by the rear deck, but it is by no means rigid. Same reason the put a floor brace across the back floorboard. This helps to increase body rigidity of the body.



The car can always be made more rigid! Just don't let the wife get frigid.

 

i did mine on the ground, worked great. now i'm wondering if i should redo it though, because i did mine when the car was on a little bit of a slant to the left sitting on the ground like this /. not that extreme obviously. do u see any problems from that?

 

IMO, the chassis should ne as neutral as possible when installing bracing.



Bracing can make the ride feel firmer but it does not have as much of an impact as changing suspension parts. Really the feeling you get is more feedback from the road. It gives you the perception that the ride is firmer even though it really isn't.

As far as the rear towers go, I don't think much is really needed back there. Now the rear subframe, that is a different story.

 

What about some type of rear tie bar.

 

Like this part for the TSX:



This thing works really REALLY well! Doesn't fit the UA6, but is close. We were thinking of duping it.

 

anyone else surprised at how big and beefy the front end anti roll bar is??? i saw it out of the car the other day while the guy was doin the clutch. i was like WOW!

 

It's hollow. And it needs to be big for all the weight up there

 

ok so im confused on jackstands/on ground lol

 

That would be tight ( pun intended!). Let us know what you come up with.

 

hmmmm so opel an heeltoe say diff things who sound's more kosher lol

 

I dunno man, I think I'm right...but, heh, what's new about that ?!?! Hehe

 

ill make u feel better...do what Heeltoe says...

jack up the car, sit it on stands...take the front wheels off!!! then tighten the strut bar.

ill do my own things

 

tru but if i dont have to go threw that whole process that would be great as i dont have jack stands and don't really feel like purchasing any either

 

the dont worry too much about it...sit the car on a flat surface...and retighten it....most ppl wont feel any difference..and hardly anyone pushes their car's cornering ability (with sticky tires) to their limit...aside from all that...flexing is going to be noticable when your suspension is stiff enough, and ur tires to go with it.

think about it...for chassis flexing to occur on our cars, ur suspension has to be somewhat solid and allow almost no compression whatsoever...0 flexing on the tires and very sticky...now if my guess is right...no one has done such, and been on a high speed autox with it. It takes quiet a bit to flex the chassis on the car, but before you even go there...ur suspension and tires absorb all the stress beforehand

 

Yea its not something to be too concerned with like Opel says..

I have my strut bar on to hold a few brackets that attach to it and pretty much for looks. I had the nuts on loose, Opel thought I was crazy when I told him about that while he was doing the checkvalve mod for me lol

 

speaking of the checkvalve mod i need it done lol opel u down im in flushing queens

 

Don't freak out about the install of the bar. I said to jack it up because I think it is technically the best method, but certainly it is not critical.

 

Time to bring this back from the dead. Regardless of which way to install this strut tower bar, will it really add any benefit? The stock bar looks pretty stiff to me.

 

It looks it but its pretty thin material. I dunno man, I would put the FLP up against anything else.

 

damn i missed this...sure man...dont mind helping ya

 

So if i want to drop my car a lil. and i already have 20's on, what do i do to prevent the tires from hitting the car even more?

 

Are you joking?

 

Alot of work, or just get 18" or 19" and a drop. How much gap do u have with those 20's

 

1- this post is not o topic. It doesn't have all that much to do with what's being discussed in this thread.

2- If you are rubbing without lowering, it is just going to be worse if you drop it at all. You might need different wheels with a higher offset.

3- running some negative camber might help

 

It does nothing to reduce bodyroll. It only stiffens the body. Pretty pointless on a car that already has one from the factory. Bodyroll is caused from the suspension compressing and is affected only by spring and damping rates. Even under maximum cornering the body doesn't flex enough to be seen with the naked eye.

An upgraded strut brace is something you would do to a TL after you've done every suspension mod and have a race tire on it. Otherwise you will never know the difference.

As Opel said, you want the car loaded as it will be in real life and on level ground. The amount of deflection from unloaded to loaded is known to the engineers and already factored in. Level ground is very important.

Starting with traditional H-frame body on frame cars, the results of proper/improper installation of braces are much more obvious. I've installed braces with the car on unlevel ground and had the car actually start pulling a little to one side. The TL is much, much stiffer to start out with and it won't be as obvious but it's still important.

 

idk, im gettin different feedback from everyone. Correct me if im wrong.. i need to stiffins the struts and spring or just change my wheels to something smaller? and about 2 inches in the front and like 4 or 5 in the back