upper strut bar question

[js593]

I have the opurtunaty to get an upper strut bar, however its from a 89-91 Civic/CRX. Does anyone know if this has the same bolt pattern on the struts as ours? Its ajustable as well.
Thanks

[cali-racer]

no

[js593]

Is there a reason it wont fit? Because of the bolt pattern? If need be i can always drill out 2 holes.. its not that hard for me to do.

[Shadow1]

dont alter the form of the strut bar. doing so you'll mess up the intgrety of the strut bar and thus void the reason of having it. just get one that made for your car.

[cali-racer]

Is there a reason it wont fit? Because of the bolt pattern? If need be i can always drill out 2 holes.. its not that hard for me to do.

besides that, i think it comes up short.

[jhnyct]

With as cheap as you can score a strut bar on ebay, just get one that fits your application.

[cali-racer]

With as cheap as you can score a strut bar on ebay, just get one that fits your application.

^ lol there ya go

[js593]

as much as i would like to, those things ship for alot up here. Then on top of that duty kills us with a minimum 30$ chrge.. its bullshit... thats why im trying to find alternatives.

[camdizawg]

as much as i would like to, those things ship for alot up here. Then on top of that duty kills us with a minimum 30$ chrge.. its bullshit... thats why im trying to find alternatives.

like the other ppl said you may have fitment issues due to it being shorter. but they are adjustable so you can prolly use it you need to find how far it can be adjusted to and compare that to the distance of the strut tower on the cb7. if the holes dont line up you can drill holes i dont think that would mess up integrity of the bar itself.


hope that helps

[johnl]

Personally I'd avoid Ebay strut bars or any bars not known to be very rigid. This rigidity includes the rigidity of the mounting brackets as well, as if these are prone to flexure then it won't really matter how rigid the bar itself may be the unit as a whole will be too soft to work properly.

Look for thickness of metal in the 'ring' that fits over the top of the strut tower, this must be of adequately thick metal (5mm thick would be good). If this looks flimsy then it most likely is. Most bars I've seen appear to have adequately rigid bars, but are let down by the rigidity of the brackets, and thus can't work as well as they ought to.

I have home made strut bars on my CB7, with beefy mounting brackets, and find they make a very noticable difference to response and a general feeling of chassis stiffness (you really notice this if you have to take them off for any reason). A strong rear bar makes a noticable difference to understeer, and front or rear will tend to work more noticably the stiffer your general suspension set up is. Good rigid strut bar assemblies work well, flimsy ones don't, which is I suspect why many people think their strut bars are great and others think they do little or nothing....

If you have a strut brace with brackets that are not rigid enough then you could add metal to the bracket base ring by making another thicker ring and welding the existing thinner ring on top of the new thicker ring. The 'arms' that reach up to the bar itself from the ring should also be 'beefy'.

If you think the Civic strut bar brackets will fit over the top of the CB7 struts with only hole modification, then so long as the bracket is adequately reinforced I don't think the surplus holes will be a real issue, but they will weaken the structure to some degree so extra thick on the reinforcement wouldn't hurt (at least 5mm thick extra plating should be well stiff enough).

Of course the bar itself will need to be long enough, but if it isn't then you could cut the ends off and telescope some larger tube over the cut off ends and weld it up, with the new section of larger tube being as long as reasonably possible. This will give a larger OD to the bar and increase it's rigidity in compression. It is very important that the bar be rigid in compression.

Of course if you just want a strut bar for show and don't care much whether or not it actually does anything, then fit whatever rubbish you can cobble together.

[mozzandherb]

Personally I'd avoid Ebay strut bars or any bars not known to be very rigid. This rigidity includes the rigidity of the mounting brackets as well, as if these are prone to flexure then it won't really matter how rigid the bar itself may be the unit as a whole will be too soft to work properly.

Look for thickness of metal in the 'ring' that fits over the top of the strut tower, this must be of adequately thick metal (5mm thick would be good). If this looks flimsy then it most likely is. Most bars I've seen appear to have adequately rigid bars, but are let down by the rigidity of the brackets, and thus can't work as well as they ought to.

