Megan Competition Front Strut Bar Trouble

[mnetwork]

Has anyone ever installed the Megan Competition Front Strut Bar in a 2nd gen? I tried installing it in mine.. I get it in, but they want you to spin the bar to tighten it and the bar hits everything possible.. the timing belt cover, battery, cruise control cable, ac line... everything. Has anyone installed this in a 2nd gen before?

 

[Zmann42087]

Simple suggestion... are you sure you have it the right way? Most the 2g stut bars I've had kinda bend up at one end to make it over the upper timing belt/cam gear cover. Try flipping it and see how it fits.

Also, are you sure have the right strut bar? If you're not sure, try to find a picture of a 2g DSM Megan Comp strut bar to compare to the one you have.

 

[mnetwork]

I had it facing up.. both ends have the same bend and the way I had it the logo was facing up.. the other side doesn't have a logo.. Even still your supposed to be able to rotate the whole thing to tighten the whole bar. So the way I had it shouldn't be an issue because it is supposed to clear everything 360 degrees. And this is a front bar for 95-99..

 

[TSG59_Steve]

Take pictures, I don't remember having this problem.

 

[lordnikon_04]

^^^exactly. We need some pictures to really help you out on this one.

 

[mnetwork]

Ok, finally got some pics.. here they are http://mnetwork.dynu.com/miscimages/strutbarpics

 

[bmoha2]

I have a different front strut tower brace from a different manufacturer but in design it is exactly the same. There would be no way to rotate my front strut tower brace. I made all the adjustments with the brace off the car so that it would fit snugly and then bolted it down. It has never been a problem and works very well. I can definitively feel a difference.

 

[mnetwork]

It comes with instructions and tells you to twist the bar to adjust the "preload" and when you have the desired preload to tighten the lock nuts so I don't know..

Steve don't you have this bar?

 

[RamenPride]

I think you need to flip the bar around. The lower, flatter side (ie the one you have on the driver's side) should be on the passenger side instead.

 

[mnetwork]

I think it would still hit pretty much the same things and it would make the megan racing sign reversed..

 

[bmoha2]

I looked at my car and noticed the same thing. the longer flat goes on the passenger side of the car and the shorter flat goes on the driver's side. If that is true, and you need to preset a twist into it to make it tighten up, I could only see maybe a 8th of a pretwist possible without hitting things. It's not a big issue and not too much too worry about. If you do run it the way it is you might stand a good chance of it smacking into the timing belt cover under hard acceleration/ braking. That would be of course if you don't have a full set of polyurethane bushings.

 

[TSG59_Steve]

It's definitely backwards. You need to flip it around. If you still hit things, just twist the ends and get it as tight as you can.

 

[mnetwork]

It's definitely backwards. You need to flip it around. If you still hit things, just twist the ends and get it as tight as you can.

Do you have the same bar as I do??

 

[Zmann42087]

Check his vehicle profile... yes, he has the same strut bar as you. Do what Steve suggested and also what I suggested in the very first post; flip that bar around!

It will only take like two minutes to try and it might fix your fitment issue.

 

[romeen]

Although I don't have that specific STB I agree with everybody else that the "dip" in the bar generally goes on the passenger side. One problem that I see is that it looks as if your battery might be too big. It's hard to tell for sure from a picture but it seems to long. Are you sure that is the right series for the car or if Optima even makes a Yellow Top specifically for our cars? I think that is what might be interfering with your install. Try pushing it further back towards the firewall (if there is room) so that the tie down is going across the middle of the battery. Check the dimensions of it against the recommended battery size which I believe is an 86 series (someone correct me if I am wrong).

I also noticed that the passenger side of your battery tie down is not even touching the battery. Even though you have a cover over the positive terminal, if the battery is not secure the STB may wear a hole through it and cause a short shutting the car down. You can always fit a block of wood between the tie down and the battery top to fill the gap.

I also noticed that you're missing the top left exhaust manifold nut (picture 1) and the ground cabe looks pretty badly frayed at the terminal (picture 2).

Yeah, I know I'm anal.

 

[mnetwork]

Although I don't have that specific STB I agree with everybody else that the "dip" in the bar generally goes on the passenger side. One problem that I see is that it looks as if your battery might be too big. It's hard to tell for sure from a picture but it seems to long. Are you sure that is the right series for the car or if Optima even makes a Yellow Top specifically for our cars? I think that is what might be interfering with your install. Try pushing it further back towards the firewall (if there is room) so that the tie down is going across the middle of the battery. Check the dimensions of it against the recommended battery size which I believe is an 86 series (someone correct me if I am wrong).

I also noticed that the passenger side of your battery tie down is not even touching the battery. Even though you have a cover over the positive terminal, if the battery is not secure the STB may wear a hole through it and cause a short shutting the car down. You can always fit a block of wood between the tie down and the battery top to fill the gap.

I also noticed that you're missing the top left exhaust manifold nut (picture 1) and the ground cabe looks pretty badly frayed at the terminal (picture 2).

Yeah, I know I'm anal.

Both issues I'm going to fix eventually..

 

[mnetwork]

Check his vehicle profile... yes, he has the same strut bar as you. Do what Steve suggested and also what I suggested in the very first post; flip that bar around!

It will only take like two minutes to try and it might fix your fitment issue.

Actually Megan makes two different kinds of bars.. that's why I was asking, I do know how to read. And I haven't had a chance to flip it yet because it's been raining like crazy in Jersey, look at the news..

 

[mnetwork]

Update:

Well, I tried putting in on the reverse way and it still hits things (other than the battery). Also when I try to close the hood, the hood closes, but is pushed up hard against the bar and one side of the hood doesn't close all the way. Does anybody have this exact bar?

 

[bmoha2]

Does it hit the side of the crusie control bracket? I had to trim the side of my cruise control bracket slightly so it wouldn't interfere with it. I have never had it hit the inside of the hood, but i have seen that it does press an impression on the aluminum faced heat shielding that is on the underside of the hood. Nothing to worry about. Has your car ever been in an accident? Front end collision? Seems like things are fitting a little weird.

 

[mnetwork]

I have a Vis carbon fiber hood without the heat shielding and it hits the actual hood. If I was to spin the bar it would hit the cruise control bracket. And the car has never been in an accident.

 

[bmoha2]

Yes you are hitting your cruise control bracket. Just trim it a bit. Your biggest problem is your battery. Do you have a powerful audio system in your car? If not that battery is total overkill. I have the red top version from the same manufacturer. The red top fits with no fitment issues. Is there a plastic block thats sits underneath the battery that is about 3/4 of an inch thick? If so you should remove it so the battery will sit lower. That should give you the space needed. I would not run your car the way it sits. Just way way too close to that positive battery terminal and since the battery hold down is not actually holding the vattery down or even preventing it from moving. If there is no plastic block under your battery you are going to either get a different battery or relocate the battery to the trunk. The size of your yellowtop battery is your biggest problem. If you relocated the battery to the trunk it would eliminate the problem and you would be able to run your strut tower brace with just a little trimming on the cruise control bracket. But of course like has been said before it needs to be turned around 180degrees.