Mopar / DC Sports Rear Strut Bar *Owners Chime In*

Post by **Canada** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:15 pm

Hey Guys!

My parents gave me a set of Mopar strut tower bars (Steel, not titanium) for my Bday!

I just went and gutted my trunk today, took out all sound deadening and carpet, just left the spare and jack.

One question I had, while installing, I was able to slide the bar over the 4 studs easily, however the front most one on the driver side was very tight to the bar flange.

When I put the car in the air and tried to tightten the nuts down, I was unable to get this one to start to thread....

I took some vice grips and a rag and bent the flange out and with a little bit of hammering on the flange

I was able to thread it on.

Anyone installed one of these before and had the same problems?

Other then that, quality product, looks really good, tightened up the back end a bit too

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:47 pm

Got any pics? I'd like to see what they look like installed. Did you get both front AND rear?

Post by **Canada** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:10 pm

Gimme a few days til its nice and sunny outside Brodie, and I'll take pics for you.

FTWNeon · Post by **FTWNeon** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:26 pm

I think I had a similar problem installing my p-werks

I think it's just how the car has flexed, not a big deal.

neon2ner · Post by **neon2ner** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 10:30 am

i didn't have any problems with my DC Sport rear strut brace. i cut the carpet away from the strut towers though, i didn't gut the trunk. it does stiffen the rear up, you can feel the difference. the front however doesnt really do much but create understeer, thats why i don't have one.

p.s. that centre exit exhaust is hot dude. lovin your car.

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:10 pm

^^^ I'm guessing you're talking about me (cuz as far as I know, I'm the only one with a center-exit exhaust on here)...so if so, thanks man! I wish I had an RT like you...your car is SO sweet!

neon2ner · Post by **neon2ner** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:47 pm

yeah man im talking about your's. that exhaust is sex, seriously looks great.

getcrunk88 · Post by **getcrunk88** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:12 pm

i dont understand why you would raise the car off the ground to put on a strut bar wouldnt your struts just fall right out?? probably the reason you couldnt get the bolt on is because there was pressure on that stud making it off center

Post by **Canada** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:22 pm

Thanks for the input, but no. I tried placing it on while flat on the ground as well.

FYI. The strut tower bar only uses two of the three available bolt holding the top of the strut assembly, and even if it used all three, being attached to the rear knuckle would prevent it from falling.

The reason for raising it off the ground is to release all tension/pressure from the rear strut towers before putting the bar on, and tightening it down. When you put it back down, the strut towers try to push back together, making the rear bar effective.

getcrunk88 · Post by **getcrunk88** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:05 pm

im pretty shur it will pretty much just fall out right along with the knuckle from what i know the only thing thats holding that stuff on the car is sway bar control arm (which can pivot up and down) and the 3 bolts that keep the strut up top (im pretty shur)

neon2ner · Post by **neon2ner** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:28 pm

yeah well it probably wouldn't fall out, considering the rear sway bar is attached to the car itself and the endlinks are attached to the back of the struts. i'm sure that might hold it up...

in any event, i've never heard of raising the car up to put a strut brace on. i'd like to know where you heard that, or whether it's just one of your own ideas.

getcrunk88 · Post by **getcrunk88** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:36 pm

yea i know the sway bar is attached to the car but i would suppose it would flex enough for the 1/2 inch studs to come out of the holes and make it hard enough for 2 people to try to get it back in without bending anything and not all neons come with sways stock so it can and will fall out

Post by **Canada** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:45 pm

Regardless. There are only two nuts that have to be removed. Therefore the other one holds it.

As far as the strut bar mounting, Its something I have heard on this site, as well as common sense. If the weight of the car is pushing the towers inwards, you would want to remove said weight before forcing something between them, whose intention is to hold them apart.

getcrunk88 · Post by **getcrunk88** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:05 pm

i have never heared that in my life nor would it do anything becuase you still have a bolt attached to the strut tower and the reason they sell the bars is to strenghten the trunk area and strut towers so they dont flex under hard cornering not when your car is sitting in your driveway while your jacking it up if there was any difference you wouldn't even be able to notice it and it wont even do anything

Post by **Canada** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:12 pm

If you say so boss.

Try this when you have a few minutes.

Go out, jack rear end up, relieving all tension from rear suspension. Install strut tower bar Like I did and tighten down bolts. Lower car fully (keeping in mind, my car is lowered on Progress Springs and Tokico HP's) and then undo the bolts and try to yank up on the strut tower bar.

Chances are, you won't be able to, or you do, and it will be hard as its pressing against the bolts.

