well, after searching the planet for the alternate bolts, I finally just took the OEM bolts for the control arm and grinded the "washer" lip down.

Hey, whadya know, they fit perfectly into the collars now.

But....

a few problems:
1. once the driver's side LTB is on the control arm, I can't get the passenger side on! Do I have to remove the entire passenger side control arm barcket (the gray thing with the 4 bolts) to do this? If so, I have another problem:

tried to remove the 22mm bolts for the back of the LTB and they won't budge. And it's not because i'm weak. After repeated effort, I actually BROKE my craftsman 18" breaker bar - the 1/2" ratchet hub sheared right off. No ****, I must be the worlds's strongest man.

So, for lack of another car to use to go to get another bar, had to put all the stuff back together AGAIN so i could drive the car. Guess I'll have to try a 3rd time next week....but how the hell am I gonna get those 22mm bolts off???? Am I going to need to go to a shop with a lift (hard to get leverage under the car) and an impact wrench?

btw, my car is a manual tranny, so there is clearance.....

and my neighbors are getting tired of seeing the max up on jackstands i think

 

Do you have any rust issues on the bottom of the car?
Did you spray penetrating fluid on the nuts before trying to remove them?
Do you have access to air tools? They seem to make this work a LOT easier instead of having to grunt and curse trying to remove frozen bolts. If anything, just have a shop break them loose for you with the impact wrench, then tighten them by hand so you can go home and finish the install.

the front brackets on the control arms are facing outward.. \..../ like that, with up being the front of the car. I oversized the holes on the bar enough that they slid on with some "persuasion" on the test-fits, but they may not on yours. if you just loosen one side a bit so that you can get some movement in there, it should slide on, then once the bar is on you can bolt it back down to the frame and it will self-center with the bolts (the bolts are tapered on the end for this reason), then you can bolt the bar onto the car and torque everything down.

unfortunately, these are some of the things you run into when dealing with frame components. even a nasty pothole can bend this stuff just enough that it will fit on your car and won't others. rust and corrosion also makes a big difference when trying to break these bolts loose.

 

thanks matt, I'll give it a go this week and see if the local auto shop will break em loose for me. As for everything you said, right on...didn't really need a response I was just venting

but since the breaker bar was a craftsman, they replaced it with no argument and actually gave me $15 back since it is currently on sale....so all the frustration actually got me $15

 

Hey you can't beat that.

 

slam into more potholes and see if it gets better..hahah. GOod luck tho ive got some accidents on the max....hopefully it wont hinder my project soon.

 

THIRD TIME A CHARM?

nope....

well brought it into the local auto shop where i slipped a few bucks to one of the guys to put me on the lift and use impact wrench.

got the bar on, no problem....just the way it says in matt's instructions..

not having poly bushings, I only hand tightend the control arm bolt though, planning to torque it up once on the ground.

well...problem is, once on the ground the bolts are too close to the side of the "collar" piece on the bar, so could not get a freakin socket into it....

after an hour and up and down, and noticed I was basicall taking $$ away from the shop guy who had real customers to gouge so I just said screw it and took the bar off, back to stock in the front....

gonna try again after I get some poly bushings...

btw - did drive the car around the block before realizing that the control arm nuts were STILL not tight enough and I have to say, the improvement in handling is OUTSTANDING....I really cannot wait to really get the thing on for good.

so, any word if we're SURE the poly bushings for a '99 will fit on a 5th gen?

 

I am planning to get my lower-arm bar install this coming weekend. I hope I don't have to go through the same ordeal as you. Wish me luck!

 

good luck...btw do you have poly bushings or OEM ones? let me know how it goes....then I'll come steal your car and leave mine in its place

VMax, you are gonna have the tightest handling, stiffest-framed maxima out there by the time you're done with it....

 

If things go well, I'll let you test drive my car one day. =) I am gonna stay w/stock bushings for smooth idle/ride.

 

Hmm, so OEM rubber bushings make it a little difficult? (not that I'm switching to poly anytime soon, so I wanna hear this...)

BTW, can someone take a very clear, detailed pic of all the bolts/nuts involved with the stage 2 Lower Tie Bar? I still don't quite have a clear picture in my head of where and how this thing mounts.

 

i was going to take pics today, but got frustrated with the install and kind of forgot....Vmax its on you...

spirilis, it's prretty straightforward except tightening them down at the end....maybe my car is just all f-ed up and it'll be easy for everyone else!

 

ummm, stick the socket on the nut, lower the car down, tighten it. remove. repeat for other side.


there are plenty of pics of step-by-step install on my webpage. this is for the 4th gen, but the 5th gen is exactly the same with the exception that the rear mounting points are slightly different.
http://www.mattblehm.com/ltb_install.html

 

but doesn't the nut have to self-center in the hole before tightened...otherwise it will be preloaded and will slowly work itself loose I would think..the nut obviously doesn't want to sit in the middle of the hole, it wants to sit off to the side....literally about 1mm or less from the sides of the "collar" part.

Also, is it possible to do this with the car up on ramps, or is it imperative that the wheels be off the ground...

Matt sorry for all the trouble, I've been rebuilding classic cars my whole life and I can't figure out this simple, simple mod.....i am retarded....

or maybe, I'm just a dumbass, which is a more likely possibility.

Matt, just out of curiosity - why is it you can crank down the drivers' side nut all the way while the car is up but not the passenger side one? aren't they the same?

 

If you're referring to the install instructions for the auto where I tell you to tighten it down before putting it back together, you have no choice- there's no way to tighten it while it's on the ground. you just have to line it up as best you can while you have the thing apart since that's the only way you can get to it. annoying, but there's nothing you can do about it. If you have a 5 spd, you can just hand-tighten it back together, then torque both nuts on the ground.

putting the car on ramps is okay as well. you want the suspension as close to normal driving position as you can get it, as that's where you want the bushigns to sit all of the time (so there's no load on the rubber portions). If you can't get to them while the car is flat on the ground, then you can do it while it's on a ramp.



also, try bending the bar slightly by sticking a prybar between the engine crossmember and the LTB and prying down on it- or using a jack and pressing up on it in the middle a hair as well.. that should get the nuts centered enough to get a socket on them.

 

ahh nice, never saw that page, thanks!

 

I'm having serious squeaking/creaking issues w/ mine. I followed the instructions and did the install twice with the same outcome. Any thoughts??

 

try tightening the front bolts a little more. mine did that for a little while and just tighten them down a bit more.

Spirilis, I've posted that link a couple of times in the group deal thread-- sorry you missed it.

 

Well I got my tie bar last week and the newer nuts that I needed to fit in the collars today. I figured I wouldn't be able to get the bolts off so I took it to a local gas station and asked one of the guys to help me out. We were able to get the front of the bar on by taking off all the 22mm bolts on one side, but when it came to putting on the rear we couldn't get all the holes to line up, even with both of us prying! So my first attempt was a bust, but I guess I'll try a different garage this weekend...