is it worth getting a cheap (dont know what brand) $40 strut bar from ebay?
I am wondering if strut bars really help in turning and stuff.

for my 2003 nissan maxima se

 

Not much to matter really what other suspension mods do you have or plan to doing ?
The ideal stut bar is a one piece design I'm currently in the works of making a nice one

 

IMO, the strut bar on the 5/5.5 is cosmetic. Not to say it does absolutely nothing, but my experience has been what little it does is still not warrent a $40 price tag. I paid $20 for one of mine, sold it soon after. No noticeable change. I did drive curvy roads and it just made no difference.
Now, on my 3rd gen, significant improvement.

 

haha yea thats what my buddy said. its only for "looks"

 

 

On the 5th gen, it won't do a thing for "curvy roads". What it will do is help keep your car planted when you launch hard from a standing start into a sharp turn. It will give you more control over that moment where you would normally be fighting the FWD torque steer.

That's about it. And really, that also makes it worth buying.

Oh, and good thing for this thread, because to date I don't think anyone on the Org has ever created a thread about the FSTB. This might be the very first one.

 

So there's what it does. OP, you've got to decide if that is worth a $20-40+ price tag.

I am guessing here, but it seems to me the main reason the FSTB does almost nothing on the 5/5.5 is due to how seperated and isolated the front suspension components are. I mean, comparatively, I felt I gained better stabilization and traction control from the subframe collars than the FSTB.
I'd like to be able to say Nissan increased the stiffness of the frame and front end to reduce the amount of flex corrected by installing a FSTB. But I fear I'd be giving Nissan too much credit.
I concede I may be wrong, this is only my impression having done no research, only experience working on
this car versus my 3rd gen.

 

get this bar, cheap and looks better too, definitely worth buying even if it is just for looks!!

http://www.andysautosport.com/nissan...a00087921.html

 

so I guess if Im am at a red light and it turns green and if I wanted to accelerate through a slight sharper turn, it might give me better control?
hmm I guess its not worth the $40 price tag, if its only for "looks"

But I wonder if I should keep my 03 maxmia se stock so far its stock.
Im just a college student, so I dont have much funds to make cool mods.

 

lol, I just checked my history and apparently I started a tread about strut bars already hahaha.. back a couple months
so apparently both the front and rear one is needed before you can really notice the performance change??

 

Rear one? You won't notice squat with a RSTB (rear strut tower brace) unless you've already tightened up the suspension as much as possible, which you haven't. And even then, it's very minimal. Besides, the only manufacturer of a RSTB for the 5th Gen Maxima is Stillen, and it's hardly worth $200, no matter what you've done to your car.

The RSB (rear sway bar), on the other hand... If you want to spend a little money on a bolt-on that makes a significant difference to your stock SE, this is where you go. Best bang for your buck under $200.

But if your 9 year old car is truly stock with original equipment, I'd recommend replacing front end suspension parts before modifying. End-links, ball-joins, tie-rod ends, bushings, bearings, and whatever else is likely worn out after all these years. Find a good, trusted mechanic and look towards making your car fit before upgrading it.

That's it. I'm done.

 

I would go with a rear before front. I own a cattman rear swaybar and I really like it. I defiantly felt a difference with my suspension. They're $139, the installation was pretty easy, about 30 mins.

http://www.cattman.com/prod_swaybars.html

 

to answer your question yes it is worth it to get a cheap ebay FSTB but only at a max price of $30 shipped

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-RACING...15c68b&vxp=mtr

 

Nice find, Fish. Are you going to pick this up?

 

If I can negotiate a better price with them, then yes. I'm sure this solid 4-point mount will make a difference, than the 2 point moving axes one (Stillen).

 

Well... conventional wisdom makes you sure of that. But unless you're an automotive engineer, we'll have to wait and see.

Here's a picture of my old Max's trunk, where the Stillen RSTB was mounted through the lining to the top of the strut towers.



Now here's a picture from the ebay sale. And IDK where the thing is actually mounted. Without connecting the strut towers, I'm a little suspect of its actual effectiveness. But not-an-engineer, so I'm pulling these opinions out of thin air.



I'm curious about the results. Buy it and bump this thread after the install.

 

The top mount points look similar to the location of the 6th gen bar someone produced. I wonder if there are mount holes behind there? For starters, that bar is not bolt on because you'd have to drill holes into the trunk for the bottom 2 mounts. I'm trying to get in contact with the company to see if they can send pictures of the bar and dimensions.

