# b14 Bent Rear Beam impressions



## onyxeros (Jul 26, 2002)

This past Sunday i went down to 98sr20ve (steve)'s house to get my rear bar bent to 0 toe. My car has agx/H&R. 

Steve took my car out to get a feel for how it drove before bending the bar and then we set out on MISSION ZERO TOE. In no way will I discuss how it was done, that's up to Steve to decide how much he want's to disclose. I will simply discuss the before and after effects: 

Bottomline, in general i can take corners 5-7mph faster than before. Where as before the bending the second my car would reach it's limit it would start to understeer (read: plow) towards the outside of a corner. If i came into a corner too hot I could scrub off speed at the expense of keeping a correct line. 

Now with the bent beam the second I feel as if the wheels are going to give there isn't so much as a peep out of my worn tires. I hold a stright neutral line and can push harder while in the curve to slingshot out faster. Before i had known the limit of my driving and my suspension and now when i reach that limit i have so much more room to stay in the throttle that it's almost scary. The rear end feels like it is 'pushing' the car through the corner rather than it feeling like it's just tagging along because it's attached to the car. 

Final point, the question of if everyone should do it...my answer is NO. This is a moderate to advanced mod that the average guy that want's a 'lowered' car is not going to able to appriciate and could potentically hurt themselves. Driving up until 6/10th you will never know this has been done, beyond that you will find that what you think is 9/10th's is more like 7.5-8/10th of what your car is capable of. (driving at 10/10th on the street is stupid) 

I also learned a little about H&R springs on the street that I am hoping that steve can comment on in relation to Eibach prokit/sportline springs. I think H&R's are the best you can run as far as cheap set-ups go. 

That's my impressions, please ask as many questions as you like. 
Thanks 
Chris


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

Thanks for the review. I've thought of taking my car to socal where it's also done, but never had the time. Seems like an excellent mod for anyone seeking to improve the handling of their car.


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## onyxeros (Jul 26, 2002)

all i can say is that if you are looking for an edge this is a very noticable mod that works great. at this point i have 1/32nd of toe out so it's as close to zero as i can get and it's great

O


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## Greg200SE-R (Feb 5, 2003)

Bending the rear beam has intrigued me ever since I first read about it. I don't compete with my 200SX, but I'm interested in the zero-toe adjustment for more handling headroom and reduced tire wear. I understand why you're being careful about details on the procedure, but given an understanding of how the rear beam works/is constructed, can a knowledgeable mechanic devise a home-made device to do this modification safely?


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## 98sr20ve (Oct 6, 2002)

Greg200SE-R said:


> *Bending the rear beam has intrigued me ever since I first read about it. I don't compete with my 200SX, but I'm interested in the zero-toe adjustment for more handling headroom and reduced tire wear. I understand why you're being careful about details on the procedure, but given an understanding of how the rear beam works/is constructed, can a knowledgeable mechanic devise a home-made device to do this modification safely? *


If you know how to do your own alignments, can weld/get it done, are very carefull with setup, have a ability to figure things out then YES you can do this yourself. I did. It cost me about $250 or more for all the things I need to do this. Oh, and you need to be willing to put about 2000lbs of force into a beam. Enjoy.


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## onyxeros (Jul 26, 2002)

Greg200SE-R said:


> *Bending the rear beam has intrigued me ever since I first read about it. I don't compete with my 200SX, but I'm interested in the zero-toe adjustment for more handling headroom and reduced tire wear. *


as far as I can tell i have zero tire wear before this so if you are having rear tire wear this is not going to fix it.

O


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## Greg200SE-R (Feb 5, 2003)

Any amount of toe will cause quicker tire wear to some degree. I don't know how much longer my tires would last if I went to zero toe, but if this is in addition to improved handling, then that's a great bonus. 

By the way, I just looked again at the spec sheet I received from a shop a few months ago after an alignment on a Hunter. It says that I have 0.48 degrees of total toe. I'm not gonna sit and do the math, but that seems like less than the 1/4" of total toe that the boards say the car has. 

Does anyone out there have their alignment specs they are willing to share?


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

oops...please ignore


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## 98sr20ve (Oct 6, 2002)

Greg200SE-R said:


> *By the way, I just looked again at the spec sheet I received from a shop a few months ago after an alignment on a Hunter. It says that I have 0.48 degrees of total toe. I'm not gonna sit and do the math, but that seems like less than the 1/4" of total toe that the boards say the car has. *


Every car I have measured had at least 3/16th of rear toe.


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## AlphaSpeed (Jun 23, 2002)

98sr20ve, Where in Hampton do you live? Im down in VA Beach and Im lookin to get that done.


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## B14SXTreme (Mar 14, 2003)

anyone in teh northwest that knows how to do it? im interested but can't seem to find anyone that knows how to do it


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