RXtony

OK guys, here's my question, I bought a cheaper strut bar off eBay not to long ago, I have had a electrical problem with the car ever since I bought it. The car was blowing the 80 amp main fuse.

Well found out the alternator was bad, and have a new one coming. I noticed the other day that my strut bar is actually touching the alternator. Could that cause the alternator to short out? The alternator was already bad before I put the bar on so I am not sure if the bar will affect the alternator or not.

Thanks

incendui

if its just touching the housing, it shouldnt cause a problem. if you get a shorter alternator belt, it shouldnt hit though. If youre talking about the "Bomz" bar, I have it on and it fits fine. Im going to say its a 31cm belt, but i might be off.

RXtony

OK thanks, I'll look into a shorter belt just incase it does cause any problems.

Icemark

The bar shouldn't affect the alt, Unless you have a bad engine ground or bad alt ground to the engine, but you don't want them touching anyway.

The other thing you might try doing is lengthing the bar slightly (like 3/16" inch or so) on each end. It will bow slightly more, but will gove you the clearance.

I have also been know to use a wooden spacer between the bar and alt when fitting the strut bar. You (of course) should remove the wooden spacer before starting the car.

RXtony

Thanks, I'll try that as soon as I get my new alt in

i8acobra

just get a shorter belt, i did, and it works fine now ;-)

SPDST3R

I got a 30" for mine and it was a big gap from the alternator. But watch out for the filler cap. I took my strut bar off because it was hitting my filler cap and one night when I was driving, the cap came off and coolant spilled all over my engine. I think, I'm gonna go with other brand.

Icemark

What brand were you using???

Another reason they hit sometimes is that the frame is bent and was never corrected when straightened.