thomwin

2001 i30. Should I do the rear sway bar first? or the front strut brace?
Stick with stillen? any good alternatives?
The stillen site says "This part will fit 00-02 Automatic Maximas with slight modifications" for the front strut brace. What are the modifications??

Thanks!

MetaOrbit

iTrader: (19)

If you plan on dropping the car, I'd forego the sway bar. If you plan on keeping the stock suspension, then I'd get the sway bar and strut bar.

I have a front strut tower brace and I think it works. I also have tein/tokico for my suspension though.

As for name brands...if you want to pay wayyyy too much for a brand name, then buy stillen. Otherwise get the no-name parts on eBay for a fraction of the price.

And modifications..? I never made any.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

Get the front strut brace first. Then later, get the sway bar. Although the stillen is the most pleasing to the eye, don't get it since you have an auto trans.

The reason is that because the stillen has "stylish" holes on each side of the logo. One of these holes will get the throttle position wire harness crammed up in it and it will rub through the harness and ground it out. This then causes the auto control module relay to blow and thus causing the tranny to go into "safe" mode, locking it in third gear! Simply replacing the relay will not work beacuse it will blow again. To over come this I had to relocate the TPS wire harness with heat shrink and solder, and then replace the relay. This is also the modification that stillen speaks of.

I would recommend getting the stillen brand rear sway bar though. The quality is top notch, and it is the best one on the market. Some people get that little cheap dinky pos (I don't even know who makes it) that will not cut the mustard compared to a stillen one.

thomwin

Thanks for the info. I'm not lowering this car, so it sounds like both are equally good additions.
Stillen is definitely expensive, but I'm finding generic strut braces for MUCH cheaper. any reason not to buy a generic strut brace?

MetaOrbit

iTrader: (19)

No reason at all. Get a generic strut brace. As for the RSB, stillen is the better design...and if you look on eBay, you should find identical Stillen RSB knockoffs for around $130.