are you supposed to take off the black bracket thing underneath the 3 bolts that are on factory??? also, do you have to remove anything in the area so that the strut bar will fit because it looks like you might have to and nobody mentioned this when i asked about fitment issues ...so please say no :-)

 

Uhh...3 bolts on the right and 3 on the left..install bar and you are done

and..you should NOT mod a car on your own

 

hahaha Kruppa, its all good but all jokes aside, this is the easiest mod you can do. unscrew and screw is it. try it its not that hard, u seemed worried for no reason breathe easy mang

 

please show some pics of the bar you have for the 5th gen..

if it looks just like the stillen one, but without the Stillen engraving on it, then you got the right one. It will have gold zinc plated end brackets on it as well.

If you got the one that's a funky flat shape with a tube in the middle =O= type thing, then that's the 4th gen one... I forgot who I bought mine from, but they did that to myself and several other 3rd gen guys that can only use 5th gen bar..

 

Kruppa, I've got the same OTTO Bar, you DO remove the black bracket (keep it for the future)..

I had a problem with the hood bulging because of the *lost the word to that hood insulator thing*.. anyway, once you remove the black bracket you mount on the two plates first (make sure it's 35-42 ft/lb, correct me if i'm wrong). Then you attach the bar, put some baby powder on the top of the bar and close the hood.

WHen you re-open the hood, you will notice the hood liner (that's the word! hah) that the baby powder has stuck on to portions of the hood liner. I took a knife and cut out that portion of the liner to make room, as when i didn't, it blocked my driver side tube leading to the windshield washer nozzle.

hope that makes sense and helps you..

 

When I put in my Otto bar, what I did was took off the three screws on each side, put in just the brackets on each side without tightening it down, put in the bar itself, put on the screws for the bar, then tightened down all screws because mine also did not go on easy and I have a 2002. Ed.

 

do you guys have the web site for the otto bar?

 

www.southwestautoworks.com

 

I purchased mine off of ebay from procarparts.com. I paid about $53 shipped. I looked at the one from southwestauotworks.com and maybe the picture is not correct for a 2002 model but I have the one that looks like the one from "Stillen". I am glad I bought from them because mine had a problem, two same side bracket. I called Procarparts and told them, they sent out a new one, sent me out a prepaid UPS tracking label and as soon as I received the new one, I sent back the old one. I had great service with them. Also, they had the same one I purchased on the "group deal" for $40 shipped. I bought mine about three weeks before the group deal showed up. This must have been about 1-2 months ago. If you find the thread and email them, you may get one for the same price of $40. It's worth the try. Also on ebay, procarparts.com is selling the same type of strut bar for a 350Z for $40 plus shipping so maybe you can email to see if they can sell you one for a Maxima at the same price. Ed.

 

Omg don't let a girl put you to shame I installed mine by myself in less than 15 min, so come on! Yes, you do remove the black brackets, it's easy to figure that out since it doesn't fit if you leave them in. Mine fit only on one tower but not on the other, so I took them off. Geez, and I thought I was a noob.

 

LOL HAHAHA, this made me smile for a few minutes. HAHAHHAHAAHA. SHe is true man , your not doing anything electrical or mechanical...just six mounting bolts and like everyone else said take those black rings out and after you get it in just tighten the other two screws that connect the bar and the mounting brackets....if you ever get that whinning sound that a lot of 2000 maximas get, i would suggest to get some else to do it.hahahh good luck!

 

Kruppa..it's okay man. better to ask questions, than to mess-up the mod install. you will learn

 

ROFL! I just put mine on as well -- took about 15 minutes. I don't have any black brackets under my strut tower bolts. I did have to undo the a/c condenser line and move it out of the way because the oval bracket just didn't fit quite right. Nothing a hammer can't cure! My Mom could probably do better and quicker mods than most guys on the .org, so no worries. One of my girlfriends even helped me do a tranny swap on an old 240z.

Just took the car for a drive. Whoa, major difference. The steering feels much firmer in corners and seems to be much better at self-centering. Maybe I'm just imagining things, but I used to get mad inside wheel hop/spin when accelerating from a stop on a right turn. No more, just a nice black stripe. Oh, and had a chance to test my window washers -- work perfectly. Just ask the moron in the black Escalade who thought it was prudent to ride my ***.

 

Huh... I've been noticing a lot of wheel hop/tire squeal while accelerating from a stop doing a left turn. This alone may incite me to buy the FSTB and probably the BlehmCo LTB (can't decide if I want stage 1 or stage 2... stage 1 would probably be much easier for me to install)

 

Is there a difference from the $10, $20, $30 dollar ebay ones compared to something like stillen?

 

SWA sells it to maxima.org members for $50 shipped...at least they did when i bought it.

 

Probably not much ... I just wanted one that I knew fit properly from other .org members experiences. The otto is basically a Stillen copy and very nicely made. It was just under $50 shipped. I know you can get the no-name brands for about $10-$15 on ebay with about the same $ for shipping and handling. Not sure what the BlehmCo LTS is -- you talking subframe connectors? That, with an FSTB should make a huge difference. I had an Addco RSB on for a while, but I wasn't impressed. Made the car even more tail happy and really made the side-side head toss over bumps even worse. Not a huge fan of rear bump steer, know what I mean? The benefits of a beam axle, I guess.

 

BlehmCo LTB (Lower Tie Bar) is like the lower-front-suspension compliment to the FSTB. The Stage 1 LTB is basically like the FSTB, except it goes between the front link of the control arm gussets. The Stage 2 LTB goes between those 2 and between two subframe bolt-ups, with cross bars linking the 2 links together.

Stage 2 could probably be considered SFCs for the front suspension... I intend to eventually have Stage 1 SFCs, at least a stage 1 LTB and an FSTB on by the time I'm "done" with my suspension. In fact, I believe those 3 items are all I have left

 

Hey Kruppa. Yeah take the black brackets off. I had black brackets on mine too. For some reason some maximas have them and some do not. But they were some sort of odd bracket that had a lip on it. Didnt know what the purpose of it was. But just take that black bracket off and put the bracket on that connects the FTSB


Sorry maxima0002. I didnt see your post about this already