Rep Power: 511

Alright kids, today, Miyuki got another upgrade. I present to you, the DC Sports 1-piece front upper strut bar (part number CSB5532). It retails for about $125-130 USD, but I snagged this bad boy at newlevelmotorsports.com for a meager $113.39 shipped. I was previously eyeing the Tanabe strut bar, but couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger on it since I favor 1-piece strut bars (no hinge effect at the connecting points from the bar to the strut brackets). The only option I knew of for a 1-piece bar was the Ultra Racing bar, and it carries a retail price of $190 or so. That, and it's kinda ugly. And only mounts using 2 of the 3

With my initial test drive, I noticed a slight improvement in steering response, mostly in those small little corrections you make to keep your car straight. Small touches to the wheel resulted in larger changes than what I was used to. Also got rid of the little "shimmy" I'd feel on long straights. Only downside to installing a strut bar on this car: You're not getting the battery off without taking the bar off. Small sacrifices for modding purposes, though, right? There also is an issue with strut bars riding rubber hoses and whatnot, eventually burning through them. Luckily, strut bar manufacturers are getting smart and including a length of split loom wire wrap to help protect those tubes and whatnot.

In any case, let's get to it.

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Although this DIY guide was done while installing the DC Sports bar, the procedure will apply to any bar you choose to install.
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How it do: (Install time ~15 minutes)

1. Meet your bar. Here, we have the DC Sports CSB3352. Make sure you have everything included in the box. In this case, it was the bar itself, a length of split wire loom, and 6 nuts.
   
2. Pop your hood. Duh. Take that 14mm socket and take off the nuts holding the strut on. Work with one strut at a time, by the way. Put the nuts aside for safe keeping.
   
3. Your car may or may not have this thing
   
4. Take it and put it somewhere safe.
   
5. Repeat steps 2-4 on the other side. The little plate thing, put it with its brother.
   
6. Take this time to dry fit your strut bar. Jack up one side of your car if necessary for the strut bar to fall into place. Find out where the bar hits hoses or wires. In my case, it was battery negative wires
   
   
   and this.. vacuum hose (?).. thing.
   
7. Measure and cut the split wire look as you see fit. Remove the bar and wrap the wire loom around the vacuum tube (idk what it is at the moment, so I'm just gonna go with that) fuel purge line and negative battery wires. It's not pretty, but it's functional. Go ahead and drop the bar back onto the strut studs.
   
8. Now, grab those 6 nuts the bar came with. If it's anything like mine, scratch your head and wonder where they go, since they were clearly too small to fit on the strut stud threads. Toss them in your spare fasteners drawer.
   
9. Grab the original nuts and hand tighten all 6.
   
10. Lower the car onto the ground fully. Torque all 6 nuts to 32 ft-lbs. Always double check torque.
11. Stand back and enjoy the fruits of your labor
    

 
Rep Power: 222

ooh shiny

 
Rep Power: 243

Nice write up

Looks great and such a bargain.

 
Rep Power: 511

lol, thanks guys.

Just to make it clear (if it wasn't clear from it's placement): Step 4 (and 5, as well), when I said to put the black plates in a safe place. I literally threw it to the side and that's where it landed. They will not be reused, so you can make frisbees, chakrams, some Flava Flav swag, yeet them into outer space (am I using that right?), whatever you wanna do with them.

I also made a digital copy (PDF) of the included install instructions, so if someone buys this bar and it didn't come with it, you lose it, your dog eats it, you run out of toilet paper, etc., I got you covered. Just hit me up and I'll e-mail it over. Somehow, my Illustrator skills are pro enough that the instructions I made look more professionally done than the ones they sent out.