Well, haven't got my parts yet...I just ordered today. But Alex and I played phone tag and I got my Tanabe goodies ordered for a ridiculous price shipped to my door!

I will be posting HOW-TO's and pics, as well as a review of service for the following once they arrive:

Tanabe Front strut bar
Tanabe rear strut bar
Tanabe under brace
Tanabe springs (forgot off hand which ones I ordered)

Should be a fairly easy install and take just a couple of hours. Would be nice to see how things work with these parts. Really want some coilovers as I hate the noise just springs bring, but those will come later. Maybe trade everything for Cusco once their line is more accessible on the market.

Thanks again.

kris

 

Sounds cool, looking forward to hearing about the front brace. If you haven't installed anything yet, I recommend that you install the lower brace first to see the effects and tell us the respose. It might be the most underappreciated part on the site so far.

And does your sig say Coc* perfection? ........hahahaha

 

LOL...No! That is the Glock logo!

 

fit4kris-
PLEASE post install info. on the front strut bar. I was leaning toward Tanabe because of their adjustable pre-load feature, but bought the A- Spec brand instead because their rep. said that theirs had the same adjustability. He lied. I may buy the Tanabe bar in the future.

Also, the supplied nuts & bolts from A-Spec are extremely cheap quality and will be a rust problem in the future. I am curious about this hardware from Tanabe. A-Spec supplied tiny (3/8" o.d.) washers and plain hex nuts (not locking nuts like "nylock") that go on the underside of the strut towers). I hope that you will receive larger "fender washers" (1" o.d. or so) and lock nuts. There will be considerable vibration on these nuts, and non-lock nuts will eventually fall off.

I sent an Email to Tanabe asking about their supplied hardware and have not received an answer, so I hope that you will describe the hardware and adjusting methods for the pre-load once you get your front bar installed.

Thanks in advance for your info.---
Dave

 

No worries. I too talked to A-Spec but I think the deal was better on the Tanabe stuff. Plus I wanted all the suspension bits from one company. I dunno. I am just weird like that.

I will definitely get pictures and a write up when they all come in.

Kris

 

Thanks a lot in advance! To solve the potential rust issues with the installation bolts of the A-Spec bar, I will countersink the bolt holes in the bar's end brackets, and will replace the cheap socket head cap screws with flat head stainless steel 1/4-20 machine screws and nylock nuts. I already threw away the tiny supplied washers and replaced them with 1" o.d. fender washers, and I used lock washers under the supplied hex nuts. I am betting that your Tanabe hardware will be better quality than A-Spec. Maybe not stainless steel but properly sized, with provisions to keep the nuts from vibrating off the car.

Dave

 

You get what you pay for. You paid half the price of the higher end brand. I'm happy with the ASpec bars. Although I haven't really messed with it after installing it. I want to see if I can adjust it to be more tight. Just haven't gotten around to it. But for now, it's tight enough and i'm rockin the corners.

I'd like to see a DIY thread on the Tanabe springs. I'm betting you got the GF210's. Those are the ones I'm about to order. I just need to know how to properly do the rear springs.

-Tomi

 

I currently own the front and rear strut bars from curcuit sports found on Modacar.com's website. These were very high quality with powdercoating and polished finish. I used the hardware supplied for the front which bolts to the tower behind the strut mount and the rear just bolts using the strut mount.

These were the cheapest ones with a brand name I could find and after a year of racing it, they havent needed tightening once. Very happy with them and they're orange which match my fujita intake, it looks like I planned it that way.

 

Yeah...I got the GF's. I had them on the Evo and while the ride was a little rougher than what I wanted, it shouldn't be too bad on this thing. I will see if I can find pictures of the stitches but I almost cut off my thumb with a razor when I was cutting the bumpstop on the Evo struts. Bad ju ju right there. I will be more than careful this time around.

I am also going to try to find a way to keep the strut tower covers in place with a little trimming on the rear. Again, I will have a decent write up.

The A-Spec seemed nice and the guy I talked to there was super cool, but again, I am goofy and I wanted everything to be the same. I am actually probably only doing some suspension bits on this and MAYBE an intake. I like having a quiet car but want it to handle decently.

The ol SRT-4! Evolution revolution!

Those are my old cars. Not the best pictures of the SRT-4 but decent. I put a decent amount into them and I am just tired now. So we will just sit and relax with this one.

 

Tomi-
I agree that you get what you pay for, but money was not the issue in buying this bar. I was told by A Spec that their bar was adjustable for pre-load like the Tanabe. As you found out in installing YOUR A Spec bar, the ONLY adjustment is for fit. You cannot put any tension on the bar once it is installed. Supposedly you can with the Tanabe bar, and it lists at only a few dollars more than A Spec. I bought from A Spec because they are a fitfreak sponsor as well as a Tanabe dealer, but they misinformed me about their product. I feel that their installation hardware should match the quality of the bar and end brackets, and this is not the case with A Spec. I am hoping for fit4kris's sake that the Tanabe quality and adjusting features are BETTER.

 

Yeah when I installed it, I couldn't figure out how to tighten it up even more. It does have a large nut to tight down the bar, but it doesn't tighten down the tension. I will look into it more when I get a chance..

 

DAMN!!! 500HP on a SRT4!!!! what were the numbers on the MR?? Which one did you like more?? (I'm assuming that the MR has better handeling since it's 4wd)

PS: I WANT THE EVO!!!

 

Tomi-
When you look at your A Spec bar again closely, you will see that once installed, further adjustment of the bar is IMPOSSIBLE. My original post to fit4kris asking for more details on his Tanabe bar was written because Tanabe says about their bar that pre-load adjustment is not only possible, but NECESSARY for the bar to function properly. I only bought the A Spec bar because they said that the same was true about their product. It is NOT.

There are a lot of other front strut bars available priced higher than the Tanabe and A Spec. I hope that fit4kris can end this thread with enough tech. info. to help others choose wisely between these two affordable brands.

The Mugen front bar costs three times the price of Tanabe and A Spec because it is made entirely of stainless steel. I might have bought that one except that I didn't think I needed the extra strength or weight of stainless. AND, they don't mention anything about adjustability.

Dave

 

Please please please make sure there are plenty of pix before durring and after.

 

OT...But the Evo made 343awhp and 350awtq 4 days before I traded it in. It was fun...More fun to drivfe than the SRT just for the handling characteristics, but the Neon was fun inthe aspect that people would cry when they saw the tail lights. The torque would rip the rubber in 3rd at 60-70mphs. It was fun. My buddy built one and made over 600 to the wheels...then the flywheel said BYE and went through the bellhousing, hood, firewall, intake manifold, and front bumper. Good stuff!


And yes, I will get enough pics of the install...pretty straight forward but we will get them up here.

Kris

 

Kris, if you need those pics hosted, I can host them for ya

 

Hey all... Sorry I haven't updated this. The parts get to the house tomorrow. Unfortunately, I got called out unexpectedly to Colombia for a while. I will install everything when I get back.

Kris

 

yo where in Miami are you located in??? Gonna have to check this out myself

 

Check what?! the car? I am in Miami Lakes. I am here in Bogota for possibly a month so when I get back, I am taking a day or so off and messing around with the car...The parts put on and the damned pin stripes off.

 

yeah check the car...hows Bogota??? there were protesting going on there cause was an univited guest