Test Fitting the Blehmco Stage 2 LTB on 5.5 gen w/ gen2 headers
 

All

Have been talking with Matt Blehm and djfrestyl and we are going to do a test fit of the stage 2 lower tie bars over the new cattman gen 2 headers. Hopefully that close fitment on the y pipe will help the bar clear the headers!

Hopefully, Nilesh and I will be getting this done within the next 2 weeks. The one question I have is, Are hand tools and jack stands going to be good enough to get this bar on?

Irish - I know you have installed the LTB, so if you could throw some input my way it would be :thumbsup:

I've seen Josh install it with jack stands and hand tools on a 3rd Gen (which needed a grinder as well) so for your 5.5 you should be able to do it with less trouble than that. All the best.

Sounds good. Will post pics once we get the install done.

Josh, how tough was the bushing install on the control arms?

hey let me join the festivities...i got one lying around that i would like to install too :)

If I wanted to install a stage 1, how much clearance would I lose? Would it make installing a y-pipe hard? Can anyone diagram for me where exactly the stage 1 bolts up to on the chassis?

wow rbrown....youre really crankin out those mods...

missed you at the meet this sunday....wanted to take a look (and listen) at those gen2 headers.

ok, now I'm back from vacation I'll jump in:

1. would strongly suggest air tools. For the 5th gen, the bush pin links (where the front posts of the LTB go) are angled a bit outward, so you need to loosen all the bolts that hold the bush pin on (it's the gray/silver piece with the 4-5 bolts in it). These are NOT easy to break loose without impact tools.

2. the bushings are a MAJOR pain in the arse. Even the little "easy" ones took me a long time to get out of a BRAND NEW control arm - couldn't imagine trying to get ones out that have been in for a while. I haven't done the big ones (yet)...waiting until next spring, but I hear it is QUITE a job. Might want to have a shop press the old ones out.

3. the tolerances of the LTB are a tight fit, so you will need to make sure to muscle it good. It gets frustrating, but it WILL fit.

4. Dont' crank down the front bolts until the car is on the ground, unless you are using the poly bushings already. you could tear the rubber bushings if you do.

5. Joel, aside from the grinding, the 3rd gen one is MUCH easier to put on than the 5th gen bar, because the bush pin links aren't angled out like they are on the 5th gen

good luck!

Hopefully the clearance will be obvious enough so we dont have to tighten the LTB all the way. Haha, once its on I just might not give it back to Nilesh!

Props for doing this. This has been the only thing holding me back from getting the stage II over the stage I. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks Crispy - I spoke to Matt Blehm and he says that if the Stage 2 doesnt fit, the stage 1 bars wont fit either. The location where the bars connect the control arms is the clearance area in question. Kinda dismaying but hopefully these headers sit up close enough to get clearance!

Irish - anything I need to be careful with while playing with the control arms?

Yeah sorry about that. Had a big night on saturday and wound up waking up at 11:30am with a rather bad hangover... I couldnt lug my *** out of bed to detail the car.

not really, just make sure to thread all the bolts correctly (especially the ones that hold the lower bush pin link onto the frame), as they seem to cross-thread pretty easily....don't want to strip anything.

but didn't the gen 1 headers fit on the 5th gens with the stage II LTB? what has changed so much with these gen 2 that they wouldn't fit...I don't think that lower section of the y pipe section was changed any...all the changes in bends were done higher up I believe and don't result in a lower hanging header than the gen 1's...even if the clearance is closer, wouldn't shaving the LTB a little work?

As per Matt Blehm's webpage, the stage 2 tie bar will not fit on the 5th generation with Cattman headers (gen 1). I spoke with Matt myself and he said that the stage 1 bars would also not clear the headers.

Unfortunately, Nilesh and I did not have enough time today to do the test fitment on the car. Hopefully we'll be able to do it soon.

but hnda etr (roy) had the gen 1 cattman headers on his 5.5 gen and the stage II LTB fit IIRC...that was b4 he went turbo of course and got rid of the headers for a downpipe of course...
on his website it only says it won't clear the 4th gen's with the cattman headers because of the LTB being significantly different (as you can see in the pics on that page) that of the 5th gen ones due to differences in the LCA's...

michaelnyden is right about what the BlehmCo website says:

And that the Stage II did fit Roy's car (you can see it on his homepage).

