Strut bars - worth putting on?

[ErikTande]

I recently removed my back seat, seatbacks and rear seat belts (if anyone wants them in the Denver area, PM and they're yours) and installed some carpet in their place. I have a lot more room for hauling stuff and no one was ever going to sit in the back seat anyway.

ANYWAY, I needed something to separate the trunk and back seat and to tie down filming gear, groceries, etc, so I ordered a cheap strut bar combo on ebay (front and rear upper). I'll add pics when I get them.


I'm putting the rear upper strut bar in just to keep large bags in place, etc. But will it actually improve my handling? I've read mixed opinions. And since I'm putting the back one on, should I install the front strut bar as well? I assume it won't hurt anything (my battery is mounted very low, so there's no change of arcing.)

 

[spyderdrifter]

From my experience, they do improve handling, mainly in the body roll department. On the two 2Gs I had with strut bars on them, there was a significant change in the body roll. The rolling was decreased and therefore steering responded better.

 

[2gjlc]

I've had a cheap ebay set and a Megan set. They flexed too much to help in my case. unless they are really solid like the RRE ones then they aren't doing that much good. If the bar can flex with the pushing on it a bit then they are not very good. Just my two cents. There is a lot of good info in the handling section.

 

[spyderdrifter]

The ones I had good results from were the DC Sports ones. I liked them because they are one piece braces. So I too agree with 2gjlc about the flex from the multi-piece ones.

 

[WES_393]

I had these ones :95 99 Eclipse Talon DSM 2G Aluminum Front Tower Rear Upper Racing Strut Bar Arm | eBay

I've personally never noticed a difference with them on or off. I could imagine the gains would be pretty significant in a Spyder since they don't have the roof to provide structural support, but unless your looking to AutoX the car or something I can't say you'll be seriously impressed in a hardtop.

 

[ErikTande]

I had these ones :95 99 Eclipse Talon DSM 2G Aluminum Front Tower Rear Upper Racing Strut Bar Arm | eBay

I've personally never noticed a difference with them on or off. I could imagine the gains would be pretty significant in a Spyder since they don't have the roof to provide structural support, but unless your looking to AutoX the car or something I can't say you'll be seriously impressed in a hardtop.

Good to know. Those are the ones I ordered (same seller, just the 1g version).

 

[Brandon Mau]

I put these on my 1 gen. I noticed that I could take corners faster were talking a couple mph faster. They do work but the sway bars are the money maker.

 

[My1GLaser]

My DSM came with it already installed, so I'm not too sure what the improvement was. However, I installed one on my ex-wife's 2001 Galant and noticed an incredible difference in handling! Steering input response and cornering ability greatly improved. I just put the same one on my fiance's Kia Optima and it seems to be slightly better also. T rated tires don't allow much in the way of handling and it's a family car anyway...it was the eBay one for around $40.

 

[knochgoon24]

Put that money towards a better sway bar. Much better bang for your buck with a sway bar.

 

[Bergness08]

My car (2G) came with Megans front and rear.. I was always under the impression that unless there is a 3rd brace point (such as the center of the firewall in the front) that they are pretty close to useless. Maybe times have changed a bit?

 

[Mr_YuK]

sway bars control body roll
strut bars control chassis flex.

rear strut bar should help eliminate "wheel hop" when cornering by forcing the suspension to do all the work by eliminating any variable of chassis flex.

Once a part of the chassis flexes, it has to unflex. thus usually creating "wheel hop"
JMO

 

[Silver99OZ]

I had a set of the cheap ebay ones and they flexed too much to make any noticeable difference. I eventually took them off because all they did was get in the way.

 

[GreenGSX]

I've road raced and autocrossed a 1G with and without strut bars and I can tell in my opinion, they do very little of anything. The only benefit I've felt is on a road course where the bars give me the impression that the car turns in sharper. And that is really only the initial part of the turn in, beyond that they do little.

There is one other thing they are good for...towing your broken car off track. No need for a tow hook just loop the tow strap around the bar, partially close the hood so you can see, and enjoy the ride back to the paddock.

 

[LandoAWD]

The adjustable, multi-piece bars with only two points of contact are less than ideal, and generally serve to aggravate when a battery dies.

 

[eDeclpse92]

I've had a cheap ebay set and a Megan set. They flexed too much to help in my case. unless they are really solid like the RRE ones then they aren't doing that much good. If the bar can flex with the pushing on it a bit then they are not very good. Just my two cents. There is a lot of good info in the handling section.

You have to look at the application the bars are being used in. When they went to design them, they did not do a stress analysis with a point load of someone pushing in on them in the middle or the side. They do a stress analysis of an axial load as that would be the situation they are in. And if you can see on the Megan one's at least, they have two parallel sides that are a bit taller than the inside. This is the strong axis of the beam that takes most of the load. Kind of like a sideways I-Beam. Just thought I'd clarify a little. But for the most part in my experience, it just felt like the car drove a bit tighter.

 

[Mr_YuK]

regarding fwd 1g cars.

My cage is tied into the rear strut towers and the rear subframe. All is solid back there but It wasn't until i "boxed" in the rear axle with steel and reinforced the pan hard bar that i was able to get rid of the "wheel hop" i was experiencing in the center of the corners.

I dropped 2 tenths per lap just by reinforcing the rear axle/pan hard bar. not to mention the car handled like a dream. It was night and day. with the exception of adding castor to the front , reinforcing the rear end was the best chassis mod I have done to date. The stopwatch don't lie.

long story short . jmo. there is way more "flex" in the rear axle then there is on the strut towers.

Your results may vary

 

[StarionGSX]

Strut tower braces may help, but better sway bars is more bang for your buck IMHO. I put a strut bar on my car and didn't really notice a difference on the street. But sway bars were a huge improvement. Body roll was almost completely gone. I did the front before I did the rear and the front was solid while the rear was "squishy". Put the rear bar on and the "squishy" feeling went away.