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rear strut brace install????

 
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Old Oct 4, 2003
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Question rear strut brace install????

help

i am currently installing my rear strut brace, i pulled up the carpet in the trunk,
and i noticed that there is no place to put it.(factory mount)
so how do i install??

do i just measure where i want it and start drilling away or what?
how do i avoid drilling into anything important?
please help, i don't want to destroy my civic....



humm....this strut brace does't seem to spian the trunk.(you know, go all the way across)
i purchased off e-bay, so i might have gotten scammed.
it's a "type R" brand rear strut brace for the 01 and up civic.....
it almost makes it if i put it on the inside of the wheel wells with the mounts turned vertical.
it this the way it goes?

Last edited by civic-king; Oct 4, 2003 at 10:43 AM.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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it goes on the bolts of the rear strut. it is located near the corners of the trunk close to the rear seats. u should see two bolts on each side. unbolt them, put the strut on and rebolt them.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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there are strut mounts. They are right behind the seats. You have to peel away the carpet there. No drilling necessary. Undo the bolt necessary, put the braces on, and tighten everything down. It really is not that hard.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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-Unbolt the 2 bolts on each strut.
-Dis-assemble the bar (take the end plates off)
-Put them on the bolts and put the nuts back on, leave them loose
-Put the bar in between and bolt it back together, leave the bar loose.
-Torque the tower bolts to 33 ft-lbs
-Tighten the bar
Old Oct 4, 2003
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The two bolts that are holding the struts are 14mm. You will need a deep socket to get them off, either that or a 14mm wrench and a lot of patience.

Do what Boilermaker said. When you tighten the bar, you will notice that one side has left-handed threads and the other has right-handed threads. So you will rotate the entire bar when attaching it to the bolts on the brackets.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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i guess i'm just a retard. (i've never installed one of these b4, and there were no instructions)
thanks.
i will go do this right now.....



ok.
so i'm dumb as a rock.
i guess i just didn't pull up enough carpet.

thanks for all the help. i'm gonna go find a deep socket now.

Last edited by civic-king; Oct 4, 2003 at 11:53 AM.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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Nah you're not a retard, if you've never done one of these before how else are you going to learn unless you do it?
Old Oct 4, 2003
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Here's a short DIY

1. Pull the carpet back in the trunk to expose the top of the strut. (These were taken when I did my sedan a week ago)


2.Locate the strut and the two 14mm bolts that are holding it down


3. Spray the hell out of the 14mm nuts on there!


4 Take apart the strut bar and put the brackets for the ends over the bolts and retighten the nuts down to 33ft-lbs. If you don't have a torque wrench you won't die by just tightening them down as tight as you can get them with your hands.

(no pic)

5. Pull the carpet back and over the brace now that it is all tightened down. With a razor, cut a small flap that will open up and let the top of the bracket poke through the carpet.


6. Put the bolt through the top of the bracket but don't tighten it down yet ONLY ON ONE SIDE.


7. Now put one end of the bar onto the bolt you just mounted and run it down the bolt about 1/4 of the way down.

8.Take the other bolt that you haven't mounted to the other bracket yet and do the same with it, screw it into the bar about 1/4 of the way. (as close to even as you can with the other one)

9. Lay the bar flat across the trunk so that the unattached side rests in the bracket where it is supposed to be bolted to. Now it may not line up but with that bracket keeping the unattached bolt from turning, rotate the barso that it either loosens or tightens the bolts, whichever you need it to do. When you rotate it the threads on both sides will either loosen or tighten, lengthening and shortening the length of the bolts sticking out respectively. When the bolt that is unattached becomes close enough so that you can slip the bolt through to attach it to the bracket do so.

10. Now tighten the bar by rotating it and it will tighten. If it is loosening instead of tightening, go the other way and it will tighten.

11. Tighten down the nuts on the ends to keep the bar from rotating and working itself loose. Also tighten the nuts on the bolts that attach the bar to the bracket. DONE! Now you have a rear upper strut bar.


Sorry that not all of the descriptions had pics, my camera decided to die halfway through.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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Finished Product







Sorry for the poor quality of the pics and the mess in my backseat but hopefully this will help you out some.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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what about the car?
should i jack it up?
will that make any difference?
Old Oct 4, 2003
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It can stay on the ground. It still goes in fine.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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sweet.

almost finished......i lost some bolts and need to find them...
Old Oct 4, 2003
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done.....that was a lot of crap.
my strut bar is not the twisty kind.
it has two bolts that go right into the bar.
i had to put the mounts on, cut the carpet, put the carpet back, pull the mounts through, pull the carpet back, lossen the mounts, HAMMER the bolts into the rod, then tighten the mounts again, and put the carpet back again.......what a pain in the ***.

now i'm going to go drive fast arround corrners and test this thing to see if it even makes a difference.....i'll be back.....
Old Oct 4, 2003
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DId you get that off ebay?
Old Oct 4, 2003
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I'm suprised it wasn't a screw on, every generic ebay strut bar has been that way that I've installed.
Old Oct 4, 2003
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go to e-bay:
look for "01 civic rear strut bar"
right now there are like 20 of them. the "type R"
mines is simmelar to these, with different mounts and the medal looks better than those.(it could be the picture)
Old Oct 4, 2003
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i just went for a drive. that bar made a difference!(maybe i'm just kidding myself) i went up "the Fryin' Pan River."
yea that's a hillbilly town for ya. but this road is all big corrners, some sharp, some hairpin and sharp. i think the speed limmet is like 25.
i noticed the biggest difference going out of the corrners. it didn't "sag" into the straights,but more like nutral. $15 spent well.
Old Oct 5, 2003
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Now go get an RSX sway bar put on there and you'll really see a difference!
Old Oct 5, 2003
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RSX sway bar or the Progress swaybar/lower tie bar combo. Also wouldn't hurt to upgrade the front sway bar also.

Also if you don't already have a set of rims/tires on your car get them. A lower profile tire with a performance tread pattern will increase your handleing dramatically.
Old Oct 6, 2003
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hey guys, any pics of the brackets mounted on the strut towers? i got a generic ebay one as well, but the brackets don't sit flush on the trunk floor. i'm thinking i either need to bend a contour into it or cut a noth to make it fit........
Old Oct 6, 2003
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Thumbs up

How's this? I did a thread a Loooong time ago on installing these, but I can't find it.

Old Oct 6, 2003
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the rims i want are like $700. 17" rs-limmited rims with tires. 16 lbs. each.
 
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