But then I guess since ya spoke with Matt about it, he may know something that we don't. :gotme:

I wasnt able to see any of Roy's LTB2 pictures. I guess I will have to give this install a shot soon. Probably once I get my bushings done, which may be after I get back from Australia.

One more thing about these bolts rbrown81. Double check the Matt's instructions. I emailed him, but last I checked his website, he had not updated the info.

There may be a mistake on the torque of the rear bolts, which as Irish said, are really soft (if they are easy to strip, they are as easy to break). The rear bolts should be torqued to only 69-83 ft-lb per the FSM. When I installed mine last February, the instructions wrongly stated 97-117 ft-lbs.

here is an e-mail response garnered from Matt Blehm regarding fitment issues and cattman headers...

"Michael,
Thanks for letting me know on the 5th gen headers. I don't think
there
will be a problem with the Gen II if the Gen I fit without a problem.
I wasn't aware that anyone had actually tried the LTB with any sort of
headers on a 5th gen, so this is great news for me.
From my talks with Brian Catts, the gen II should actually have
slightly more room underneath than the gen I, so yours should fit
fine. If it does not, then I'll be glad to offer a complete refund
including shipping on it, just so I can have the confirmation of
whether
or not it fits.
Let me know if that's acceptable for you.
thanks!"

- Matt


Michael Nyden wrote:

> I have a 5th gen....2000....and have the new generation 2 cattman
> headers....will the stage II LTB I just ordered fit? or would I have
> to shave it down? my friend with the gen 1 cattman headers and a
2000
> maxima fit the stage II LTB just fine....I thought it was only on the
> 4th gen maxima's and cattman headers that didn't fit...
>
> please let me know before you ship mine out and complete my order...
>
> Thanks,
> -Michael Nyden

Subscribing.

Rich, we'll throw my bar onto your car this weekend when I do my suspension this weekend. Come on by.

btw all, Nilesh=me.

Does anyone have an underbody picture of the Cattman headers installed?

Works for me. :woot:

subscribing too. ;)

As said above, I had a customer with a 4th gen Max and Cattman Gen I headers purchase a stage II from me and it did not fit. Due to one of the precats on the 5th gen being below the engine, the 5th gen bar was designed with much more clearance under the engine and I am going to ASSUME the bars will fit the Cattman gen II headers on a 5gen - but I can't confirm nor deny that until someone actually tests it for me and we can all see the results.

Believe me, I'd certainly like to know exactly what models fit and don't fit! I've given up/lost many sales on these bars due to the uncertainty of these fittments. The sooner I know what fits what, the better!!

Hopefully these guys will be able to get together soon and post results.

We'll verify soon.

Matt, I dont believe I will be able to get this done till after January though, I am going to be away from the 20th december until the 15th of Jan. Once I get back I will get the bar from you and pop it on!

-Rich

The stripping issue was more a concern with getting the bolts threaded correctly when the bush pink link has a load on it (i.e. the LTB is attached to both of them)...I had a ***** of a time getting a couple of them to catch the thread - specifically the 2 rear bolts where the rear LTB attachment is. Once threaded, no stripping problems. To tell the truth, I didn't torque them to spec at all, I just hit them with the impact....no problems.

I do, however, have 10 of them from DaveB to put in next time I take the bush pin link off (spring, when I put in new LCSs)

I know that I am bringing back an old thread, But did anybody confirm the fitment of the LTB with Cattman II headers?

I saw some pictures in puppetmaster's gen2 header thread...and it seems impossible for the LTB2 to fit according to the pictures...

I offered P-master my stage II brace to test fit and I never heard back.

I PMed you back... :gotme:

I'm interested in this as well. I have the gen II headers now and would like to tighten up the suspension a little more. btw, what exactly are the benefits to this mod, any downsides other than lower clearance?

it won't fit...I found this out when I installed my gen 2 headers a few months ago...