I looking to buy a front strut bar for my max to imporve handling...my questions are is it worth it to buy a $200 bar from stillen or just a cheap one from ebay? Do the cheap ones fit less well by any chance?

 

ebay it... ur just buying the name brand if ur going to get a stillen... there really is not difference

 

The only thing I would consider is that it clears the evap cannister (black plastic piece). Even so you can raise a eBayer with washers.

 

so does anyone have a e-bay strut bar on their car that DOES clear the evap cannister because I was just thinking of posting up the same thread, if so can you post up the link?

BTW, can u really feel the difference?

 

A friend of mine just picked the best looking one off eBay and it cleared.

I think as long as it arcs alittle bit you should be fine as the area of concearn is just a bit right of center of the engine bay.

A FSTB is supplemental to the rest of the suspension. It will tighten up the front end a bit. The only time I noticed a minor handling difference was when I had it on/off with my D2 coilovers with 9kg springs in the front.

 

I have a cattman fsb i'll sell u, excellent condition, only 1500 miles on it. and yes you can feel the difference especially on stock suspension setup. pm me if interested

 

yea..i ebay-ed it...14 bux...arc's..clears...im a speedy driver..in/out traffic alot..im one of those people you see on the road and you say to yourself " young stupid kids..he's gonna get into an accident driving like that " ( funny how the 2 times i HAVE been in accident i was folowing speed limit's and completely focused on the road though .. )

does it make a difference? ..hell yea...feels good to take offramps 60+ or do super quick lane changes..

 

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That sux! Can you send me the E-bay link of the bar or one similar?

 

Wow. Just when I was starting to have faith that the Maxima community was a reasonably educated bunch, I walk into a thread where people are talking about a FSTB turning you and your family sedan into traffic-hacking, ramp-bombing badasses.

Hey, my steering wheel cover was $20 from Pep Boys and it turned me into a rally racer. I can grip the steering wheel so much better, I now do finely-controlled drifts around every corner on my morning commute.




For the record, there IS a difference between cheapo eBay FSTBs and some of the more expensive ones. You just probably won't notice it if you have stock suspension. So, to the orignal poster, by all means get an eBay bar. Enjoy it well.

 

I have the Otto Racing one from Ebay and it fits fine, cheap too.

 

I got an ebay one $20 + 20 shipping. It sorta rests lightly on throttle cables but not enough to get panties in a bunch you know. And to answer question, i would like to think it makes a difference, but i couldnt go wrong with 40 bucks. good luck.

 

Some one is a little grumpy.

 

i have the otto bar. it fits perfectly. i've yet to hear anyone on the .org complain about it.

 

Yeah I totally agree, if you have stock suspension the strut bar is mainly for looks, now it's a different story when you have upgraded your suspension and put a strut bar on.

 

get ebay FSTB and put a stillen sticker on it

 

Here's some pics I took when I got my eBay FSTB a while ago:





After putting it on it felt like it was more solid when taking sharp turns, or going around a steep circular onramp or offramp.

 

I got an ebay fstb for 20 bucks plus shipping. Fits fine and i noticed a little sharper steering around tight corners. By all means get an ebay one. It's a lot cheaper and in the end its just a metal bar connecting the front struts. How advanced could it get so that it costs $150?

 

Just get a Kia. It's a lot cheaper than a Bentley and in the end it's just a thing with seats, wheels, and an engine. How advanced could it get so that it costs $250k?

You get the idea.

More expensive FSTBs are made with stronger, thicker metal that works better but is harder to machine. They also have more robust construction and are made to tighter tolerances so that they fit better without having to have a lot of play in the joints and bolts, which would compromise rigidity.

Like I said, though, it's highly unlikely that you will notice those differences if you're on stock suspension.

 

^NO, you must not have both.

I have both, an ebay bar and a stillen bar. Guess which one is better?

Looks: Stillen
Weight: Same
Fit: Ebay
Strength: Ebay
Value: Ebay

WOW 4/5 for ebay! 2/5 for stillen.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=stillen+rant

I should add, that the stillen bars mounts are soft as hell. they bend when torquing the nuts.

