Strut bar? Yes or no?

[Smknem]

Hey there. I bought a 97 Talon TSi a couple of weeks ago. It has a front strut bar on it. Just wondering if any of you have one and like it. I don't like the way it sits across the battery terminals any feed back will be cool!!! Thanks

 

[dsmpat95]

No, its not much of a gain due to the front of 2g flexing.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

I have the front and rear on and like it but it does get annyoning when I have to pull the battery. Like said it's not a big upgrade especially when everything else in the suspensions stock

 

[VtecvrsTurbo]

If you had a convertible then MAYBE, but my friend had a strut bar and his car burnt to the ground because the battery terminals arc-ed to the bar. Im never using one, EVER.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

If he had covers on his terminals it wouldn't have happened

 

[Tiki2777]

I would definitely put some kind of insulator on the bottom of it near the terminals to avoid the arcing problem, but if you have the battery tie down bar that also voids the issue. I have heard that the strut bar is a decent upgrade, but it works best when paired with the lower tie bar and the fender braces that green goblin makes on here.

 

[jtmcinder]

If you had a convertible then MAYBE...

Um, I believe that everything from the windshield forward on a convertible is the same as on a hard-top, so whether or not the car is a convertible is totally irrelevant to whether you want a front STB.

 

[Smknem]

If you had a convertible then MAYBE, but my friend had a strut bar and his car burnt to the ground because the battery terminals arc-ed to the bar. Im never using one, EVER.

Thanks. That's what I don 't want to happen. So off it comes!!

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Or you can simply cover your terminals and have an upgrade

 

[nate95tsi]

Where do they sell decent looking terminal covers? I have a strutbar on mine and yeah... kind of don't want arching. haha

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

You should be able to find something at your local autoparts store. As long as it's rubber and covers the terminal you'll be good

 

[Helifax]

Or you could relocate your battery? I got the JMF small battery kit when I had my dsm.

 

[VtecvrsTurbo]

Um, I believe that everything from the windshield forward on a convertible is the same as on a hard-top, so whether or not the car is a convertible is totally irrelevant to whether you want a front STB.

I had a 97 GST convert, and without the strut bars when i jacked it up the car flexed in ways I cant explain. When I did put strut bars on, I did front, rear, and lower all at the same time and it made a huge difference with shaking and jacking. So I guess just the front strut bar doesnt matter convert or not, but I did them all at the same time.

 

[spyderdrifter]

I've had a strut bar on both of my last two Eclipses. The first on e was a Spyder, second was hard top. I did notice an increase in stiffness on the Spyder, but none on the hard top. We could question this all day as to whether it's becasue of the lack of the top or not, but I don't beleive this to be the case. Like jtmcinder said, the front ends are identical. I believe it's based upon what strut bar you put on. My Spyder had a strut bar that I bought from DCSports and was one piece from side to side because DCSports welds it all together. The hard top had a Megan Racing strut bar on it when I bought the car, the adjustible kind that isn't one piece. This Megan Racing one, that I'd personally never buy, is allowed to flex and change its' own stiffness because of the adjuster screws. The DCSports one is a lot stiffer because its' a fixed design. I say go for it if you really want to, but if you're concerned about it arcing to the battery, which is a posibility, then take the proper steps to avoid it. I will be getting another DCSports strut bar eventually, but with fenders braces to help out.

 

[NeMiZiS]

If the battery is held down with the OEM battery mount, I don't see how it would arc on the battery.

 

[Pipnorcali]

If the battery is held down with the OEM battery mount, I don't see how it would arc on the battery.

Yea I don't get how it would happen if your batt is tied down... if your that worried wrap some electrical tape on there