Got the new Courtesy FSTB yesterday (for a '99), and I have some issues. Has anyone had trouble getting the end bolts tight enough to secure the bar? The aluminum doesn't seem to 'bite' enough when the bolts are torqued, and it feels like some engine vibration would shake it loose (so, I'm thinking, how much can this thing really help in supporting the towers?). Also, in extending the end bolts enough to reach the brackets, I've raised the bar slightly and now have clearance issues with the hood. Anyone else out there with similar questions or suggestions?

 

This kills me. Why do people have issues putting on a Strut bar? This is perhaps one of the simplest things you can possibly do.

You do not need to preload a strut bar. Just make sure it fits correctly and tighten the thing up.

If you have a 99 with the bracket that gets in the way, Chop it off! Takes about a minute with a hack saw.

Get the car on level ground, remove the strut mount bolts on both sides. Fit the bar into the car, tighten everything up and your done.

What can possibly go wrong here?

How in the world did you raise the bar? It sits on the strut towers. There's no way to raise or lower it.

 

My whole point here is that it isn't fitting as it seems it should (and Courtesy is telling me that I'm the FIRST to complain). I'm pretty mechanically inclined, and I'm telling you that getting it "tightened up" is one of the issues. Once the bolts are tightened, there's nother really locking them in place because the aluminum doesn't 'give' like steel would. As far as raising it up, due to the shape of the bar, the farther out you extend the end bolds (in order to stretch far enough to meet the brackets), the higher it raises the bar itself.

 

What in the world is this guy talking about? Are you sure your looking at a Strut Tower Brace for a Maxima?

EDIT: I'm looking at the Courtesy Page with the A32 Front Bar. It's a straight piece of aluminum with threaded rods on both ends and lock nuts. The threaded rods on each end of the bar attach to the "C" bracket which bolts down with the 3 bolts for your upper strut mount.

There is NO WAY that you can raise or lower this device. It sits on the strut towers at a set height. The threaded ends come STRAIGHT out and the only adjustment is for length not up or down. It just aint so, doesn't happen, can't happen and isn't possible to adjust the height of this device.

All you do is take the 3 bolts on each strut tower off your car. Then place the brace on the studs, adjust the length of the rod so it fits correctly, then tighten everything up. Nothing goes up or down. It just can't happen.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/secondtier_a32.html

 

jeeeesus. i've had a stillen bar for a year and no problems at all. if the bolts go far enough in for you to see the thread they will never ever "shake loose". if you really want to be a sissy use washers to secure the bar and use loctite to secure the threads.

 

It's the A33, not A32. And, the threaded rods on both ends don't come straight out, they're angled down (because the bar's not straight, it's bent downward at the ends). Hence, the farther out the rods are, the less clearance you have with the hood.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...t_Code=A33-STB

Now that you head is finally removed from your *** and you realize that it IS possible for the bar to be slightly higher in some cases, please let someone else respond that doesn't have a POS attitude such as yourself and might just have installed this same bar.

 

Well Guess what?? I have the same car and the same bar! The only real difference is in the "C" brackets. One is open, the other is closed! Mine is indeed the A33 design - closed ends, just like yours is. WOW imagain that??? It still can't be adjusted up or down. Only fits correctly at one sweet spot. Pretty simple stuff.

Now I'll go put my head up my A$$ thank you, and I suggest you stop working on your own car and leave it to someone who indeed is mechanically inclined!

Have a nice day!

 

this forum, not just 95-99, but all of them, just aren't very nice to newbie users...so the guy asks a simple question, you guys immediately jump on his *** with the tone of a drill sergent, implying that he is everything from incompetent to stupid...what a warm welcome.

 

You know your right. I guess I was a bit hard with my 1st reply to him. But give me a break, were not talking brain surgery here. And not only that, the instructions are on the Courtesy Web site. There's also a "dig" line on that page regarding the dificulty level of this job. Sometimes us old timers get really tired of seeing questions like this pop up and react a bit harsh.

Let me apologize for coming off the wrong way.


















Seriously - This guy shouldn't be working on his own car if he can't get that bar on!

 

oh no! i hope we didn't drive you away because if there's one thing we need more of is people whose hands are coming out of their ***. cry me a ****ing river.

 

So, it sounds like he's talking about the bolts that lock the center bar onto the ends or maybe the bar itself. I don't have a Courtesy bar but from reading the threads and pictures, that seems to be the only part that is made from aluminum/alloy.

Is the concern that due to the forces generated by the strut towers the alloy threads will strip out of the steel ends? This sounds like a valid question for me as well since I've just ordered a cheap one on ebay due to the consensus of this group that 'all the bars are the same'.

So if you are a newbie here and you ask a question the 'old-timers' don't either understand or know you get flamed? I thought that was what the board was for... Maybe there's another board for us newbies?

You guys sure seem quick to flame...

Jim

 

think for a second... the bar is MADE push the towers apart by relying on that thread. if the thread were easy to strip the bars would effectively be useless. how many posts have you read about people breaking their strut bars? like I said before, if it bugs you that much loctite it. i have never heard of a similar problem from anyone else at all ever and i've been on this forum for a while.

yeah, this is it.

 

DKO makes a very good point.

Even if the lock bolts that tighten up against the side of the aluminum bar were loose, the bar still would not move laterally (left to right).

There is some vertical flex in the bar but the function is to prevent the towers from moving laterally with respect to one another.

Now the lock nuts which tighten the bar into the tower clamps (the bolts that face the firewall (or front bumper depending on which way you put them in) tower clamps are very important to be as tight as possible. And the tower clamp has some "give" to it to keep those bolts tight.