 

it looks like those are built for the a33 cefiros sold in asia(if they are the same ones I saw in a website a while back)

 

This should be more than enough to get the job done....http://www.ultraracing.com.my/Bars.asp?ID=4021

 

Cannot argue that. No sir!

 

Ultra racing makes a seriously good product. Go on the website you will probably get a quicker response there and they have some neat videos of products for other platforms. It is surprising to me Ultra racing is a new name to somebody but being that they are not cheap I guess it makes sense lol

 

So you have a Progress RSB or did it come in a Cattman box ...

 

Do NOT buy from Toys_Auto on eBay, the user sells parts that are cheap, but don't even fit correctly.

The FSTB looks like it was commissioned out to a 6th grade shop class - crappy welds that don't even fully cover the joins, with bolt holes that aren't even properly aligned. I wanna drive that thing out to Cali to crack him over the head with it

 

OMG, I can't believe Brian Catts hasn't taken down that old website yet. It hasn't been updated in what... 5 or 6 years?

That's a flash from the past.

 

What brand of product are you referring to that Toys_Auto sells?

 

It should've been in a Progress box since they were dropped shipped back in the day.....

 

A FSTB for the A33 Maxima

 

Hey i just got a stut bar from ebay for my 2000 gle for $40

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-2003-NI...-/230862716587

real solid bar, mine has a full ring and 3 holes for the bolts but im ify on how to install it. do i have to jack it up, what exactly is the nut size, and is there anything else i should know
the bar didnt come with any instruction so im a little lost

 

No. Please don't do that. I'm sure if you think about it for a moment, you'll realize why.

Here, go read Stillen's installation instructions. It's not rocket science.

http://www.stillen.com/prodfiles/307035~inst.pdf

 

I got a strut bar on my 01 SE, and to my understanding what it does is brace the frame in the front and stop it from letting the body roll in a very sharp turn, and instead it holds the grip until it is forced to slide. The change won't be noticeable until you take some very sharp turns, I wouldn't skimp on a strut bar either, because it, with a rear sway bar and some nice tires, and you would be taking sharp turns at like 45-50 mph without barely squeaking a tire (trust me I know), while without these things you'd be going about 25 or so through a turn and notice some body roll probably screeching tires. Get a nice one like a stillen, or a nismo or something.

 

that's your opinion, but in reality all maxima front strut bars are the same and you are just paying 10x more for brand name at that point

 

Actually, a higher quality strut bar would be lighter then say an ebay one, made of more durable material, and engineered better too. So it would be lighter and stronger, plus have all its physics and geometry and what not figured for maximum performance, if you can help it, don't skimp out on one.

 

^^ lol...i have 2 and don't use either. Never will I approach those limits and I would never want to in a maxima. Great looks and drivetrain but the maxi ain't a handler in my eyes so putting unnecessary suspension upgrades is silly. Struts/springs or c/o is enough for this car imo and maybe an rsb, that is all

 

That's kind of harsh, but also totally true.

Once you put CO's on a 5th Gen, all the other small, incremental suspension mods are completely overshadowed.

 

sry maxima lol i know... i love the car but i'm not gonna be like an apple fanboy.

still gotta get my suspension on and maybe i'll be less harsh i wish i had saved another 300 for c/o but s-tech and illumina will do (yes i heard the stories of 'suck-techs') and its more than i can ask for on a student budget. i'll see how it rides on 225/50-17 5.5 te wheels in the spring but till then i'ma be rolling outta my seat in turns on my stock 17 y/o setup

 

In response to your post LazYRaCeR, I'm going to re-post Prophecy's post:

I did this because the muthafukka is right. They're not identical, but on a maxima, a strut bar is a strut bar, is a strut bar, is a strut bar.

There's no geometry magic happening here really. The only thing that really matters is the thickness and material used. A cheap one may tend to bow more than a well built one.

You will NEVER, EVER< EVER< EVER notice the difference between a $40 Ebay one, and a $200 Nismo one while driving, EVER.

The only time you will EVER know the difference is when you open the hood and look at it.

 

EVER.

 

LOLS But I likes the purty shiny one!

 

This. ^^^

However, you will notice a slight change in a very particular handling characteristic with and without the FSTB...

...unless you have CO's. In which case, get the FSTB just for the bling.