Rep Power: 367

short version:

you get what you pay for.


long version:

let me tell you. it was such a hassle.

first of all, the thing doesn't fit right. the bracket which bolts onto the shock tower is a bit funky, and without doing something about it, you wont be able to screw the nut back into the shock tower's bolt.

the right bracket fits okay, but the left bracket is bend weird. basically someone made it wrong...

so I was gonna get it replace, and I unscrew the endlinks to examine it a bit more... and here's where things gets stupid... the endlinks wont screw back into the bar!! (if anyone ever bought an ebay bar, you should be able to know what I'm talking about.) but for those that doesn't know, the bar's endlink is basically a big bolt that screws into the bar. what kinda bolt gets screwed up when its unscrewed from a nut!? as I take it out, I notice some stripping of metal, and I'm like... uh oh? so yeah basically the thread is screwed up... and yada yada okay this is getting long and pointless.

and to fix the bend in the bracket, I'm sitting in the garage hammering on a piece of metal for like 10 minutes...

and I had to force the endlink back into the bar... it didn't get far, it was kinda hard screwing something in when the bolt's thread is all screwed up.

anyway after I torque everything down and made everything fit by force, I guess it wasn't so bad. but I dont even think we need a rear strut bar... since the rear shock towers aren't like previous gens...

I bought an ebay bar before, it was a front strut bar for a 97 accord, and it slapped on just fine...

anyway... I dont recommend spending the money on one... if you're looking for gains in performance.... the rear shock towers aren't place like previous gen, with a big open gap in between it... its right on the bed of the trunk, and chassis flex probably wouldn't occur much from the rear shock towers. But if you want to make things more stiff, and dont make going through some trouble, spend the 22 bucks on an ebay bar.

oh yeah, quick tip: dont detach the endlinks, it may not reattach.

 
Rep Power: 0

hmm...im sorry to hear about your trouble man[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG]

i just recently got a rear upper strut and lower tie bar from ebay, and i think they are the exact kind you are talking about. they fit perfectly fine, and i've def noticed a diff with the car's handling. although, i do have a larger rear antisway bar and bigger wheels so those combined perhaps make the real difference, but i did notice a diff with these installed. and i only spent $60 on both so it was worth it. i think with these things its really luck of the draw if you get a messed up one or not, i was lucky enough to get perfectly fine ones, and you got a fugged up one...like you said, you do get what you pay for.

 
Rep Power: 0

Hey man!!!!! I got the same one!! It wounldn't fit on one side so I hammered the bracket to fit, and it worked perfect! I was stressing a bit for a while but it turned out perfect, I noticed a bit of better handling too- BTW I have a front OBX strut bar and my car is lowered on Goldlines.

 
Rep Power: 367

well at first I was just gonna request for a better bracket from the seller... but then I'm like this is too much hassle, I'll just hammer the thing.

and I think I torque it down way too much. lol. dont know if I can remove it now...

but I guess there's a difference. talk about stiffer....

I slapped on the 19mm rsx rear sway too.

waiting for the neuspeed rear lower tie that I bought ages ago...

 
Rep Power: 0

i used a dremel to shave a small notch into the driver's side bracket to clear that small bend/hump on the trunk floor. the passenger side bracket was ok. before installing, i disconnected the bar and kept the endlinks in at the ends, after i bolted the strut bar brackets onto the car, it took some repeated adjusting with the endlinks to get the proper width. once that was done, bolted the bar to the brackets.

 
Rep Power: 0

OH GREAT, I jsut got my rear upper tie bar in from ebay the other day and i was going to go put it on tomorrow morning. I was hoping that it wouldnt be a hassel thing but i guess im going to be there for awhile. That jsut sucks. but thanx for the advise guys. I will do my best trying to get mine on tomorrow.

 
Rep Power: 0

i have one from Procarparts...looks the same as the ebay one..went on perfect with no mods..

 
Rep Power: 367

guess there's good ones, and then there's bad ones.

 
Rep Power: 0

yeah i installed mine and everythign went on fine. Let me ask everyone this real quick when u did it did yall spin the to push the frame out or did u spin it to pull everything in. na dif u spun it out how much did u.

 
Rep Power: 0

I installed the rear upper generic ebay bar, and it fit fine... no problems at all.. it was kinda tight getting to some bolts, but be patient and it should fit! Make sure the bar is loose, tighten the shock tower bolts after the bar is in place, and then tighten the bar itself...

 
Rep Power: 315

w00t! Just got mine installed. It's the Procarparts ebay generic. Looks just like the Bomz front bar, but w/o the bomz logo. It had no logo, period. The passenger side went on with no problem. When I started the driver's side, there was some gunk in the way. If you look, you'll see it, kinda beige-colored behind the side carpeting. Don't know if this is some kind of sound-deadening stuff or to seal up between the panels when it's assembled. ANYWAY, I pinched some of the gunk off that was in the way, and it went on relatively easy. There's very little room to get a socket and wrench in there to tighten the front nuts, but it's possible with patience. I went for a test drive today and it made a big difference on my DX, probably because it has no sway bar, YET!
I took some pics as I installed, so check'em out below!

<-Close-up of passenger side rear strut<-and another shot, farther back
<-Drivers side<-Passenger side installed
<-Drivers side installed<-Installed w/carpet back in place
<-Speaker and amp back in place.

 
Rep Power: 367

looks good.

yeah compare to my front strut bar, the install takes a bit since the working space sucks...

(laying there with the seats folded back..)

 
Rep Power: 0

i got the same one from procarparts... fit fine but it was a paon in the [IMG]i/expressions/moon.gif[/IMG] to install because like theres not much room....
all in all i got my moneys worth

 
Rep Power: 0

short version. bingo