I am sorry, there is no way in hell that eBay bar does anything. The Evo Stock front Strut bar is better and infact does not need replacement unless you want looks, the eBaY rear one again does nothing, it has no strength, and yes any and all forces it recieves it will bend. What downward forces? You squeeze it, it'll bend. A Soild bar that does not bend, will offer resistance, this bar does not.
I bought a REAR cusco bar for $100, it is nice and solid and certainly helps my coilovers.

 

It's solid. why would it bend under tension? explain that to me.

i didnt get a front bar, as you said there's no need to replace that. in fact, this particular bar setup is very similar to the cusco bar, if it's the same one i'm thinking of.

once again there are no applied forces that would provoke a BEND in the bar. simple physics.


** EDIT ** The Neuspeed STB i had on my avenger could be bent from the middle but provided a DRASTIC change to steering and handling characteristics.

Im sure your Cusco bar is great, but it would have to be 6 times as good or last 6 times as long to compensate for the difference that the name "Cusco" adds to it.

i would gather that, if your bar doesnt bend, it's made of Chomoly or a similar material that is stiffer than aluminum. and since weight is not an isssue in this application i wouldnt even suggest that aluminum (ebay bar) is a better choice than chromoly. what i will point out is that i have NEVER EVER heard of a strut tower bar failing due to a bend (why would it? there are no forces to make it bend)


and if you're still concerned about the phantom 200 lb centered downforce bending your bar, just adjust it so that it runs vertical instead of front to back, you've just increased your rigity by a factor of at least 8.

 

should have had that vendor stand on it while it was standing upright.

It's the same way with aircraft. Go put your elbow down on any aircraft (not on a rib) and you'll put a dent in it. however, try and pull it apart (lengthen the metal or composite, and you'll get nowhere.

It's all a name. I'm lookin at the cusco bar, but it's undeniable, the cheapies do the same. I bet that vendor laughs to himself pretty hard when you go "oh wow, guess i'll drop the extra $250 for that bar."

 

Any torsional force it recieves will cause it to bend up or down slightly, therefore, it is useless You want a bar that does NOT bend at all, this one does and easilly. You need to understand physics I hope you dont think the car needs to bend up and down to get the BAR to bend up and down . This bar does nothing but look like a strut bad and it is NOT similar to the Cusco unit. I dont understand how you can justify an Ebay $16 bar on a $36,000 car. Then again you won't really feel a difference on a 100% stock Evo with just a bar.

Now you lower it and get some serious suspension, it will be needed.

IMHO a 100% stock suspension ONLY needs a sway bar, but IF you plan to add a strut bar, make sure it does not bend, or otherwise it'll bend insteand of resist the tortional force.


The Airplain analogy is unfounded, as it ONLY has to have strength where it handles force, which is lift It is also DESIGNED TO FLEX, so it can disperse the stress and vibtations and NOT Snap, complete opposite engineering.

I stand by my opinion that this $16 bar does nothing, it can't cuz when the suspension compresses and rebounds this bar is gona bend with it. It is a weak bar and there is a reason some things cost money, like a $36,000 economy car

 

right. you be happy with your $100 bar, and I'll be happy with my $16 bar. Why do your mod PRICES have to match the cost of your car? I knew that argument would surface eventually, "Why would you go cheap on a $36,000 car" first off, im sorry for you if you spent $36,000 on your evo, but I got mine for about $10k less, new. Maybe that's the difference between our opinions. Just because you pay more doesn't mean it's a better piece.

you're right, in a non ideal environment, like a car's suspension you will not see JUST tension or JUST compression but no matter what forces are experienced on other axes i would be willing to bet money ($16 maybe) that you'll never see a force applied in the center of the bar, perpendicular to it's orientation in the car.

AND if such forces are a concern then, as i said before, rotate the bar to counteract them. you've made no points that lead me to believe that the vendor standing on the bar is any reflection of it's performance or that the bar is subjected to any real bending moment.

in fact, i think i'll try to videotape the bar when cornering. if it deflects then i'll be happy to post and show everyone, if not, i'll do the same. if anyone local to me (Marlborough, MA) would like to bring a videocamera over to do the test i could get it done ASAP, if not it will be a few weeks till i'm home in NJ.

 

Now your getting defensive. 1st of all, why post this if you did not want opposing views? I am offering one. That bar offers NO torsional strength, and will not offer any performance, it WILL look nice.

