Ok, lets clear this up once and for all:

Ebay for a few $$ or brand name for alot more?
Is the price worth it or is it better quality for stillen and such?

 

what makes this so definitive? Maybe this will help:

bascially, Stillen does the the Reasearch & Design. They test their products on the actual cars to make them work as best as they can.

others on eBay and elsewhere are Knockoffs, making $$ off of Stillen's hard work. They merely repoduce one close to Stillen (or other well known/expensive name) and undercut them to Steal business and designs.

Continue to buy knockoffs and Stillen will suffer. They eill either jack prices up, discontinue certain items, or put less quality/work into products to reduce price.

of course it's your money and decision. Personally, when it comes to my Max, I prefer spending a little more for the assurance of reliabilty and well tested design.

 

I agree with NismoMax80 but I wont pay $200.00 or more for something that has a brand name... is like buying Sony intead of Panasonic or Zenith... It's your money so play it wisely.... my .02

 

I've had a non-brand on my car for a year with absolutely no problem and what I think is comparable performance. My .02 for what it's worth.

 

Who cares?

What's so great about Stillen anyway?

Seriously.

 

it will NEVER be cleared up once and for all. every week a newbie will ask the same question

 

Geez, Jason.....easy on the newbies.

 

**** stillen...

o and ive had a $60 courtesy fstb on my car for ~2yrs and i like it. I also have a $40 ebay rstb i havent installed yet. It looks exactly like the courtesy one.

 

Here's me clearing it up:

It's all the same sh*t.

 

It's a strut bar. How much R&D does that take?

 

Well, I just purchased one off of Ebay about an hour ago....should get it in about a week and I will know more then.

 

i got a custom maxima fsb and i think it feels the same as a stellin one, from expiernce, but about rear sway bars i dont know why but my .02 tells me i should go with a name brand instead of ebay.

 

if it helps any: OTTO RACING fsb from ebay. (front)

a generic one from ebay for rear

 

i dont care if stillen loses money. i dont have stock in them. how much more can they jack up prices?? people are buying the other stuff cause stillen is charging to much.
i could care less if stillen went out of business. they offer nothing that isnt avaliable elsewere for cheaper (same qualility or better)

gotta love free trade!!

does that mean i shouldnt buy all the knockoff nismo stuff for our cars?
is that all "authentic" nismo stuff you got there?

 

I have an eBay FSTB on my car... $22.99 shipped... seems fine to me... I don't care how good they're R&D is... if I can get a generic one for $22.99 or an Otto for $39.99... there's no way I'm gonna pay over $150 bucks for a Stillen one... or however much that thing is... same with RSB... I'd get a Progress one for $125 over the $240 Stillen.... no one on here has complained about the knock-offs yet... at least they've not had any major problems with it...

 

LOL, nice. I was just posting the oppposite point most make. Sure I will buy and have bought items for cheaper buy a lower name company. Just wanted to point out the minority thought: these companies sell Stillen designed products. So what if Stillen goes under, then who will design them to be copied? Then we'll wonder why "so and so" quality has decreased. they had to slap something together without any research.

BTW, if I buy Nismo products from Nissan, how am I to know Nimo did not produce them. Besides they are decorations, I was speaking of performance, mechanical parts' reliability. Don't think I have to be concerned about the shoulder pads not cushioning well.
All the Nismo products I have (that Nismo actually offers) I have bought authentic: radiator cap, oil cap, valve caps. Gas cap does not fit 04.

someone please tell me of a knockoff FSTB and RSB for my 04. b/c Stillen is the only that has made them yet and I really want them.

 

Gonna give you u my 2 cents.
Stillen makes the best quality products! They insure their products to be what they were deigned for. I have a stillen front strut bar, intake and I plan on getting their body kit on my next maxima.

A friend of mine got a knock off bar for his bmw. Bent real well when he did a few crazy turns. Bending it back was a PITA! And you can never bend it back exactly.

OBX is a stillen knock off but provide simulair products. If you do not want to spend 200 on a stillen bar, get an OBX with very simulair results.

MY 2 CENTS!

 

Yeah, you should try their headers. I heard those things kick a$$.

 

besides a real good knock off, stillen makes the best strut brace and rear sway bar for the 5th gen max.


I know you guys love to hate stillen, but give them that.

You can say they are a "ripoff" or i can say you guys are cheap and will buy anything that fits. If someone has the money to spend, good for them... It's not like it's a bad thing to have a stillen piece on your car.


I wonder which one is the truth? There is a truth to the matter that a difference in materials of the strut brace, or rear sway, is different. To what effect i have no idea... If no one has made direct comparisons of the progress rear sway bar to the stillen one, in other then cosmetical appeal, then what proof is there one is better then the other, none. This is my point... just because they look similar, does not mean they are the same.

Just because stillen has released some crappy products, doesn't mean everything they have for our cars is crap. If you think stillen is overpriced, you should see how much stuff from other import tuners costs. e.g) neuspeed.

 

For the record... I didn't mean to bash Stillen or anything they make, if my post even came across that way.

I just stated that until someone proves that the "knock-offs" are of inferior quality (or until mine breaks or bends), I would rather save the money I'd spend on Stillen stuff and get the cheaper substitutes. Guess you could call me one of the "cheap" guys that'll buy anything that fits/works... but hey, I'm driven by the circumstances... if I had cash to burn, I'd get Stillen's FSTB, RSB, RSTB, and then some...

PS: OT, but I really like the Stillen rear section too, but can't justify spending all that money on a muffler... so if one of ya has a used one, hook me up.

 

Amen bro.... before my Max, I had a VW Golf with a Neuspeed cat-back... I HAVE SEEN how much they cost!

 

I bought one of the common one's off ebay and the idiots sent me one wrong bracket. it has been an utter PAIN IN THE ***!

Greg

 

has anyone's ebay bar ever twisted or got bent outta shape like some suggest?

 

I Have The Custom Maxima Fstb On My 2k3 And It Leaves A Small Gap When I Close The Hood A Friend Of Mine Who Works For Nissan Said Its Made For An Altima Ive Heard Either Stillen If U Want To Spend The $ Or The Paradox Systems Is Good 2..

 

ive had my ebay one for almost 2 years now, no problems what so ever.
Granted i know its a lil odd to be so cheap on soemthngs and so expensive on others, granted i did pay about a grand for my JIC's but only 30 or so on a fstb. i know im not the only one like this.

BTW, ill be purchasing Stillens aero kit as soon as i have the money.

 

For that thing to bend like stated earlier you'd have to be trying do the rollover test on your car. If the strut bar bends think about what you must have done to your strut tower housing. If it bends I'll buy another, after I spend some major $ fixing my strut tower, for $30 and still be some $ left over compared to the name brand.

 

Nope... not yet... but for $23 I could buy 6 of em and still have some change leftover than if I got the S*****n (identity protected) one for $150.... if I went through 6 FSTBs... I think there wouldn't be much left of the rest of my car anyhow...

 

Wow, he must have been driving pretty hard for his chassis to flex enough to permanently deform is FSTB.

Your little story is BS and you know it.