I got the FSTB from courtesy for my '95 SE 5spd... I bolted both sides of it down to the strut towers, but the silver part of the bar itself is "loose". You can easily move twist it with your hand. Is it supposed to be like this, or is there something else that I need to tighten??

Well one way or another, I just had the two front struts and bushings replaced with new OEM parts, and added the FSTB all at once today and wow does this thing carve corners much better. Not only that, but I noticed that a certain area of the road going to my house no longer causes the maxima to twist and shake like it used to do. I used to cringe every time I went over the bumps... now its just like one solid uniform "thud" and it never loses stride.

WTH doesn't nissan put these things on as factory equipment? I'm sure that the extra 15 bucks or so that it would cost them would be well worth it to most of their buyers!!

 

You're suppose to tighten them. The bar cannot be loose at all. Tighten the whole bar before you put the strut bolts back in place. Make sure there is no freeplay on the bar one it's tightened.

 

Uhoh so did I maybe mess something up by carving corners tonight with the bar loose??

 

No. Just as long as you tightened your strut bolts down.

 

OK I have it bolted on HARDCORE to the struts, just the actual bar has play in it... I'll go out there now and see if I can find a way to tighten it down.

 

You should never over tighten your struts bolts. It can either strip your bolts or even pop out during hard cornering. That's what I've read prior to my FSTB. They recommend that you tightening it to about 30 lbs with a torque wrench.

 

He is absolutely right. Be careful!!

 

Well I just tightened them by hand, I have no idea how many pounds I tightened them... just as much as I could using about 90% strength (I'm not that strong of a guy, 6'1 & 180, no muscle definition) and a socket wrench that is about 8-10 inches long.

HAHA, how's that for a scientific analysis? So is there a tool I can get for CHEAP to tell me how hard they are bolted down? I want around 30 pounds you said?

BTW, I heard some people saying that the FSTB gets rid of some rattles, but I haven't noticed any difference.
Although I did notice that now when I start my car it feels solid... it used to be when I started it I could feel the chassis twist a little from the engine torque.

 

The brackets attach to the strut towers, three bolts each. Snug them down good, but don't over-tighten them. Your local auto parts store will let you borrow a torque wrench for a refundable deposit. You must also tighten the bolts that secure each end of the bar to its respective bracket. Again, do not over-tighten. (I broke a stud off one of my strut towers, and it cost me some $$$ to get it fixed...)
There should be *NO* free play on the bar nor the brackets. Enjoy.

 

A torque wrench is like $12. If you tightened them with 90% of your strength you have them way too tight. By comparison, lugnuts for your wheels are to be tightened down to about 75 lbs, which is 2x as tight as the strut tower bolts should be.