Quote:
Originally Posted by fit4kris
Nice write up bro.
Yes, I did get the Tanabe pieces, mainly because this is only my second japanese car and I want to be pseudo-JDM even if it is cheaper than the others. Plus I got all of the same products and I like dealing with one manufacturer.
Needless to say, I actually got to come home from Colombia for a few hours this past weekend to see my kids and to pay some bills. I saw the goodies in the garage and looked at everything. The one thing is that the hardware seems better than what you described of A-Spec's and the finish on the bars seem great. I didn't get a chance to mess with anything as I said, I literally had a few hours, but I suspect I may reconsider. Just for the simple fact that the brackets seem silly. The same as the A-Spec's and not your traditional "Tie to strut's together". More like connect small bolts on towers...Where they don't even touch the struts. Understandable because of the design of the struts but nonetheless, different for me at least.
I should be back in April and I will get the goodies on. I am kind of sad about the drop on the springs once I read AFTER I ordered them, but I don't plan on getting anything larger than a 16" rim so it should fill the left over gap nicely.
I will say that the aesthetics of the Tanabe trump the A-Spec. I am not a fan of the anodized redish color but it does look a little better than the bare aluminum which can get spots here and there.
Nice write up though and I hope to have my book complete in a month as well!  Take care.
kris |
Hi Kris-
I agree that if these bars are really necessary, in order to REALLY work, they should fasten directly to the strut studs, just like they do on the rear struts. Bolting big honkin' steel brackets to the tops of little tin cans that hold the struts seems like a waste of time.
I
do like the
idea of pre-loading the struts. But to make the pre-load
adjustable, you would have to make the bar itself in three pieces. Here's my idea of a
"pre-loadable adjustable bar". Anybody who makes strut bars can have this idea for free. Hey Mugen- hey Tanabe- hey A Spec- hey Cusco---??
Machine the mounting eyes into the ends of the bar. No threads for adjusting the length. Cut the bar into two pieces dead center. Drill and tap the cut center ends, with right hand threads on the right half, left hand threads on the left half. Machine a center hex with threaded studs on both sides to fit the threaded holes in the bars. Once the bars are adjusted so that the mounting bolts are seated in the end brackets, a simple turn or two of the center hex adjuster will draw the bar ends together, toward the center, pre-loading the bar and the struts. Now you have a "
turnbuckle" style pre-loadable strut bar.
TA-DA! Take it away strut bar guys!