Strut Bar Install

So one of the benefits of being a new employee at Cardomain (other than getting to talk about cars whenever I feel the need) is that from time to time, free parts get thrown your way. One of the guys on the other side of the office found an extra Greddy Strut Bar and handed it over to me. I had to find some instructions for a similar part online as this had none, but I think it went ok:

Here's the engine bay waiting for the strut bar... pretty stock in there.

Here's everything ready to go - what do you think? Some nice under-hood bling.

First thing's first - gotta pull off the wipers. Those things are on TIGHT!

This might be the hardest part of the install - you have to remove the little plastic cowl cover that hides the back bolts on the strut towers - lots of tabs, clips, and plastic rivets - don't break anything!

Put the bar in place on both sides. Make sure it's sitting as well as it's going to. I suspect the best way to do this would be to get enough washers to make sure all the mounting feet are even (as the top of the strut tower isn't totally flat). My way is to just tighten everything down until it's bent into place. Two ways to skin a cat and all that.

Bolt everything back into place and give it a test drive. After tightening the pivot bolts down everything sounds right but after driving and heating it up, I get more rattles, so I'm still tightening it down, a little at a time - I don't want to strip it. I was totally ready to feel almost no difference, but I think it's REALLY helped - sits a lot flatter into the turns and helps keep the wheels on the ground which is really nice in FWD. Sweet!

Page List:
Page 1 - Intro
Page 2 - Strut Bar Install (you are here)
Page 3 - xD Paint Submissions
Page 4 - '08 Projector Headlight/HID Install