Sometimes, the price of a MOD Does reflect it's ability, in this example this is one of them. I agree that the Cusco bar MAY seem pricey, BUT it offers superior support and will not bend in any way, I can bend that bar into a not. Any force the Ebay bar gets, it will just twist and bend slightly and not offer ANY stiffnes. Set up a camera in the trunk, i bet it bounces up and down just from driving.

That is all I am saying.

 

No, i don't mean to be defensive...i understand the point you are trying to make. it's just that, to me, there is no evidence that the bars should experience any forces besides compression and tension. maybe compression could cause the bar to bend but cornering forces cause tension in the bar which should not cause any bends at all. I'm interested to see if you are correct...i would love to videotape the bar in action. I can honestly say i felt a difference in the rear of the car after adding the bar...i'm not too proud to admit a mistake, but this certainly was not a bad purchase... furthermore, i've been looking for a rear tiedown and if the bar didnt function as a suspension brace then i'd be happy to make an achoring bar or trunk basket out of it. i am telling you, though, that it makes a difference...the same way that ebay bars improve other friends' vehicles. I went the expensive route and spent almost $200 for a neuspeed bar for my avenger, there was no difference between that and a $20 2gnt eclipse bar off of ebay, and that was on the FRONT suspension.

finally, i wouldn't bother posting here if i thought other memebrs would get screwed or come back to say that their bar was a POS...I didn't post in order to hear other opinions, i was just trying to inform others that the bar wasnt a rip-off. I appreciate your opinion but i just dont agree. If i get ambitious and record it and find out differently, you'll be the first person i tell.


have a great night. i'm going out for a drive

 

Well I run coilovers and it is a lot lower I have frame braces and a new Cusco bar, a stock suspension needs really nothing, maybe if you lower your car you will see a difference?

 

There is definitely a difference between a Cusco and that bar. Look at the end plates, at that height they are going to flex. I want to tie the strut towers together not some imaginary point in space.

I don't want to join the arguement but umiami80 is correct in his point that there is a difference. You'd be suprised how many different directions a strut tower will flex.
At 100,000 miles put both cars on a frame rack and tell me which one is closer to specification. Regardless of suspension upgrades the one with the bigger bar will still be closer to spec.

 

Yeah, I passed on that brace not because of the bar material, but because of the attachment height. There's no way you're going to bolt that down tight enough to stop the whole bracket from just flexing back and forth. There are some other eBay designs which at least keep the forces inline, those would be better choices.

KeS

 

That thing is terrible, I mean it does nothing and I doubt anyone would notice the benefits of a rear strut bar on an otherwise stock car.

 

Yep, the strut towers flexes in many directions. The chassis twists under cornering conditions. So the STB is subjected to more forces other than tension and compression. There's also torsion about the X, Y, and Z axis.

I had ebay STBs on my old GSX. They flexed like crazy compared to the Cusco rear STB I have in my evo.

 

Well, here is my input.

if you could find someone with a welder and a lathe to make those things, you could make it for $30 (material)

if you mass produce those (like cusco), you're going to raise the price up for the sake of paying your employees, paying business tax, packaging, advertising, heat and ac bills, etc.

if you think about it, you are paying for that, not the company.

if you buy those cheap bars from ebay, it's basically made in china using a inferior materials with sweat shop labors, so you don't care, you'll sell it as much as you can. what advertising? there is no name, no fansy stickers or even a nice packaging.

I don't mind getting those things off of ebay. Strut brace's got only 1 function. to connect one end to another end to limit the flex.

That cheap thing does just that.

but if you get it and it does feel better, then it's good. Then it breaks, you could get another one and you've still only spent half of the money on something with a basic function than the name ones.

it's like an exhaust system, why the hell are all of you people buying $1500 exhaust system, when some other exhaust system does the same thing for less?

I wouldn't buy ebay no name electronics or no name electronics. That's it though, you can't buy cheap electronics. (like wideband, piggyback, tt, ems) or injectors, turbo, anything engine related...


but for a trunk bar, who cares? they'll do a fine job. They use tension system anyway, they'll hold as long as the bottom mounting bracket holds, no matter how high the main bar is sitting.

 

Rotating the bar will only rotate the direction of the flexing. Instead of flexing up and down, it'll flex front to back under compression.

 

if you're gonna justify your point, get something real cheap.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33591

you got ripped.

anyway, i have nothing against ebay bars.

also, i don't understand this $30,000 car argument. we're not talking about vipers or ferraris here people.

it's like saying, diamond crusted bars are stronger, because it's a lot more expensive.