I have home made strut bars on my CB7, with beefy mounting brackets, and find they make a very noticable difference to response and a general feeling of chassis stiffness (you really notice this if you have to take them off for any reason). A strong rear bar makes a noticable difference to understeer, and front or rear will tend to work more noticably the stiffer your general suspension set up is. Good rigid strut bar assemblies work well, flimsy ones don't, which is I suspect why many people think their strut bars are great and others think they do little or nothing....

If you have a strut brace with brackets that are not rigid enough then you could add metal to the bracket base ring by making another thicker ring and welding the existing thinner ring on top of the new thicker ring. The 'arms' that reach up to the bar itself from the ring should also be 'beefy'.

If you think the Civic strut bar brackets will fit over the top of the CB7 struts with only hole modification, then so long as the bracket is adequately reinforced I don't think the surplus holes will be a real issue, but they will weaken the structure to some degree so extra thick on the reinforcement wouldn't hurt (at least 5mm thick extra plating should be well stiff enough).

Of course the bar itself will need to be long enough, but if it isn't then you could cut the ends off and telescope some larger tube over the cut off ends and weld it up, with the new section of larger tube being as long as reasonably possible. This will give a larger OD to the bar and increase it's rigidity in compression. It is very important that the bar be rigid in compression.

Of course if you just want a strut bar for show and don't care much whether or not it actually does anything, then fit whatever rubbish you can cobble together.

Sounds like you've done your research...do you make strut bars for other people, or was it just a one time thing for your car?

[johnl]

Sounds like you've done your research...do you make strut bars for other people, or was it just a one time thing for your car?

One-off for my own car. But if anyone approached me I'm willing to do it for real cash! Ontario may be a bit far from me here in Australia though, haven't been there since I was six years old!

If you've got a deal of experience designing and making stuctural parts, have an understanding of what a strut bar does, how it does it and an inkling of the likely forces involved then it's not that hard to surmise that many strut bars are less than perfect just from looking at them.

Frankly, IMO a lot of strut bar manufacurer's only concerns are that the bar is cheap to make and looks the part, and thus will sell easily, whether it works or not doesn't seem a major concern. Either that or they just don't understand what they're doing.

[Shadow1]

Frankly, IMO a lot of strut bar manufacurer's only concerns are that the bar is cheap to make and looks the part, and thus will sell easily, whether it works or not doesn't seem a major concern. Either that or they just don't understand what they're doing.

that will go for the companies on ebay. but companies like Neuspeed, APEXi, HKS, and other companies that make them put real R&D into their products. they dont just make a part for suspension or power and then mass produce it. thats why so many parts on ebay arent reliable. they dont make it for the reason of helping the tuner. they just make it for the money.

if you look at Neuspeeds and PasswordJDM design both are designed to actually look kind of like part of the chassis itself. id trust those companies before i trust a company from ebay or from a shop that custom makesthem(no offence )

[johnl]

that will go for the companies on ebay. but companies like Neuspeed, APEXi, HKS, and other companies that make them put real R&D into their products. they dont just make a part for suspension or power and then mass produce it. thats why so many parts on ebay arent reliable. they dont make it for the reason of helping the tuner. they just make it for the money.

if you look at Neuspeeds and PasswordJDM design both are designed to actually look kind of like part of the chassis itself. id trust those companies before i trust a company from ebay or from a shop that custom makesthem(no offence )

I don't mean to imply that you can't buy good products off the shelf, just that there seem to be a lot of cars fitted with junk. I've read on forums too many times statements like 'just get the Ebay ones, they look OK and strut bars don't really do anything anyway'. Well no, not if you get the Ebay ones they don't!

I guarantee you that my home made strut bars are at least as rigid as the best off the shelf products I've seen and not overly heavy either (though probably a bit heavier than most, not that a couple of kg is any real concern for what they give back). I can't guarantee though that they are quite as pretty(!), but they do look well constructed and purposeful.