# Adjustable strut brace tension.



## pksjay (Oct 27, 2002)

I recently purchased and installed front and rear adjustable strut tower braces. Got them form ebay not the high quality ones but they work. 

however what should the cross tension be. Tight Loose??? Any Ideas?


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## pksjay (Oct 27, 2002)

Does the tension matter? i assume it does but i reall do not know.


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

Make it as tight as possible...you do want to tighten the chassis, don't you? Actually, I'm not sure but when I had a STB I had it as tight(short) as possible and it seemed to work.


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## blairellis (Jul 6, 2002)

barnoun said:


> *Make it as tight as possible...you do want to tighten the chassis, don't you? Actually, I'm not sure but when I had a STB I had it as tight(short) as possible and it seemed to work. *


what i was told with this today is to turn the bar hand tight...then turn it about one more turn somehow..you guys are smart youll figure something out to get it tighter


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## pksjay (Oct 27, 2002)

So i want it as short as possible. Ok with the front bar that is tough due to the fact there is an engine in the way. How does everyone tightned those up?


Thats good too. i would have thought the oppositte. And would have made the bar as long as possible.


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

pksjay said:


> *So i want it as short as possible. Ok with the front bar that is tough due to the fact there is an engine in the way. How does everyone tightned those up?
> 
> 
> Thats good too. i would have thought the oppositte. And would have made the bar as long as possible. *


Umm, loosen the strut bolts, adjust the bar's length so it fits on both of the towers. Make it fit as tight as possible, put the bolts back on and tighten. It's not that complicated(4-6 bolts total depending on what bar you have).


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## pksjay (Oct 27, 2002)

I KNOW HOW TO PUT IT ON!!!! I was just curious as to how tight it should be and if it shoud be tight pushing out or pulling in.


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Hey,
I know this is out of line and character, but it would be really funny if this thread replaced the word 'bar' with a male body part, or just left out the word 'bar' altogether.

Seth


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## 98sr20ve (Oct 6, 2002)

I hate to rock the boat here but I think the tension should push the towers out, not pull them in. When the wheels hit a bump the natural force tries to push the struts in toward the center of the car. By putting the brace in tension pushing out you are always resisting this force. Food for thought. As far as amount. You dont need a lot just enough to keep it under a small amount of tension.


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

Reason I mentioned pulling them in is because in theory it can add a little negative camber, something you can always use if you're doing any type of competition. Stretching it out works too if all you want is a stiffer chassis.


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## 98sr20ve (Oct 6, 2002)

If you have a basically stockish front suspension and have not added springs and some negative camber a FSTB is not something I would put on my car anyway. It tightens the front and for some reason adds more understeer. Don't ask me why but I have tried it and found this to be true. Once I added a ton of negative camber I lost all understeer and It was a non issue.


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

98sr20ve said:


> *...It tightens the front and for some reason adds more understeer. Don't ask me why but I have tried it and found this to be true... *


True...it's actually the reason why I ended up taking off the STB in my car too(I have stock suspension).


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## hpro123 (Apr 30, 2002)

*My opinion: No Tension at all!*

FWIW,

all me experience points to NO TENSION at all in any STB.

Its purpose is to keep the upper of the strut towers at the stock position and not allow them to flex, eiyther INWARDS or OUTWARDS!

So, put it on, adjust the tension so that the bar makes solid contact with both towers and remains steady between them and then tighten the nout on the strut towers.

DO not tighten it so it pulls the towers inwards, do not tighten them so it pushes the towers outward.

By the way, if you put down some simple physics equations, you will see that the strut towers receive a lot more outward pressure when cornering than inward from hitting bumps or whatever.

Chris


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