ebay strut tower brace: Crap or Not Crap?
 

well, $10 ebay strut bar. Anybody have one? Should I get one, or should I get a better Mazdatrix type or similar? Or should I just spend the money on beer?

I say get it. Come on, its 10 bucks. What can you buy for 10 bucks anymore?:)

I'm just wondering if anyone has actually bought one (if they will even admit to it) and if it works or not.

crap

I bought a BOMZ ebay trut bar a while ago. I think it made a little difference in the steering response... I noticed more of a difference after I took it off than when I first put it on.

but I'm sure other bars would be much better.

but hell, for $10, why not? you could try and modify it to make it stronger, or give it more mounting points, like to the firewall or something.

just an idea.

The only thing you will have to worry about really is fitiment. Its just a bar, one bar isnt going to add noticable rigidity over the other. The $10 one might not have as high of quality, but the performance will be pretty much the same. Now if you got one that also connects to the firewall, then that would make a difference.

Cheap bastard.:p:

Just look at the mounting brackets of those things and try to tell me they aren't a complete POS. I'm personally saving for a Corksport bar.

didn't we already have a thread like this one?


In any case I have an A-spec or Autobacs front strut tower brace bar. It works ok but I am never buying a hunk of junk like it again. :D Next time I am busting out for the RB brace.

I went for arospeed. Looks great and handles better.
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...08_55_full.jpg

I got an Autobacs one off of ebay a few weeks ago. Its actually pretty solidly constructed. The bar itself is solid aluminum, and the brackets are pretty damn thick. Wasn't anything shitty like I was led to believe on here.

Get the $10 one and weld it in. That should make it stiffer.

I like the construction on the MS units. Excellent build.

Crap....

as to reference of the rice thing. I would guess a 10 buck cheapie would have more flex upon great lateral strain. I don't really see a reason to not get that one, but you might want to try a more umm proven one out. But for 10 bucks hey. I bought a short shifter for my 98 civic beater, it was cheap and it works.

and btw its your car, so if someone thinks its rice jus flip them off. but seriously green? doesn't go with your paint. anywho...

Why do you need a good quality strut tower bar?

PRELOAD ADJUSTMENT

without preload adjustment, putting on most of these 10 dollar ebay bars will show no improvement in handling.

Installing a good tower bar, the difference is night and day.

Quality of materials used is also important. There are dozens of STB that look like that AROSPEED (brand X, Matrix, etc etc etc) but they are all made by the same taiwanese manufacturer, using crap materials.

PRELOAD PRELOAD PRELOAD (especially before installing)

I had to file clearance around the bottom edge of the pillow block hole.
Other than that, quality fit & finish were quite good.

http://208.62.166.66/guest/pics/91TI... STB + TBs.JPG

For $10 I bought one. I'm a cheap bastard when it comes to my FC (not so the FD)
It fit ok with a little work. You can adjust the ends so that there is no slop under static conditions.
For $10 it was well worth it. It's not he best of quality
but again for $10..Cmon! I spend more than that on freakin lunch!
Crispy

i was gonna get one - but at $55 to ship to the UK , its not cheap :(

CP Racing makes a triangulated strut bar that bolts to the firewall as well, i think im going to get it, its only $99 shipped. anyone have one of these? the rear strut bar looks decent too

I bought the ebay one a couple months ago. it was around $40 after shipping.

I think it was a Bomz or Autobacs.

I noticed a big difference when I took it off. It does help stiffen up the car. Probably not as much as a bar designed for our cars but it did it's job for cheap.

The one problem I had was that the bar rubbed on the Alternator a small amount.

I plan to get a Racingbeat one once I get the TII conversion done.

The one I have was pretty good construction too. Very minor fitment mod on a bolt hole on the brace but other than that it droppped right in.

I do, and the construction is top notch. The only problem is that it will enterfere with the stock clutch fan, so you will either have to trim it or go E-fan. Triangulation provides get rigidity over just a regular bar.

you cant go wrong with cusco.

The world is going to RICE! Why oh WHy!!

Those strut bars are terrible. I was GIVEN one for free once by a freind that never used it and when i installed it my entire car was vibrating because the strut bar would hit the alternator under accelration.

LOL...and this makes it terrible?
I used one washer under each mounting plate hole when I installed mine...to clear the alternator. Not rocket science here...cmon have a little imagination!

Crispy

I got a toucan INdustries bar for sale..I'll ship it to anywhere in the cont usa for $55 shipped.. way better quality then the ebay one.......