After a few delays in the ship date I received the bar this week and installed it yesterday morning. The instructions that came with it pretty much sucked but there were better instructions posted in the forums and around the web using the ADDCO bar as a reference so we managed to get it done.

The bar and the hardware are top-notch and fit perfectly on my 2002 SE. Everything tightened down and seemed solid. The install took around 2 hours but we had never done a RSB install before so if I had to do it again it would go much faster. It's pretty much a 2 person job. I doubt I could have held the bar and installed all the washers/brackets/screws/etc. by myself.

The instructions say give the bar an inch when connecting to the side of the car but in application we could only get maybe 1/3 of an inch. As I said, the instructions from Progress (who made the bar) are pretty bad. The diagrams for how to rig bolts/washers/nuts/etc were useful though.

After carefully lowering the car (can't use the bar as a jack point anymore!), I drove it off of some wood blocks and decided to test it out... I drove around a closed office/industrial area and took some 90 degree turns going 60-70MPH with no problems... the back wheels stay where they are supposed to. It felt like a whole different car. On the last run I even got the back of the car to slide/drift in a turn.

All in all I would say the bar rules. I haven't driven on the highway yet but I've gone over speedbumps and driven around town without any clunks or anything so I assume everything is okay. Tomorrow I plan to re-tighten all the bolts (apparently they will loosen the first day of driving.)

In addition, I installed a FSTB... The Bomz branded one. I wouldn't call it a perfect fit. It slightly hits the hood when closed (we tested w/ some baby powder) but it doesn't hit anything metal/important or dent the hood in any way. At its current angle (bending forwards) the intake will hit the bar if I gun it in reverse (around 1500+RPM) but since I normally just let the car roll itself in reverse I shouldn't have a problem. I was more worried about causing damage to the hood than scraping the underside of the bar. Still, even with the slight fitment issues it's a good deal for $30.

I want to thank everybody on the maxima.org forums for their help in selecting these upgrades and even the install instructions/tips. These are the first mods I've done to my car (besides a drop-in K&N) and all your talk about RSB/FSTB and how it was so good got me to do it. Cattman should also be thanked for making a very nice bar at a reasonable price.

Next up... new tires. Gotta get rid of these OEM bridgestones!

 

I gotta get me one of those!!

I'm a little confused..did you jack the car up and support it with stands? Did you take the wheels off?

 

Yes to both... It would be _very_ hard to get the sidearm bolts on without taking the wheels off.

 

Thanks, boba001. Prolly be spring before I get one installed. Too dam* cold out to be crawlin' under my car..