I am looking for a new strut tower bar, any suggestions or advice on installation?



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BMR

I always liked BMR, so I am fond of theirs. That one goes for 189.95. Steeda has a Billet one for 319.95 and a steel one for 159.95. I can't get the link to work correctly so here is just Steeda's website.

Steeda

 

There's been some discussion on the forum about wether the strut tower bars really help or not...you might want to do a search and read some of those posts.

I'm going to agree with the previous post and suggets the BMR. I have seen a few different bars on some of my friend's cars and looked around a bit online, and the BMR seems to be the most well made. The price is also very reasonable.

$320 for the Steeda billet? What are they thinking?? I suppose the machined aluminum parts look nice, but there's simply no need for the rod ends on this part. The one-piece steel bars are going to be stiffer anyway.

 

I got the one from strange developments. Works very well, no change in cross section, looks fantastic too. Actually the cross section is where the stiffness is at. The minute you change your cross section you create a stress raiser and actually weaken the beam.



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I recall the same thing CrazyAl noted about the potential usefullness of these (or lack thereof) being discussed on this board.

For the money, it seems the lower (though less sexy) control arm brace is a better performance mod (and much cheaper). Even Ford will put them on the new Cobras, so I figure maybe they know something about what the car really needs/benefits from?

At any rate, maybe you're just in it for the looks (I love the look), so for my tastes, I still like FRPP's double bar. I saw a prototype of Lakewood's new bar and it looked very beefy as well. Post some pics when you install whatever you end up getting.

Best,
-j

 

I have the steeda billet and I really like the looks of it and the standard one didn't fit over my plenum cover. Not worth what I paid, but it's done now and glad it's there.

 

From what I can remember I think the new cobras also come with a factory strut tower bar. Both must be needed if the ford engineers felt it useful to put them on their cobras. I started with the strut tower bar on my car and may consider other bracing in the future.