I know, I tried to do it.

getcrunk88 · Post by **getcrunk88** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:28 pm

all thats doing is puttin more stress on the struts and bar because 1 even if that did work the strut would not sit flat on the tower putting all that weight and stress on the bar and i doubt they would design it that way because 1 its weak and 2 its not safe and 3 its stupid if you do use one bolt it up when its on the ground where the suspension has some weight on it. I installed one on my friends eclipse didn't do shit and he drives like a maniac

neon2ner · Post by **neon2ner** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:18 pm

getcrunk88: ok, are you an engineer? how do you know it's not safe or it's weak?

oh, and how do you expect someone to take you seriously when your name says get crunk? quit frontin' lil jon.

if you can make some points that actually make some sense or are backed up because you've tried it, or you used some physics formulas or something, i suggest you stop trying to act smart. just because you've never heard of it doesn't mean it's not true. you sound like a know-it-all teenager. n00b.

on the other hand e-blue, i'm not sure if it would really make that much difference or not to do this. i've never heard tell of it. just because it's tigher against the strut bolts doesn't necessarily mean that it's doing a better job or not. a suspension or physics guru might be able to actually confirm this, but i'm not one so i will not try to be...unlike some people. happy modding.

scott.

Post by **Canada** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:25 pm

Thank you Scott. Next time you're down my way, we should hook up and take some shots, My brother's Neon is modded too, and I am sure there's a few more people we could convince.

And GetCrunk. I thank you for your experiences, however I am sticking with what I said, as this is my experience.

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:52 pm

getcrunk88 wrote:all thats doing is puttin more stress on the struts and bar because 1 even if that did work the strut would not sit flat on the tower putting all that weight and stress on the bar and i doubt they would design it that way because 1 its weak and 2 its not safe and 3 its stupid if you do use one bolt it up when its on the ground where the suspension has some weight on it. I installed one on my friends eclipse didn't do shit and he drives like a maniac

Ohhhhhhhhhhh damn. I guess diabl0 (who owns and runs this site) is totally wrong on this concept. Better send him a PM and tell him to re-do his rear strut tower bar.

1) If the bar is weak, it shouldn't be on the car period
2) WTF?
3) You use one bolt to hold it up, while its in the air. Our cars are unibody, everything flexes a little bit when stuf is in the air.

BTW, just because you did something with the cousin of your best friend's uncle's Eagle Talon ESI and calls it eclipse, doesn't mean it's the same on a neon.

FTWNeon · Post by **FTWNeon** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:25 pm

Keep it civil guys, don't need to turn this into a big argument.

neon2ner · Post by **neon2ner** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:37 pm

unfortunately e-blue i'm moving back to nova scotia in 5 days so i won't be able to come do a shoot with you guys. wish i had the time, but these next few days are going to be busy as hell.

scott.

getcrunk88 · Post by **getcrunk88** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:45 pm

well the reason i use getcrunk is becuase everybody i know calls me crunk its a long story. And no im not an engineer but i don't believe mechanics are either and they get by right? If you would have read what i wrote you would understand what i said by if the struts are not sitting flat it puts more stress on the bar, strut bars are not made to support the weight of the car wouldn't you say so? If i was trying to act smart i would use physics formulas, I could produce a bar of steel myself with 4 holes in it without using physics with no problem at all i was just stating basic suspension layout, i don't think you could use physics on materials that you don't know the strength or weakness of the material your testing go do a rockwell test on the steel and then do some physics for me id like to see it. And arent 99% of cars today built with unibody?? And yea i worked on more then just my best friends uncle's eagle talon esi and calls it eclipse because i am a diesel truck mechanic

EVERYBODY jack your car up in the air when your washing and waxing it it comes out shinier

gilly02le · Post by **gilly02le** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:41 pm

getcrunk88 wrote:well the reason i use getcrunk is becuase everybody i know calls me crunk its a long story. And no im not an engineer but i don't believe mechanics are either and they get by right? If you would have read what i wrote you would understand what i said by if the struts are not sitting flat it puts more stress on the bar, strut bars are not made to support the weight of the car wouldn't you say so? If i was trying to act smart i would use physics formulas, I could produce a bar of steel myself with 4 holes in it without using physics with no problem at all i was just stating basic suspension layout, i don't think you could use physics on materials that you don't know the strength or weakness of the material your testing go do a rockwell test on the steel and then do some physics for me id like to see it. And arent 99% of cars today built with unibody?? And yea i worked on more then just my best friends uncle's eagle talon esi and calls it eclipse because i am a diesel truck mechanic EVERYBODY jack your car up in the air when your washing and waxing it it comes out shinier

dude you sound like a complete moron.. You are stuck on the fact taht if you don't thnik its the truth.. then its wrong.. take a hint bud, everyone here is telling YOU, YOUR WRONG.... so just let it go, its apparent you don't know how suspension works... i guess thats why rally cars have strut braces ehh? cuz there so unsafe? what a douche...

