Do any of you guys notice fading (in effectiveness)in the Stillen FTSB over time? My car mod shop friend says that his does too! The fact that it's solid metal as opposed to hollow doesnt mean anything. If you press down on the top and shake it, it bends (which leads me to think it wont be too effective with heavy load pressures on teh road) Wehn I installed it, it was great. But now, the max has more lean! Ive aduste it again and again, and even adjusted it on a car lift to preload the towers only to find it fades each time! My friend says the same thing! The hollow ones with thick metal may just be stiffer (because of the rounder cross section shape which makes bone strong) than Stillen's rectangular cross section despite being solid. I wish there are 4 point mounts for max like neuspeed's integra/civic strut bars. Any thoughts, comments guys?

 

The Courtesy bar I have is adjustable plus it has ridges on the bar itself to stay stiff. I guess it can be readjusted to compensate for loss of stiffness.

 

The stillen is adjustable, i adj it 4-5 times but it eventually faded!is there any bar that stays rigid? (like a 4pt mount?) I dont want to be readjusting again and again! But I think courtesy's might even be better, its hollow, but it seems stiffer

 

Yeah, but I wonder if I am used to the bar now or whether the Courtesy bar looses its stiffness too. Icheck it after driving to make sure it hasn't loosed up but it's still there. I don't know why Stillen would make the bar without ridges anyway. The ridges keep the bar from bending and getting kinks.

 

stillen sells bars for looks as their #1 motive. I dont knoe about their design though! I spent too much on a weak bar!

 

Hey sell it to a Newbie and get the Courtesy bar.

 

The holes in the bar make it weak.
DC Sports makes strut bars with holes in it for Integras and I'm hearing the same complain from Honda-Acura board.

 

it doesnt make sense. the stillen fstb bar is made from aluminum, a material which doesnt bend very well (it tends to crack and break). i havent seen any signs of stress damage on my stillen bar. from what you are saying, if the stillen bar is flexing, it should eventually break the bar at the stress point.

is it more that you just dont notice the effect as much?

anyway, this is interesting, i'll have to keep an eye on the bar and see....

what do you adjust on the bar? mine is connected at each end and there is nothing to adjust?

dfwmax

 

It is not weak... believe me... if you can break that bar without using some kind of heave equipment, i'll give yuo $5.

The holes won't make that much of a difference. If the maxima generates enough movement in the chassis to make the bar become weak... then you got other problems besides the bar.

You are just getting used to it... plus there was never that big of a different to start if you ask me.

-Shing

 

Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, your struts are wearing out or already worn out? Don't you think that could possibly be the reason behind that big boat feeling you're getting when driving it?

And just about everything else you said was in some way or another wrong. Sorry dude, but if you don't know about something, ask... And if something sounds odd, double check on that, and don't just take anyone's word for an explanation.... And most of all, don't start mouthing off with some illogical and incorrect conclusions based on someone else's wrong information. Remember, this forum is open to everyone on the Internet to read, so it's possible that some 15 year old may actually read this misinformation and believe the crap being shovelled here...

--Nabil

P.S. This wasn't written as a flame to the original poster nor to anyone else for that matter, but let's all be vigilant and open minded as to what constitutes valid questions and answers, and what's simply rubbish perpetuated by haughty ignorance.

I empathize with you Shing...

 

Umm see for yourself Nabes. If you have the stillen, Grab it with yor hand and put your weight against it, release pressure. Do it again adn again. Then do it to the courtesy's. See how much it flexes back and forth. (At least, this is from my personal experience) oh and if your not flaming, please sound like yur not and dont "mouth off". Dont flame and then say ur not. Thats as illlogical as anything!
PS. No, Its not floaty in general, just has oversteer (like
stock). Hehe..oh and uh, my car has 20k miles on it.
Its new, dude.

To Shing and DFW, I wasnt talking about even breaking the bar or being scareed of it breaking. I know theres no way the bar will snap or anything. I meant it flexing (because of the bar itself flexing along its length) thats all. I know aliminum is pretty strong, but Id figure that the length of the bar allows for some flex (lowering of frequency). I fig that if this is true, the structure/shape of the bar (cross section shape) should matter more. I may be wrong..Whaddaya think? My car has only 20k miles on it so it shouldnt be the shocks. Do you think that a bar with angled ends would be stronger (b/c of the effect of triangulization?) Just wondering b/c I dont think realistically, the 4th gen has room for any more elevation on the bar or the hood wont close.
DFW, The bar allows for adjustment of length near teh passenger-side mount so that you can go as far as pre-loading the strut towers (although I dont think Stillen meant for it to be done that way, hehe)
Thanks Shing, DFW, dude

 

LOL! I know that struts looses its stiffness after some time. But I just know that the FSTB will not lose its stiffness. The Realtime guy used the same stock FSTB for 4 years straight on their Realtime Type-R. Realtime know what they are doing!

it is very likely that most of you are getting used to the FSTB, so it will not feel like its like new again. Or maybe you are loosing stiffness from your struts.

 

LOL! I know that struts looses its stiffness after some time. But I just know that the FSTB will not lose its stiffness. The Realtime guy used the same stock FSTB for 4 years straight on their Realtime Type-R. Realtime know what they are doing!

it is very likely that most of you are getting used to the FSTB, so it will not feel like its like new again. Or maybe you are loosing stiffness from your struts.

 

Mine is still rock steady... after 2+ years...

The stiffening it contributes to is in the manner of compression between the two strut towers and not flexing anyways...

Like stated above, your 'symptoms' are probably elsewhere...

 

i don't know why you bought your FSTB in the first place but i didn't buy so i can play around with it...hehehe....

 

First of all, if you can actually BEND your bar or flex it then the bar serves no useful purpose. If that is the case, then get a new one. It's only $40.

EZ