strut stabilizers

[azsi]

so there are many options for front/rear, upper/lower strut stabilizers.
many different price points.

my aim"
BETTER HANDLING AND MORE EFFICIENCY - street driven only.

ebay has a set for a front and read combo made from aluminum for 80$
seems like the best bang for my buck.

team...does anyone have a good idea as to why I would pay triple that amount for a name brand sway bar/ strut stabilizer?

thanks guys

[tinman5]

General construction, fit, quality of materials used and overall finish equall a given asking price. The single piece bars are generally better. I currently run the Tanabe front upper bar mainly because I got it cheap and also, I have used Tanabe products in the past. Looks good under the hood more so than any true quantifiable improvement in my daily commutes.
For me to truely set up my car would involve kidnapping Tony and Gary for about 3 weeks, a lot of measuring, a lot of welding, and several chassis cuts from a donor vehicle to forge an "invisible" multi point cage. As well as some 1/8" steel/moly C chanel and gusseting.
As far as cost from one brand over another? Well thats all on the consumer. You pay what you feel you are willing and able to pay. A lot of retail is inflated, some grossly inflated. Unless you have fabrication skills and equipment custom bits and pieces will tend to cost as much if not more than ready made items for sale. Thats been my experience at least.

[EP3Lov3]

so there are many options for front/rear, upper/lower strut stabilizers.
many different price points.

my aim"
BETTER HANDLING AND MORE EFFICIENCY - street driven only.

ebay has a set for a front and read combo made from aluminum for 80$
seems like the best bang for my buck.

team...does anyone have a good idea as to why I would pay triple that amount for a name brand sway bar/ strut stabilizer?

thanks guys


Front strut tower bars on our cars do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, other than some bling bling under the hood. I recommend stiffening up the rear to get rid of that terrible understeer. You can get the stock rear strut gussets and bar that came on the 05-06 type S (or type r, not sure). A c-pillar bar would help also along with a mid bar. There is also an aluminum floor bar that is stronger than our stock one.

Thread on type r bracing http://www.ephatch.com/forum/showthread.php?56618-DC5-R-bracing-on-EP3-Project

[poeticfinesse21]

The Type-R bracing will do way more to improve your handling than any aftermarket bars

[Zzyzx]

you want the car to handle better on the street?

do these things (and stop buying chassis bracing, its just bleeding money out of you that could be spent on things that actually help)

#1. Get the best summer tires you can afford.

#2. Get the car aligned properly. That means non OEM settings. Start with -1.5 deg camber on the nose and ~-.5 to -.75 on the rear. Keep toe within OEM spec.

#3. TEST! at this point the car may handle better then you expected and we can be done. Else, we need data on how the car is handling for you before we can give you good advice on if you should be tweaking with the dampers or swapping out springs & anti-roll bars.

#4 have fun.

[EP3Lov3]

Listen to zzyzx, he knows his shit really well.

[azsi]

Co pilots.

Thanks for the advice. Zz I just bought drag 16" wheels 3lbs lighter per wheel this should save on gas. Or at least neutralize the 1 inch increase n wheel size as well as better breaking,handiling and acceleration. I also just bought stagg shocks. Yea I know there cheap but probably better than 100k old stock shocks. I equipped them with eibach pro kit for 1 inch drop. This should help handling as well and looks. I'm trying to find a hfp full kit for my ride but it's like trying to find elenor for nick cage. I will put on suspension this coming week when it arrives after that I do want to put on stabilizers. Oh Btw I'm using contenintal dw's for tires. They are very good tires. Any other tips on handling and stabilizing you guys can think of? Also with the alignment. Can I go into just about any alignment shop and give them these numbers you gave me and they will dial it in? Or do I have to go to a specialist? Are those numbers you gave me for alignment for track or street use?


you want the car to handle better on the street?

do these things (and stop buying chassis bracing, its just bleeding money out of you that could be spent on things that actually help)

#1. Get the best summer tires you can afford.

#2. Get the car aligned properly. That means non OEM settings. Start with -1.5 deg camber on the nose and ~-.5 to -.75 on the rear. Keep toe within OEM spec.

#3. TEST! at this point the car may handle better then you expected and we can be done. Else, we need data on how the car is handling for you before we can give you good advice on if you should be tweaking with the dampers or swapping out springs & anti-roll bars.

#4 have fun.

[Hasbro]

Co pilots.

Thanks for the advice. Zz I just bought drag 16" wheels 3lbs lighter per wheel this should save on gas. Or at least neutralize the 1 inch increase n wheel size as well as better breaking,handiling and acceleration. I also just bought stagg shocks. Yea I know there cheap but probably better than 100k old stock shocks. I equipped them with eibach pro kit for 1 inch drop. This should help handling as well and looks. I'm trying to find a hfp full kit for my ride but it's like trying to find elenor for nick cage. I will put on suspension this coming week when it arrives after that I do want to put on stabilizers. Oh Btw I'm using contenintal dw's for tires. They are very good tires. Any other tips on handling and stabilizing you guys can think of? Also with the alignment. Can I go into just about any alignment shop and give them these numbers you gave me and they will dial it in? Or do I have to go to a specialist? Are those numbers you gave me for alignment for track or street use?

You won't notice mpg gain except possibly with city driving. Minute.

Forget about HFPs and go A-Specs. Lots of info here to search for.

Call a local tire shop such as Discount Tire and ask them for a good alignment shop. Most of them bite the big one.

[poeticfinesse21]

Without a front and rear camber kit you won't be able to get those specs.

[Zzyzx]

Without a front and rear camber kit you won't be able to get those specs.

yes, make sure you budget for them.

[azsi]

Without a front and rear camber kit you won't be able to get those specs.