 

i have had 2 different fstb's the courtesy nissan, and cattman. in shipping the cattman was stolen, so i presently dont have a fstb. honestly, i cant tell the difference with or without one. my vote is cosmetic mod, but hey i dont know much. nothing wrong with saving some money, buy what you want, try getting one of the more expensive ones second hand, or go ebay, if sutter says quality on ebay is good then go with that.

 

I have used the same strut bar I have right now on my pass 2 cars. It works just as good on the first two as it does on the max.

 

Huh. Besides yours, the few accounts I've heard from people going from a generic FSTB to an Otto or Stillen FSTB have indicated the opposite.

But, fair enough.

 

is it easy to install one? im gonna go with the ebay one i think. also, ive heard it reduces chassis noises and other noises. is that true?

 

Yes, really easily (provided you have some kind of ratcheting 14mm wrench). I dropped by the post office on my way to work one morning, picked my FSTB up, and installed it on the side of the road in about 5 minutes.

 

Do yourself a favor and buy stillen i bought a sturt bar from ebay for 35 dollas , great deal right. the **** didn't fit right. when the engine torques there is a clicking sound from the engine bay. the bar is hitting the low side tube of the ac sys. if you buy ebay you will never reach anyone to get a refund. so i bought from another distributor they advertise on this site but i won't mention their name but the initials are CE. they sent me the same strut bar i got off of ebay. all together i spent 115 dollas for two strut bars so if you want a custom fit do stillen. if you go cheap you get ****

 

Yeah, ok that makes sense. I did these on the SAT's. Kia is to Bentley as Ebay fstb is to Stillen fstb......Oh, no wait, it makes no sense at all. Quit smoking your crack pipe and posting at the same time.

For those of you who buy an ebay fstb and it doesnt fit, well then you got the wrong one. Maybe do a little bit more searching.
Let's all just realize that the fstb is 90% cosmetic, 5% actual performance, and 5% imagined performance. I like the way they look so i got one.

 

I wouldn't say that your one case means eBay is crap.

 

Wow. Did you study percents for the SAT too?

I was just illustrating a point, but if you want to bust out the personal attacks then I will say with no reservation that what you said is total crap.

Unless you're a retard with the install and you drive like a granny... in which case, you're right. Totally cosmetic.

 

wow, all I wanted to know is what kinda of strut bar I should get...where did all those hostilities come from?

 

Apparently it's a touchy subject....

If you're staying with the stock suspension, then any strut bar you get will be fine. Just install it correctly and you're good to go.

If you're planning some fairly serious suspension upgrades, you might as well go for something more serious now, like the Otto Racing bar or the Alutec lightweight bar from Paradox Systems.

 

i just got an fstb from ebay, and it fit and works perfectly fine...i thought about going with stillen, but like a few people have said, they are pretty darn over-priced...ebay (as long as you make sure its the correct one) strut bars work just fine and get the job done

 

The FSTB provides a slight improvement in cornering when you are throwing your car around. Regualr driving it does pretty much nothing but in either case you dont really feel the difference. Get an ebay bar, I have an "Otto" bar and it fit very nicely. Overall, dont expect much from it and you wont be dissapointed.


While on the topic of FSTBs, I have a small question. After intsalling the bar I noticed that one side reveals more of the bolt that goes into the actual bar than the other. This was because I screwed in one side and when I got to the other I realized it wasnt reaching. I had to let the other bolt/screw out more to compensate for the other side. I made sure to tighten them as best a I could but does the inconsistency make a difference? I hope this makes sense, hehe.

 

use a torque wrench to measure the torque required to loose the nuts...or you can look it up in the book...then put on the FSTB and tighten back to the orginal spec...I think

 

Where can you get an "otto" fstb?

 

ebay, just look around.

 

has anyone ever tried mocking up a three point brace for the 4th maximas? i kinda adopted my sis' neglected car and im finally giving it the attention it should have had.

 

\

damn kids with their slow cars...

 

That would be great, but I don't know that anyone has. Care to be the first?

 

What does a three-point brace look like and what does it brace against? I'm assuming it's somewhere in the engine bay?

 

It bolts to some point on the firewall as well as the strut towers.

My brother has this three-point bar from Password JDM on his '96 Integra:
http://www.passwordjdm.com/product.a...For=&PT_ID=374

This is an excellent piece, by the way. Fitment is AMAZING, and it's incredibly solid -- certainly better than anything I've seen for the Max. One of the advantages of having a Honda, I guess...