TEC front strut bar review

[viva le greg]

yea sorry for that !

[Dielectric]

Originally Posted by DennisVR97

Thanks for the extensive write-up. Of the bars on the market the TEC bar remains by far the most effective given it is not triangulated. Also, given what else is out there it is the highest quality ..... by far. A few points:

It is designed and tested in SolidWorks. Why there are gussets on the underside

There are a number of powder coated colors you can choose from.

The amount of material you removed was minimal. Are you sure your vehicle wasn't the cause? My bar dropped right in.

Although I have the front and rear bars, I'm not certain the front of the VR4 can benefit from a tower bar. Chassis design, under-bracing, bracing of the engine. Has anyone published data on tower deflection under load?

Yes, we're all looking to keep weight down, but 4.5 lbs in a 3600lb car ... that's too much? To potentially stiffen the front towers? How much weight would be reasonable?

The company owner/designer of the bar is responsive to comments/suggestions. Did you talk with him about your concerns/issues?

Yes, certainly not perfect. But compared to other bars for the 3S, this is an effective, quality piece. I suggest people attempt to compare side-by-side before making their decisions.

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure it’s one of the best available. However, I am very critical and expect a lot, so little things that most people don’t notice bug the hell out of me. That being said, the bar did fit upon initial installation, as I stated, it just didn’t fit like an OEM part. Although, my main issue is that if I torque the strut bolts way past the recommended torque setting the bar will noticeably contort. This makes me wonder about its effectiveness. Also, I suspect that milling the mounting points out of sold blocks is a major contributor to the cost. I believe the mounting points can be redesigned to be more effective and cheaper to produce. Just my 2 cents.

[needforspeed]

Originally Posted by J-Groove

Well, if it is just his car and not the TEC bar in general then I may have made a rash decision. Though the prices of the two are close so I don't feel to bad.



-John

John that's a very nicely constructed sway bar you have installed. What brand and where did you purchase it. I just bought the cusco front and rear sway bar off ebay, hope it works good and not some knockoff.

[J-Groove]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

John that's a very nicely constructed sway bar you have installed. What brand and where did you purchase it. I just bought the cusco front and rear sway bar off ebay, hope it works good and not some knockoff.

Thanks. It is a Carbing/ PitRoad M 3 point bar.

It is originally designed by Carbing but with design modifications done by Pitroad M. As the original by Carbing was supposably not a perfect fit, this one was basically a strait drop in.

I bought it from Ralli Art 3000GT on the board.

-John

[TiberiusTribun]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

I just bought the cusco front and rear sway bar off ebay, hope it works good and not some knockoff.

Are you talking sway bars or strut bars here? Does Cusco even offer a front strut bar for 3000GT? All I ever see in the shops is the rear one...

[DennisVR97]

Originally Posted by Dielectric

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure it’s one of the best available. However, I am very critical and expect a lot, so little things that most people don’t notice bug the hell out of me. That being said, the bar did fit upon initial installation, as I stated, it just didn’t fit like an OEM part. Although, my main issue is that if I torque the strut bolts way past the recommended torque setting the bar will noticeably contort. This makes me wonder about its effectiveness. Also, I suspect that milling the mounting points out of sold blocks is a major contributor to the cost. I believe the mounting points can be redesigned to be more effective and cheaper to produce. Just my 2 cents.

I understand your position. However, a bar mounting OEM-like won't help accomplish its purpose. I agree, nothing should be contorting, but I'd have to ask again ...... was it the bar or your car. I've had mine off a number of times, it always drops back on and tightens with no issues. Has your car had frontal damage?

The next issue is .... IF you want something that actually works, what are the alternative bars out there? Cusco is for window-dressing only, and the Carbing ....... although triangulated (firewall mounted) will do little if you believe the towers deflect in the horizontal or longitudinal planes (inward or upward). It would need a section directly across the towers for inward deflection and it sits too low (fault of how low our firewall is) to stop the deflections around the horizontal plane. Its design seems best suited to stop rearward deflection, but even then it could benefit from triangulation with a section across the towers.

If any, the deflection(s) are probably in multiple planes, but does anyone know where the 3S is most vulnerable? Is there data somewhere other than SOTP data? That might help us with the decision on what is the most effective bar. Now ....... if TEC or Carbing combined the two designs, we might have something.

[Let-luse]

Another TEC owner (front and rear). Never had any fitment issue. The bar dropped right in the first time and I have taken it out multiple times since and never had to do much than knock it with my hand to take it out. Never noticed the bar contorting when tightening the bolts.

I also have the MAP sensor on top of the plenum on my car (99 VR-4) and didn't have any issues with it coming in contact with the bar.

So that makes me wonder too whether your car is out of spec. Are you the original owner? The reason I ask is because I had an issue with a racing dynamics strut bar that wouldn't fit on an E30 M3. Turned out to be that the distance between the strut towers was out of specs because of a previous accident.

another possibilty would be that the bar you got is from a defective batch or that it has been somehow damaged (bent).

Also from the picture below, I see that you have mounted the bolts holding the battery tie-down backwards. The threads should be going out not in so that they don't come in contact with the strut tower.



Reda/