Mr Josh Zombie · Post by **Mr Josh Zombie** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:40 pm

I love this place...

Anyways, when I installed my front strut brace, I have to play with that little flange thingy too to get it to fit. No worries.

I'm also one to jack my car in the air, THEN put on the strut bar. Same with glasswars, diablo0, and several others....

Why do I do it? Becuase it just makes sense to me. No other reason.

getcrunk88 · Post by **getcrunk88** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:44 pm

Ok im the moron for wondering wtf people are thinking jacking their cars up in the air to put a strut bar on until you can give me proof that it actually makes a diffrence your just as much as a moron as i am. i could mabey understand jacking your car up for an adjustable bar after you install it and gillyo2le ur a dip shit for not understanding what i meant after i cleared it up 2x if you would have learned how to read i said that "the reason they sell the bars is to strenghten the trunk area and strut towers so they dont flex under hard cornering not when your car is sitting in your driveway while your jacking it up if there was any difference you wouldn't even be able to notice it and it wont even do anything" -If there was any diffrence from jacking up your car to put it on or not, you would feel and see a diffrence, if you cant prove that it makes a diffrence then who said its right to do? just to remind your dumb ass we are debating on whether its better to jack your car up while putting on a strut bar not if they are effective we already know they are effective, just a reminder for ya there bud

Post by **Canada** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:54 pm

getcrunk88 wrote:Ok im the moron for wondering wtf people are thinking jacking their cars up in the air to put a strut bar on until you can give me proof that it actually makes a diffrence your just as much as a moron as i am.

Ummmm...

EclecticBlue wrote:
Try this when you have a few minutes.

Go out, jack rear end up, relieving all tension from rear suspension. Install strut tower bar Like I did and tighten down bolts. Lower car fully (keeping in mind, my car is lowered on Progress Springs and Tokico HP's) and then undo the bolts and try to yank up on the strut tower bar.

Chances are, you won't be able to, or you do, and it will be hard as its stiff against the strut towers.

I know, I tried to do it.

getcrunk88 · Post by **getcrunk88** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:23 pm

i can see what your saying but that really isn't good evidence that it does anything at all for performance or that it makes the bar work better its just saying that its tighter when its on the ground when the 4 bolts are out i would suppose that stuff would move a bit more since its not bolted down puttin pressure on the bar because its the only thing there to hold it from flexing (because the bolts arent there to hold it anymore)

Post by **Canada** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:12 pm

Its holding the strut towers apart and preventing suspension flex. Thats about all its supposed to do. And look pretty. I'd say its doing it's job.

Wisher2 · Post by **Wisher2** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 4:00 am

It actually says to do that on vibrants website. Like everyone else is saying when you lift the car it takes pressure off the suspension and allows it to spread apart without all the stress of the weight of the car. You then install the bar. With the bar in place you lower the car back down and that bar now does not allow the suspension to flex back to where it previously was. now with the slightly stiffened chassis you may be able to to push your car .00001 more on the g pad. In all seriousness now that the suspension is fully seperated it cannot flex in where as if you did not lift the car and seperate it and just installed it with the pressure of the weight of the car and the suspension already max flexed in then adding the bar will absolutely do nothing but look cool. I dont know if that makes sense but that is not the Theory but FACT behind this whole lifting ordeal oh and by the way.....

getcrunk88.... being a Deisel Technician dosent mean you know anything about cars. Just because you can turn a wrench dosent make you any more knowledgeable on passenger vehicles or their suspension components

gilly02le · Post by **gilly02le** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 1:41 pm

LOL jokes.. getcrunk88, RELAX.. you are the one who came here with no proof or evidence.. seemingly just to argue with people, who do infact own the strut braces..(i own both dc front and rear) And yes.. it does make a difference when you put the braces on, when the car is jacked up.. on my car if i put them on with it sitting on the tires.. it doesnt seem to feel any different.. but if i put them on when its jacked up.. and lower it.. i can defiantly feel a positive difference in both the front and rear.. What EclecticBlue is say is exactly what happens, when i install my braces with my car off the ground.. they dont come off after you install em, not easily.. haha

2GN.ORG

Mopar / DC Sports Rear Strut Bar Owners Chime In

Mopar / DC Sports Rear Strut Bar Owners Chime In