How To: FS Rear Strut Bar

[old_grendel]

you will need: floor jack, jack stands, tire iron, socket wrench, socket extension (to clear the strut), 17mm socket, 11/32" drill bit...another set of hands is also helpful
approx time needed: 1-1.5 hours

this was done on a 2000 zx3, however im sure most are going to be the same idea...all pics are of the drivers side


first jack up the car


remove the wheels


heres a look at the strut tower...no need to remove the fender lining


heres a closer look at the part of the tower where we'll be drilling...there should be 3 small circles in the vague shape of an inverted triangle


heres a picture of the hole we drilled w our brand new 11/32" titanium bit...ideally u want to use the circle that would be the top-left (in this pic...the closest to the front of the car)...however we had trouble fitting our drill up there due to the fenderwall...so we improvised


once the holes are drilled just line up the bar over the holes, and screw in the included hardware

then just repeat for the other side...



here are some pics of the completed install...thats really all there is to it

happy modding

[Sponsor]

[nuttypet]

Awesome How-To. I've been wanting to do this, but just wasn't sure how to go about doing it. You clear it right up for me!

[old_grendel]

a note on lining up the bar...i found that it was easiest to slide the bar in using a front-to-back motion, as opposed to top-down, or back-to-front...hope that makes sense

also, in hindsight i highly recommend marking off the drilling points from the inside of the trunk and drilling a pilot hole out...that way you're sure to get it exactly level and even

[cassa]

very clear and concise intructions grendel.

um....the only problem is, is that i have no idea what a rear strut bar is....but i enjoyed looking at the pictures!

[BeeFzX3]

Bump...this should be added to the how-to section...there are many posts asking for this.

[old_grendel]

Originally Posted by BeeFzX3

Bump...this should be added to the how-to section...there are many posts asking for this.

there is already one posted in the how-to archive that apparently s2 likes better than mine ;) but thank you for the compliment lol...CLICK HERE for the thread in the how-to

[Weldman0730]

just fyi if your ever working on a car that is up in the air you should definatly use jackstands or wooden blocks, dont know if you did, but its probably a good idea to specify that, so no one gets crushed or hurt if the car falls, and yes i know you dont really need to go under the car for the install, but if the car falls someones foot could get smashed...

Looks great though, you did a very good job, very professional looking, how much did it affect the handling?

[focusguy87]

Originally Posted by Weldman0730

just fyi if your ever working on a car that is up in the air you should definatly use jackstands or wooden blocks, dont know if you did, but its probably a good idea to specify that, so no one gets crushed or hurt if the car falls, and yes i know you dont really need to go under the car for the install, but if the car falls someones foot could get smashed...

Looks great though, you did a very good job, very professional looking, how much did it affect the handling?

He is using wooden blocks did you see the first picture?

[Weldman0730]

Originally Posted by focusguy87

He is using wooden blocks did you see the first picture?

that might be one of those locking roller jacks, but I mean that they(wooden blocks or jackstands) should be placed underneither the car's axles or anyplace other than where the jack is so if the jack fails the car doesn't come crashing down. Like I said too, Im not criticizing him, in fact I think he did a great job, Im just saying that so if other people who dont know much about cars try to do this, they stand less of a chance of getting hurt, I recently saw some dudes car fall off of jacks, when someone leaned on the car, luckily no one was hurt.

[Spinal]

nice how to and hot damn that subframe is rusty lol.