I see some vendors online selling this bar. Does anybody know if this will work with the Fit's we have here without modifications. Online they only mention GK5. Also, I never noticed this before recently but when I examined the engine bay the other day looking for the strut towers, they seem to be covered with a plastic molding on our Fit's. I haven't tried to take it out. Is it easy to remove and place back ?

 

I think the way this car is setup is that a front strut tower bar really wouldn't do anything. You have the firewall right in between them which is a pretty sturdy portion of the car.

 

I suspect this as well. Testing it would help but I haven't figured out how yet.

I might pick one up and install it on my car, but leave the bolt out on one side that attached the crossbar to the bracket. Mark it with something like tape and then go rip around for a bit. If there's any evidence of deflection, broken, scored, torn tape etc then it will help. If there's no tower deflection it's useless.

 

Get the sway bar first. Biggest improvement you can get aside from a good tire package.

 

Exactly. To me, the Fit understeers. The front strut tower bar would just increase that. I have a progressive rear sway bar on order and I can't wait to change the dynamics.

 

I tried to have this installed yesterday and the shop didn't know how to go about it. I purchased it from Axion Industries. The instructions was in Chinese/Japanese.

I showed the shop pics of it installed on a GK5 from online a couple of online pics but they weren't helpful. I really don't remember when I purchased this since it was sitting in my basement and I found it looking for something else. I was having this installed yesterday along with a Progress Sway Bar I received on Thursday.

If anyone has instructions for installation for this, feel free to post. I'll probably install this myself and it can't be that difficult. I'll work on it when it gets warmer out.

BTW: For reference purposes, I weighed it. The Tanabe Sustec strut bar weighs 4.8lbs (2.18kg).

Tanabe USA R&D Blog | Honda Fit

 

BTW: Looking on J's Racing Japan site, they have a strut tower bar that doesn't seem to be directly linked/connected to the strut towers itself. It is...somewhat.

 

I thought the strut towers are actually tucked closer to the firewall and hidden by a plastic piece. You can see in these threads where a mouse made quite the nest:

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...ware-mice.html

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...2061-mice.html

I think that's where the front strut bar mounts

 

Thank you for providing the links to those pics. I'll take a look at the car tomorrow.

 

Tried to install the bar earlier today. It looks like it is a little more involved than I thought. I removed a couple of pieces underneath the windshield wipers but I still could not get a full view on where the plates connect too. I didn't want to dig in to much further. I'm careful about these things. It may have only taken a couple of pieces more to remove to access the holes but I'll tackle this when I have a long day.

I'm very slow when installing things I'm not familiar with, never rushing. This isn't a five minute job, at least it doesn't appear to me.

Looking at the pics again, I can't see where the holes are from where the pics look like they should be. I'll look again tomorrow. The pics doesn't seem like you should have to go that far back, underneath the windshield wipers.

 

It requires no removal of any hardware to install. It DOES improve steering feel and response. Less body roll. I haven't done any other suspension mods, and recommend it, particularly with how affordable it is.

 

Ok! Any pointers or help? I had a shop look at it and I looked at it and can't figure it out. I'd like to do this, this weekend if possible. Any pics of yours installed?

If not, could you take pics of how you have it installed? In particular a close up of both sides where the bar is bolted too. Thanks in advance.

***If you don't know how to post up a pic, you can send it to my email address*** PM me for details.

 

Not a problem brother. I'll post pics for all.

 

So the black brace goes over the hole directly in front of the guard over the strut tower.
The bent portion actually goes to the outside of a brace under the front quarter. It doesn't actually connect to the strut tower anywhere. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

Thanks for the mounting pictures. Odd that they can even call it a strut brace when it doesn't connect to the strut lol

 

Huge thanks for the pictures. I'll try mounting them on Monday. Temps is going to be between 0 and -20 between now and tomorrow night.

The pics should be able to help out a lot. Accessing underneath that brace looks difficult though.

 

Yeah, it's not the easiest. I HIGHLY suggest putting down a bowl or a rag underneath to catch anything if you drop it.

 

why does that look like a terrible design.

 

Finally got this damn piece installed. I couldn't have done it without you DannyJ7. Thanks bro!





Please take DannyJ7's advice on putting something underneath where you will be screwing in the bolts. You need a high level of dexterity to get those four tiny bolts in. Once you figure the first one or two out, you are good. Also, DO NOT try to install this when it is cold out. Cold hands + those tiny bolts = Bad Combo.


It does doesn't it? I know nothing about suspension mods and such. It's interesting to see that more than one manufacturer mounts this in the same darn place. It looks cosmetic to me. DannyJ7 stated it improves steering response and feel as well as less body roll. I'm going to go with experience on this one.

 

My pleasure bro. I think it's a misnomer to call it a strut brace...its more like a torsion bar. Adds some structural rigidity to the front where it sorely needed some. For $100, it's a worthwhile mod.