lower tie bar brace review

LIUSPEED · Sep 9th, 2004, 02:40 AM

well i just got back from my friend place installing a lower tie brace bar for the b14 that i got from http://www.mattblehm.com/..

at first attempt (monday ) the install didnt go very well for the hole for the rear was a tad off but nothing like a little drilling cant fix but of course fate has it against me and my friend forgot the drill at work.. no biggie though..

next attempt ( wednesday ) went really well.. had a bit of a hard time getting the control arm bolts loose on the driver side for we had a little clearance issue with the auto tranny being in the way and the socket was a deep end socket but slowly and surely we got it loose with a little help with rust eater.

next we placed the front ends matching up with control arm bolts and tighten it both down no problems perfecto !

next we tried to put the rear back on.. and had a small difficulty because the rear was slightly lower now and so we decided to use a bit of force and use the jack to help us push up the rear end of the brace and to our advantage popped right into place.

next slight problem we had was that we didnt have a " short " extension to bolt up for the place holder for the bar was pretty deep.

luckily enough my friend had long and very skilled fingers to start the process of threading in the bolt and to our very luck a very good tool that allowed us to not push in the socket all the way into the socket wrench so we can bolt in the rear tight.

after tightening all the bolts i decided to take it for a test spin around the lot and did a few sharp turns.

to my amazement that this bar indeed gave me near full control of my sharp turns and felt very steady and firm.

on the drive home took a few twisty road routes and my god was it wonderful !

so stiff so precise and VERY responsive.

this is a must have for all drivers that love the twist and sharp turns on their rides.. well worth the money !

thanks matt93se for such a wonderful wonderful product i cant wait to test it out some more with the TEIN SS coilovers someday !

ill have pix of the bar installed on my car later on but this is just an amazing part that im glad i got it ! this is a must have for b14 owners ! even maxima owners love this product !

in short this is what it does it bolts onto an additional frame mount behind the control arms to provide more strength and reduce chassis flex even more. you don't lose any more ground clearance compared to the first stage, but you do gain several more steps up the ladder in the handling department.

below is a pic of what the bar looks like for the b14.

edit : sorry so long.

and special thanks to 02sunnyb15 for helping me to do the install

B14_Stealth · Sep 9th, 2004, 03:18 AM

sounds good, maybe one day ill get one too.
I went to the site and there are two stages, yours is stage 2. How is it comparing to stage 1 ?

LIUSPEED · Sep 9th, 2004, 03:20 AM

stage 1 is only the front bar.. stage 2 is a full brace front and rear.

B14_Stealth · Sep 9th, 2004, 03:25 AM

so..the you need 2 of the stage 2s ? for front & rear ?

LIUSPEED · Sep 9th, 2004, 03:27 AM

yea it better to get the stage two for the full wonderful effect

LIUSPEED · Sep 9th, 2004, 03:37 AM

here are some pix of it installed on my good friend joe (azkicker0027) car.. he was one of the few that had them before me..

that what it looks like installed for those who dont understand quite well what im tryin to say in above posts.

B14_Stealth · Sep 9th, 2004, 04:08 AM

nice, thanks for the pics

xt_out · Sep 9th, 2004, 05:41 AM

sweetness!!! how much did that run ya? $$

LethalAudio · Sep 9th, 2004, 08:26 AM

man, them prices aint too bad at all. thats going on my "To Buy" list for sure.

LIUSPEED · Sep 9th, 2004, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xt_out

sweetness!!! how much did that run ya? $$

175 + shipping

Quote:

Originally Posted by LethalAudio

man, them prices aint too bad at all. thats going on my "To Buy" list for sure.

when you buy mention that i sent ya and hell take care of you for sure.

wickedsr20 · Sep 11th, 2004, 11:52 PM

Very nice product. I could see where that would sharpen steering response considerably. Only concern is don't have your car dropped too low or else that bar will rub on a whole lot of speed bumps and the like. My car was only down 2" front and 1.5" in the rear and I was still occasionally scraping the crossmember here and there. Stage 1 will make a difference by eliminating the flexing of the control arm mountimg points inward, but that stage 2 bar looks like it would really solidify the control arm mounting points from side to side and forward/backward movement. You have a measurement of about how thick that tubing is by the crossmember? Definitely interested.

LIUSPEED · Sep 12th, 2004, 11:51 AM

i can do that and measure approx how thick.. i cant be accurate cuz i hafta crawl under the car to measure..

but the bars are one hefty peice.. to me seems really solid and nice n thick

wickedsr20 · Sep 13th, 2004, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LIUSPEED

i can do that and measure approx how thick.. i cant be accurate cuz i hafta crawl under the car to measure..

Put the car on some ramps and it should be easier.

**Matt93SE** · Sep 14th, 2004, 09:37 AM

The tubing is 0.75" heavy wall tubing. you lose right at 1" of ground clearance, as I left about 1/4" of room between the crossmember and the tie bar.

wickedsr20 · Sep 14th, 2004, 11:59 PM

Cool. Thanks for the update. It's just living around here with the Baltimore and Washington DC roads being the way they are, every little bit of clearance is precious. That bar does look damn good though and looks like it could handle a scrape or two.

Got me thinking.