Benj-AMG

This morning I put it reverse and heard a sort of rough mechanical sound. Not a grind, but more like a deep vibration for a second. Went away as soon as I put it in drive. So when I got to work I had a buddy that works with me hop in the drivers seat and put it in reverse while I looked under the hood to see what was goin on. Sure enough, when the car is put in reverse the whole engine tips forward about and inch and the FSTB is BARELY making contact! The area of contact is about 1/4 of an inch. Any other time there is roughly a half inch worth of clearance between the intake plenum and the bar. Should I throw it onto a vice and bend it a couple degrees, or add a couple washers to lift it up? It didn't do this until today and I put it on this past Sunday. I guess I owe all the guys who were bashing the cheap eBay strut bars an apology

KLOOGY

iTrader: (12)

I know that you are new to the Org, but I paid 60 or so bucks for that same bar from Courtesy Nissan 2 years ago. All you have to do is tighten the bolts on the corners to arch it a bit over the manifold, then it will clear fine, with no problem. Mine has been on for 2+ years without any problem.....

MrGone

iTrader: (30)

you probably have the FSTB with curved brackets, while Kloogy has the one with the brackets that go straigt up.

edit: ok, I looked on Kloogys car domain and he has a curved one. Maybe you got that 4th gen bar?

Benj-AMG

Cool. I will give it a shot. Thanks!

Benj-AMG

Um.. I don't think tightening the bolts will help. Think I need to raise it with some washers.

MannyNJ2k2max

iTrader: (3)

.....didnt you pay $20 for it?...

KLOOGY

iTrader: (12)

This was discussed in many threads over a year ago. If you tighten those bolts on the bar itself, it will arch the bar , and it will clear the manifold....its that simple. Many of us had this happen when we first slapped it on. No need to freak out or trashing your FSTB.....this is one of those mods, where spending 200 bucks on, is a waste of money.

Benj-AMG

Yep. $20. If I can get a quarter inch more clearance then it won't be an issue. Whats odd is that it didn't do this until today. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday....it was fine.

sweeper

Kloogy, you are saying tighten the two bolts (one each side) that attach the bar to the circular 3-hole strut bracket, right? My ebay bar is on it's way, so I'll be sure to tighten er up.

thanks

KLOOGY

iTrader: (12)

Thats right, not the 3 bolts on the strut mount.

Benj-AMG

Thanks kloogy. I'm gonna do that tonight. Appreciate the advice

01SE02SER

Just go to page 4 of the how-to's...

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=33563&page=4

and look for my write-up on FSTB installation. I hope it answers all your questions.

Peace.

Manaz101

I just finished installing my FSB....and i can notice a difference in turning. It's GREAT!!! Can't wait to install the Progress RSB!!

Check it out!

Zero Deuce SE

Looks good. How much gap is between the bar and the upper intake?

Lumbee1

Sorry guys but there are two cheap bars on the market. They look identical except that one has more angle in the bends of the brace. soreceur and I compared ours. We both bought them at the same time but from different locations. Mine is very flat while his rises almost a inch away from the intake manifold. Since the mounting brackets were identical we swapped bars to prove the difference. On my car his bar had a inch of clearance.

Now for the bad part. There is no way to tell which bar you will get when you order off of ebay. You might get lucky and get one with plenty of clearance but then again you could get one that rides right over the intake manifold. For the ones right over the intake manifold, there is no solution. I have ground down the highest point of my intake manifold and yet it still rubs in reverse.

Manaz101

Not sure exactly how much....but i'd say anywhere < .5", i tried sticking my pinky there, but could not. I made sure to tighten the bolts and have driven it around and no noise or sign of it moving after the initial test drive.

2k3TitaniumSe

iTrader: (3)

I told you they weren't perfect from ebay.

But I hope it could be fixed

This is what i was talking about, asu174. same like it 3rd gens with fstb from ebay.

Benj-AMG

I looked at some pics of the OTTO and the Stillen bar and noticed that they were pretty flat. My el-cheapo bar is kinda rounded---kinda like the profile of a football. Still, there is at least a half inch clearance before the transmission is put into reverse. And even then the area of contact is really slight. I'm bettin that if I can raise it by just .5 in it will be fine. If not, I'm taking it off.