Strut Bars

[aero]

Strut Bars

A strut bar is designed to reduce this strut tower flex by tying two parallel strut towers together. This transmits the load of each strut towers during cornering via tension and compression of the strut bar which shares the load between both towers and reducing chassis flex.

What ones should I get?

Installing strut bars

Front

The Front strut bar comes in a few different flavors, but they all connect to the shock tower area and top shock bolts to tie the driver and passenger side suspension together.


What brands are out there, how much do they cost, and what do people think about them?

Generic Bar (Ebay, Megan.. etc) click for pic- Starting at $10+, they are definately worth the money.

Neuspeed click for pic- More expensive, but added bracing gives you more rigidity.
*If you have a swap(DOHC, other than h22) you will have to notch the valve cover for it to fit. The bar will NOT work with h22's
Notching Valve cover

Neuspeed 1

Cusco click for pic - Rarest bar, Designed like a generic brand, so no problems with DOHC. Cannot order these anymore since nobody has them.
Cusco 1

Custom- Fabricated by our own member Wallace

Front Firewall/Strut Brace









Rear

The rear bar connects like the front, but all of the ones on the market only connect to the shock mounting bolts, so the only real difference is the color and brand, and no real difference in performance.

What brands are out there, how much do they cost, and what do people think about them?

Generic style - Can be had for cheap. May help stiffen a slight bit. If anything, it makes for a good fasten down point for your sub box.

Custom- Wallace - The best option out there for our cars, brace everything!
Custom Rear Brace

[AccordWarrior]

Just to clarify, if you have the H22, the Neuspeed bar will NOT clear it. It will clear the other DOHC swaps with the cover notched.

[aero]

Just to clarify, if you have the H22, the Neuspeed bar will NOT clear it. It will clear the other DOHC swaps with the cover notched.

Thanks, read it but forgot to put it correctly in thread.

[gloryaccordy]

Nice write-up. Amazing what a search can turn up...this should be upped. So would I be wise in getting a generic Ebay front sway bar? And does the rear bar take away a lot from the space for a box?

[GunRunner]

And does the rear bar take away a lot from the space for a box?

nope, not in my car. Most boxes are so tall they will be up against the top of the trunk before they make to where the strut bar is..*the pic below is of mine*..and thats as far foward as my box will go ( yes that is an eBay cheapo )

[aero]

Nice write-up. Amazing what a search can turn up...this should be upped. So would I be wise in getting a generic Ebay front sway bar? And does the rear bar take away a lot from the space for a box?

Well, best bet is Neuspeed. But, for the money, an ebay one is VERY worth it.

The rear ones are pretty close to the rear seat, I would say about 3-5" out from the rear seat.

[deckeda]

It appears as if this may turn into a Sticky --- in a link above, ZigenBallZ also mentioned four-point bars from Sprint and Momo. No longer available I suppose?

Also, this thread would not be complete without mentioning the work done by Wallace!

[gloryaccordy]

Does the ride get stiffer with stiffer sway bars (I have an EX) and strut bars? I was thinking of either getting the chassis stuff or just gettin stiffer springs...but my car rides and handles OK right now; it just needs better tires and for the chassis to be stiffer...thoughts?

[deckeda]

Anti-sway bars to reduce body lean.

Tie-bar (strut bar) to stiffen chassis --- car feels like a solid block, not a collection of flexible pieces --- steering response goes up and gives you more confidence. Side benefit of slightly reduced body lean and feels as if you just put nice tires on the car!

Springs/shocks for overall control and ride quality. Notice that anti-sway bars and a tie-bar don't influence that much.

If it were me and I already had at least some anti-sway bars, better ones would be last on my list. If I had a DX or LX though, I'd probably want them FIRST.

gloryaccordy, from your post it sounds as if you're a prime candidate for a front strut bar. I emphatically can recommend the Nuespeed if you don't have H-power.

[ACCORDianate]

Using the rear strut bar as a tie-down for a sub box works well. My 10" MTX has never felt more secure ever since I used a cargo tie-down to strap it in place.

[oneoffaccord]

Does the ride get stiffer with stiffer sway bars (I have an EX) and strut bars? I was thinking of either getting the chassis stuff or just gettin stiffer springs...but my car rides and handles OK right now; it just needs better tires and for the chassis to be stiffer...thoughts?

no^^^ to everything. if you want to go stiffer get stiffer spings and strut bars. the sway bars will not let the car lean, the springs and strut bars will make the car stiffer. tires also help in the lean department. a s-rated tires is going to make the car lean alot more than a v/w-rated tire. a z/v/w/y-rated tires are going to be alot stiffer than a s/t/h-rated tire. you cant use the z/v/w/y tires in cold climantes.

[azian21485]

no^^^ to everything. if you want to go stiffer get stiffer spings and strut bars. the sway bars will not let the car lean, the springs and strut bars will make the car stiffer. tires also help in the lean department. a s-rated tires is going to make the car lean alot more than a v/w-rated tire. a z/v/w/y-rated tires are going to be alot stiffer than a s/t/h-rated tire. you cant use the z/v/w/y tires in cold climantes.

tires with more grip will produce more body roll...side wall flex has a negligable affect if any one how much the car leans

[azian21485]

Anti-sway bars to reduce body lean.

Tie-bar (strut bar) to stiffen chassis --- car feels like a solid block, not a collection of flexible pieces --- steering response goes up and gives you more confidence. Side benefit of slightly reduced body lean and feels as if you just put nice tires on the car!

Springs/shocks for overall control and ride quality. Notice that anti-sway bars and a tie-bar don't influence that much.

If it were me and I already had at least some anti-sway bars, better ones would be last on my list. If I had a DX or LX though, I'd probably want them FIRST.

gloryaccordy, from your post it sounds as if you're a prime candidate for a front strut bar. I emphatically can recommend the Nuespeed if you don't have H-power.

swaybars add to the wheel rate depending on how much the arms torque as the body leans...so yes they do influence overall control greatly. swaybars are pretty much springs

As you go higher and higher in spring rate ( like 900lbs plus) then swaybars will start to have a negligable effect since the body won't lean as much to torque to arms.

[deckeda]

swaybars add to the wheel rate depending on how much the arms torque as the body leans...so yes they do influence overall control greatly. swaybars are pretty much springs

As you go higher and higher in spring rate ( like 900lbs plus) then swaybars will start to have a negligable effect since the body won't lean as much to torque to arms.

^^Yes I agree to all of that, under those conditions. I gave gloryaccordy a general answer which I feel is still relevant to his general question.

I should, however, have emphasized that anti-sway bars do help overall control because body lean occurs very easily on street cars otherwise.

[gloryaccordy]

swaybars add to the wheel rate depending on how much the arms torque as the body leans...so yes they do influence overall control greatly. swaybars are pretty much springs

As you go higher and higher in spring rate ( like 900lbs plus) then swaybars will start to have a negligable effect since the body won't lean as much to torque to arms.

You know, I never thought about it that way...but yes, sway bars ultimately are springs. They really only come into play when the car is turning or if one wheel goes over a bump and the other doesn't...but I see how they affect the ride/control. Strut bars are more just to keep the suspension geometry intact under loading. Interesting...

On a related note, the front stock sway bar= not much of a sway bar at all. I felt no difference when I lost some of the pieces and had to disconnect it or when I got the end link hardware and connected it again.