I just installed the Vibrant f+r strut bars on my car today. I've never had experience with them or installation instructions. Seemed pretty easy to me. My question is how much flex should there be when I grab the bar a jiggle it? All the bolts are tight, my question isn't about that. But I can grab both and they both have a little give to them. I just want to be sure it's supposed to be like that or if I need to adjust the ends some more. Thanks.
Jason
"We ride together. We die together. Bad boys for life."
if all your bolts are tight you should be fine.
it should be pretty tight, the whole car should move not just the bar, I just thought of something else too, the bar should have the adjustment for the spacing of the bar to keep the holes lined up. so even if the bolt were tight for the end pieces it might still be possible to move the bar. wish there was an edit button.
I should "over extend" the ends so the bolt barely fits. And that should be all the adjustment I need? I only lined up the holes on the bracket with the holes on the bar. I'll try that today then, thanks!
"We ride together. We die together. Bad boys for life."
remember that strut bars are designed to resist lateral movement. if you were jiggling the bar from front to back and it was moving, its not that big of a deal, the bar wasnt designed to resist motion in that direction. now if you shake the bar from side to side, the whole car should move.
this is my sig
there is always going to be a little flex in the bar
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
I have zero flex or movement in mine. I believe they are not only to resist lateral movement but also tortional (I guess you could say "diagonal"). The chassis will not flex only side to side, but it will also try to contort in other directions, depending on the severity of the twistie you're on. I see any looseness in the bar to be a weakness. Tighten it down until it doesn't move.
I'll have to play with it tomorrow. I plan on hooking up my voltmeter and installing my sub wiring. Probabely one of the last nice days before winter comes along. thanks.
"We ride together. We die together. Bad boys for life."
3 piece strut braces are designed to be able to be adjusted....
the flex in a jbodies strut area is not the same as some if not most imports where the strut tower is ONLY connected to one plane... aka the side fender areas of the car...
our strut towers are welded to the firewall pillar areas, as well as those side fender areas...
you can preload the bar and make it stiff as nuts...
however the strut brace will not have any force places on the center of the bar in an up/down, diagonal, or otherwise method....
remember, its like the beams that hold up highways.....
they resists GREAT loads pushing down on them, hence the way they hold up the bridges that tunnel tons of traffic daily, however if you struck it with the same weight in the middle and on the side in a sidewards blow, like a truck running into them, it will bend, collapse and crack
checked my bars again today. no flex side to side, only a little up and down. but the side to side is what is important. i fell better about it now. Thanks!
"We ride together. We die together. Bad boys for life."
