Front & Rear Upper Strut Bars

Feeling the bumps in the Forester or wanting more, look here

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02SilverWRX
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Front & Rear Upper Strut Bars

Post by 02SilverWRX »

Just got them today and i was reading on clubwrx that when you install the bars that you have to adjust to a certain setting to prevent any bolts from snapping! Anybody know of like a good step by step instruction for this on the wrx? i installed some on my old bmw but i just wanna make sure i dont Mess anything up so......
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Mr Kleen
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Post by Mr Kleen »

don't over torque the bolts and you should be just fine. not sure what the torque spec's are for those bolts but it should be easy to find with some research.

I would recommend selling the rear bar for gas money. a rear bar does nothing for an Impreza sedan.
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Sabre
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Post by Sabre »

Alot of people stay the front is useless too (since the firewall is so close to the strut towers). To each his or her own. I have a front strut bar that I bought for... $50 off ebay. I didn't notice a difference, but at the time I installed it, I wasn't pushing the car that hard. At some point maybe I'll take it off and see if I notice a difference now :)

BTW, the (3) nuts that secure your top hats are what you attach your strut bar to. As Gabe said, check the torq specs. They are VERY easy to strip. On the sti it is the following: Tightening torque: 20 N·m (2.0 kgf-m, 14.5 ft-lb) according to the shop manual. I am not sure what it is for the WRX, but you can definitely see that it is not much from the STI specs.
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complacent
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Post by complacent »

It's the same for both the WRX and STi tophat studs. Somewhere around 14.5ft-lbs IIRC.

BE CAREFUL! IT'S REEEEEELY EASY TO SNAP A STUD OFF IF YOU WRENCH TOO HARD ON THEM.

I typically tighten a few clicks past "snug" with a ratchet.

If you tighten as if it's holding the wheel on, it's going to snap.
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02SilverWRX
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Post by 02SilverWRX »

Hey i got both of them on today, in the rain, but hey they are on... Once i took them on the back roads near my house where there are plenty of bumps and i could notice a difference in the responsiveness of the steering... Not like a MAJOR HOLY :shock: kinda difference but a good difference...
abui01
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Re: Front & Rear Upper Strut Bars

Post by abui01 »

thinking about picking up a set of ebay bars myself. I have a 00 RS coupe, do you think the torque specs on these will be the same? I'm pretty new to the scene... as far as I can tell, all wrx/sti suspension parts swap over onto this chassis correct?
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Mr Kleen
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Re: Front & Rear Upper Strut Bars

Post by Mr Kleen »

the torque specs should be similar, just don't over do it and you'll be fine. do some googlin' to get the exact numbers if you like.
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chuck92ex
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Re: Front & Rear Upper Strut Bars

Post by chuck92ex »

I have a set of eBay STi pink knockoff strut tower bars. In a wagon, the rear bar probably helps to make the more open back feel a little more tied together. I don't know that it actually makes any real performance difference. The front is mostly for bling. :mrgreen:
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