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View Poll Results: Ebay strut tower brace: Crap or Not Crap?
Yes! Get the $10 ebay strut bar you cheap bastard!
36
49.32%
No! It sucks, you cheap bastard! Get a $100+ one!
27
36.99%
Dude, just get beer. Neither of them make much of a difference.
10
13.70%
Voters: 73. You may not vote on this poll

ebay strut tower brace: Crap or Not Crap?

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Old 01-06-04, 11:52 AM
  #26  
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Originally posted by 86GXL
I went for arospeed. Looks great and handles better.
I don't care much for your NEON, but I might look into arospeed strut bar. Looks really rigid. Did you have to do anything around alt? Looks like it has good clearance from what I see in the pic.
Old 01-06-04, 06:33 PM
  #27  
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Originally posted by BLACK ROCKET
I don't care much for your NEON, but I might look into arospeed strut bar. Looks really rigid. Did you have to do anything around alt? Looks like it has good clearance from what I see in the pic.
Yeah it has good clearance but it does barely tap the hood when it shuts. I get goop from that crap on the underside of the hood all over the bar.
Old 01-06-04, 09:15 PM
  #28  
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I saw a lot of them on Ebay at starting price 1.99..... I'd say crap. Buy a name brand before you sell out for cheap products.
Old 01-23-04, 07:50 AM
  #29  
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My friend had bought one for his 240 and the thing was total crap. As soon as he got it he put it on his car and the damn thing didn't fit right. It sat so close to the valve cover that it now has a dent or something in it. Plus the thing is so flimsy. Honestly I think that thing was rice. All show, no go...
Old 01-23-04, 08:03 AM
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I put one of those $19 ebay bars on a car i bought to fix and sell... it was a solid aluminum bar, with drilled holes in the middle and banjo bolts in the ends. it had a crappy polish job, but i fixed that right quick (gotta have some bling when you are baiting High School Kids into biting on an RX!!!) The only real problem i had with it was the shock tower mounts... they were stamped out of cheap steel and i had to use a die grinder on 'em to get them to fit the bolt pattern right. adjusting it was a pain in the ***, because of the stupid banjo bolts instead of real slack adjusters (IE, you couldn't bolt the bar on and THEN, adjust the slack out of it, you had to keep taking it of and on) BUT, for 19 bucks... hell ....it actually worked, the car felt better through quick turns. just remember to jack the front of the car up before you put on of those on, or you'll never get it right!!!!!!

Last edited by YearsOfDecay; 01-23-04 at 08:07 AM.
Old 01-23-04, 11:49 AM
  #31  
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i ordered one
Old 01-23-04, 12:00 PM
  #32  
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Requesting link to $10 ebay bar.
Old 01-23-04, 01:27 PM
  #33  
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like I said before i have a polished toucan industries bar for sale it is BRAND NEW IN THE BOX $55 shipped in the us!!!!!
Old 01-23-04, 06:58 PM
  #34  
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u ghet what u pay for, fitting might be a pain in the *** but it does make the car stiffer nonetheless
Old 01-24-04, 06:42 AM
  #35  
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I gotta agree with dorifc3s, you really do get what you pay for. If you compared a cusco or racing beat to the ebay ones, you'll see what I mean.

-Chris
Old 02-01-04, 11:50 AM
  #36  
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I bought one of the Autobacs braces. For the money, it works pretty well. I don't have any issues with it vibrating on the alternator, and it noticeably stiffens the front end.

DelSlow is considering one that is triangulated. These are very strong and will make a tremendous difference - more than just a regular cross-the-towers type. If you run SCCA Solo 2, check the rules very thoroughly. Street Prepared does not allow triangulated strut braces, and they can only be bolted in.
Old 02-01-04, 12:09 PM
  #37  
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It's not only about the material used, it's also about how the bar is attached to the mounting bracket and how the bracket is attached to the car. They may look the same as quality ones, but I garuntee you that a name has r&d time invested. These things look like crap. The connections don't look good at all, so it looks like it won't transfer anything. and it is also about where you put the connections, and how they are in relation to the mounts. Geometry has a lot to do with it, certain shapes control load better than others. In my opinion I would spend the 10 bucks on food or something else cause this is just going to sit on the car and do nothing.

- Steiner
Old 02-01-04, 12:11 PM
  #38  
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I ordered one a while back and paid for it but never recieved it
Old 02-01-04, 02:12 PM
  #39  
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i got one off ebay, works fine. screw paying more than $20 for a damn peice of metal.
Old 02-01-04, 02:18 PM
  #40  
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i bought the cusco front strut bar for like $190 and i also bought their rear c/f bar for $220, i think, but the prices were in those range
Old 02-01-04, 02:38 PM
  #41  
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Originally posted by DelSlow
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
Thanks for the link. I just bought the triangular front and the 4pt rear bars. All for $190 shipped! That is a good value right there. Now I can secure a sub box and amp to the rear bar as well. No worries to the box flying around back there.
Old 02-01-04, 03:45 PM
  #42  
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screw paying 20 dollars for a peice of metal. Well how much did you pay for your fc cause it's a giant peice of metal. Honestly buying that is a waste of money, it is not going to do anything, the design doesn't permit it to, all they did, was look at how a brand name had it set up and moved the weld points down further, this by no means, shows that they have done and r&d work and that they figured out how and where to attach the weld, for the best transfer of load, all they did was weld a peice of metal to a couple brackets. Name brands have invested research, and have found the best places and therefor have a strut tower bar that works, not a peice of metal cause that is what you have.

- Steiner
Old 02-01-04, 08:48 PM
  #43  
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When i bought my car it came with this...
I'm almost postive its a E-bay one.. It looks clean and i like it.... Haven't really driven it enough to see if there is a difference or not.

Old 02-01-04, 11:15 PM
  #44  
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after all the debate I happened to stumble on a 'trust' strut bar. Isn't trust associated with hks somehow? Anyway, it seems to work just fine, and the good part is I got it for 30 bucks.
Old 02-01-04, 11:58 PM
  #45  
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i thought trust is associated w/greddy
Old 02-02-04, 07:45 AM
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Trust is the same as Greddy.

They changed it to fullt be caled Greddy now i think.
Old 02-02-04, 08:34 AM
  #47  
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you get what you pay for, and if you get a decent bar you wont have to punch yourself in the face every time you open your hood and see a toucan or apc or whatever under there.

Greddy= Trust
Greddy-> USA
Trust->Japan
Old 02-02-04, 08:49 AM
  #48  
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I had one of those e-bay bars. I was In a foreign parking lot doing some rewiring so I had to take It off. I layed It out on the grass and forgot It. Needless to say, the next day I remembered that I forgot It and when I went back - It was gone. I think It was a subconcious effect working here on how much I really cared about the bar.

Now, I have a brand new Cusco Front Bar. I haven't put It In yet b'c I want to put In my GReddy V-Spec FMIC Kit In first. Although I am pretty sure, but I'll ask anyway.

Will there be any fittiment Issues with the Cusco Bar and the FMIC Kit? Experiences with this setup?
Old 02-02-04, 12:49 PM
  #49  
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Greddy is still used as a brand in Japan, and so is Trust, but in US its only Greddy.
Old 02-02-04, 08:02 PM
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sweet about the greddy/trust thing, cause I got it for 30 bucks. Man I love ebay.



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