Are you sure I'd need a camber kit? I heard it's only needed if your car is off camber and your tire wear or wheel stance reveals it? So what if I don't have those problems?

[poeticfinesse21]

Are you sure I'd need a camber kit? I heard it's only needed if your car is off camber and your tire wear or wheel stance reveals it? So what if I don't have those problems?

http://www.imvumafias.org/community/images/smilies/facepalm.gif

The purpose of camber kits IS NOT to correct the camber on someone who slams their car, although that is what they are used for. The main purpose of them is to have the ability to adjust your camber so your car will handle better. The OEM specs are not the greatest for handling, they are geared more towards safety.

[Zzyzx]

well... performance wise there is a huge difference between "Need" And "want".

to tune the car well, you should WANT camber kits front and rear, where as if you are just slamming the car and don't want to wear out the tires silly fast... well then you Need camber kits.


Factoid of the day: If I were to buy a brand new car and was only allowed to change one part on it (tires aside), I would buy camber kits front & rear. Why? Because alignments are that friggin important and useful in tuning a cars handling.

[lemonhead228]

well... performance wise there is a huge difference between "Need" And "want".

to tune the car well, you should WANT camber kits front and rear, where as if you are just slamming the car and don't want to wear out the tires silly fast... well then you Need camber kits.


Factoid of the day: If I were to buy a brand new car and was only allowed to change one part on it (tires aside), I would buy camber kits front & rear. Why? Because alignments are that friggin important and useful in tuning a cars handling.

Yea i agree with Zzy. If you doing any suspension work. The camber kit should be first on your list beside tires but you already have good tires.

[sam10k]

Im looking in camber kit also. For the front, what should we use? Camber bolt or plate?

Sent from my SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[tinman5]

Depends on the adjustment range of each. On my S13 I run both, on the EP I slotted the upper holes on my Super Streets and run the Tein camber plates. I dont run too much camber up front for daily driving but as Z has mentioned, suspension tuning is imperative.

One more thing on alignments, does anybody else have a hard time finding someone to do an alignment on a lowered Honda? I do my own alignments but I had a friend drive around literally for days and nobody would touch his car. It was a simple 1.5" drop on a cup kit but no shop would put his car on the rack because it was lowered.

[Hasbro]

Depends on the adjustment range of each. On my S13 I run both, on the EP I slotted the upper holes on my Super Streets and run the Tein camber plates. I dont run too much camber up front for daily driving but as Z has mentioned, suspension tuning is imperative.

One more thing on alignments, does anybody else have a hard time finding someone to do an alignment on a lowered Honda? I do my own alignments but I had a friend drive around literally for days and nobody would touch his car. It was a simple 1.5" drop on a cup kit but no shop would put his car on the rack because it was lowered.

The best way to find a serious shop would be to ask on the closest SCCA forum. Or call your local tire shop like Discount Tire and ask them.

tinman, what implements are you using to do your alignments with?

[tinman5]

My brother picked up an old jig off Ebay several years ago. Some old cat was getting out of IMSA? Some lower level stock car racing and selling off a bunch of gear.
It was a very simple set up 2 wheel casters/dolleys, one (carpenters?) square mounted angle finder, a couple levels and a few plumb lines. Nothing fancy at all.
When setting up my 240 though we used mainly the angle finder and level for camber adjustments and two 6' flexible metric measuring tapes for setting toe. We kept the set up as simple as possible. By concentrating on a known level surface and keeping the kit simple, to one wheel at a time, setting the camber could be done in minutes. Once I found the settings I liked I simply marked off all my links and then dialed back a little to minimize tire wear.
At first setting the toe was confusing until Tony showed up and simplified things for me. Its a shame he's a Ford guy. But as it stands I can get pretty consistent, reapeatable measurements in under an hour depending on how many times a given wheel has to come off. Probably gonna buy some new digital/laser carpentry equipment now that the pricing is much more agreeable.

[Zzyzx]

My brother picked up an old jig off Ebay several years ago. Some old cat was getting out of IMSA? Some lower level stock car racing and selling off a bunch of gear.
It was a very simple set up 2 wheel casters/dolleys, one (carpenters?) square mounted angle finder, a couple levels and a few plumb lines. Nothing fancy at all.
When setting up my 240 though we used mainly the angle finder and level for camber adjustments and two 6' flexible metric measuring tapes for setting toe. We kept the set up as simple as possible. By concentrating on a known level surface and keeping the kit simple, to one wheel at a time, setting the camber could be done in minutes. Once I found the settings I liked I simply marked off all my links and then dialed back a little to minimize tire wear.
At first setting the toe was confusing until Tony showed up and simplified things for me. Its a shame he's a Ford guy. But as it stands I can get pretty consistent, reapeatable measurements in under an hour depending on how many times a given wheel has to come off. Probably gonna buy some new digital/laser carpentry equipment now that the pricing is much more agreeable.



if you are looking for alignment equipment, the amateur racing world has spawned a whole line of inexpensive parts.
Check out https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group.asp?GroupID=ALIGNCAMBER for some examples.

I actually have a Fastrax Camber/Caster Gauge & I do the string box toe setup. Or at least I did when I was heavy in to competition.

http://www.amazon.com/Specialty-Products-Company-91000-FasTrax/dp/B000PG6OW2

[Hasbro]

I just acquired this with the magnetic level;

http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=&parentid=&stocknumber=35-70050

[tinman5]

I just acquired this with the magnetic level;

http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=&parentid=&stocknumber=35-70050

Nicccce. I like how the pricing has changed in relation to options/offerings. Seems like back in the day (my day actually about 20 years ago) regular street alignments were spoken of like black magic but on track days and what not you would always see the hard core guys setting up with very simple gear. I took it for granted not learning, not understanding the details.
I remedied that to an extent after high school although the true engineering aspects are way over my head.