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When I started shopping for my SC I read numerous reports about somewhat adverse handling in certain instances...two things that stood out were...a loose steering wheel over bumps...and did like to hold a steady line on the highway. I factored that in when I bought my car and decided it would need coilover suspension...poly bushings...and maybe a bit of stiffening of the chassis.
I had read about the front shock tower bars and had excellent experience with a rear bar on a previous car. I looked at the bolt together Cusco bar and the welded Carbing bar. Decided welded would be more rigid and that was what I wanted. I found it on Option autos website and it stated 2-3 month delivery...so I ordered it right away thinking I would be ready to tackle some mods in a few months. Little did I know it would ship immediately. The bar $220 plus $15 shipping.
I put the bar on this morning and glad I had experience installing one before. The instructions were in Japanese and if I didn't know...I would have thought it was the wrong bar. When you lay the bar over the shocks...holes are off by about 1/2". To get it to fit you have to jack up one side on the car..then the holes get close enough to get the bar on. The way these bars work is they put pressure spreading the body. Not sure if the Cusco bar does that.
As far as knowing if it helped....I hadn't driven the car enough to be familiar with any change.
What stinks( or doesn't) is my car tracked 100% straight before and didn't exhibit any of the wheel shake I have read about. So bar may have been not needed...but I am sure it stiffened things up. I will probably still do the coilovers. For $235 I am happy as it looks cool if nothing else.
My next challenge is to mod the black plastic covers to work. You can see in the last photo..doesn't look real finished...and I am **** about those kinds of things.
This video of a gen5 camaro coupe without a bar. Surprised at how much the towers move. On the camaro convertible, the strut brace is standard. You're going to feel a difference. On in stall , generally you remove the 3 bolts holding the strut on one side. Then raise that side of the car . Till the studs are barely sticking out of the tower. The put the bar on the other side. Put the nuts on loosely. Then put the bar down on the side you raised. It should sit just right. Then lower the car slowly, and tighten all the nuts. It won't sit straight down on the studs otherwise, because the studs are at an angle.
No rubbing at all. It is a tight fit with the hole alignment...but that is a good thing.
I watched the video coleroad posted and this video spooled after. It is very informative on how a strut bar works and also explains Macpherson strut function...which is nice.
When I started shopping for my SC I read numerous reports about somewhat adverse handling in certain instances...two things that stood out were...a loose steering wheel over bumps...and did like to hold a steady line on the highway. I factored that in when I bought my car and decided it would need coilover suspension...poly bushings...and maybe a bit of stiffening of the chassis.
I had read about the front shock tower bars and had excellent experience with a rear bar on a previous car. I looked at the bolt together Cusco bar and the welded Carbing bar. Decided welded would be more rigid and that was what I wanted. I found it on Option autos website and it stated 2-3 month delivery...so I ordered it right away thinking I would be ready to tackle some mods in a few months. Little did I know it would ship immediately. The bar $220 plus $15 shipping.
I put the bar on this morning and glad I had experience installing one before. The instructions were in Japanese and if I didn't know...I would have thought it was the wrong bar. When you lay the bar over the shocks...holes are off by about 1/2". To get it to fit you have to jack up one side on the car..then the holes get close enough to get the bar on. The way these bars work is they put pressure spreading the body. Not sure if the Cusco bar does that.
As far as knowing if it helped....I hadn't driven the car enough to be familiar with any change.
What stinks( or doesn't) is my car tracked 100% straight before and didn't exhibit any of the wheel shake I have read about. So bar may have been not needed...but I am sure it stiffened things up. I will probably still do the coilovers. For $235 I am happy as it looks cool if nothing else.
My next challenge is to mod the black plastic covers to work. You can see in the last photo..doesn't look real finished...and I am **** about those kinds of things.
When you installed yours did you remove the OEM spacer plate . I installed Toms Racing tower bar and it required you to remove the OEM plates. The toms unit is fully welded and fit directly on with out raising the car Just bolt on . I saved my original black plastic covers incase I want to go back to OEM if I sell my car in the future
When you installed yours did you remove the OEM spacer plate . I installed Toms Racing tower bar and it required you to remove the OEM plates. The toms unit is fully welded and fit directly on with out raising the car Just bolt on . I saved my original black plastic covers incase I want to go back to OEM if I sell my car in the future
Since my instructions were in Japanese...wasn't sure...decided to leave the stock base plate in place. I am saving my plastic covers as well for the same reason. But I did order a couple of replacements off ebay....$10 ea shipped...that I am going to try and mod/cut to fit...just to finish the look.
I have a Cusco and I did not remove my spacers. Also make sure you torque your bolts to 40 ft-lbs, which is the recommended torque.
I may have a slight rubbing, so I will try to remove my spacer and see if it makes a difference. The reason I believe I have rubbing is that I am beginning to see some dulling on the corners.
02-23-17, 03:16 PM
My first Mod Carbing strut bar
