Post by
Jeff Williams »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/jeff-williams-u431.html
Fri Jun 27, 2008 2:08 am
That is a good couple of questions.
Q. What is this bar used for?
A. The Q45 is a unibody construction, which means there is no frame connecting the front suspension to the rear suspension. If you have ever tried to jack up the car from what looks like frame rails under the car, yourealize they are just sheet metal boxes. What that means, is that the inner fenders, firewall, and floorpans are part of the structural integrity of the car. Any flex in these areas changes the geometry of the suspension in cornering, stopping, and acceleration. Now, some flex is calculated in the design of the car under normal operation. Some people push their cars a little bit in cornering, lane changes, and hard driving. When this is done, the body flexes, the tires no longer are fullly contacting the road, and you hear tire squeal, and feel the body of the car roll.
Some of this can be fixed with wider tires, stronger struts and springs, sway bars, and suspension adjustments. The flex of the body increases as the suspension is stiffened.
An easy way to improve the stability of the front suspension, is to "complete the loop". If you look at the front suspension, you will see spindles attached to the struts. The struts connect to the body high by the hood. The spindles connect to the lower control arms, low on the front subframe. The front subframe connects the two lower control arms. This makes a big "U" shape. This strut bar connects the upper strut mounts, to makean "O" shape. Forces from the left strut tower are transferred to the right strut tower in cornering. These forces are not that big, and the aluminum bar does a great job of transferring them. The amount of body flex is greatly reduced in hard cornering and lane changes. It is an immediate difference.
Q. Did the Q's come with one already installed?
The 1990 to 1996 did not come with them from the factory. Infiniti saw the need, and added a strut bar on the 1997 and up Q's. Stillen saw the need, and built one for the G50 design. It was around $200 when they made them. They were a good design, and really helped tighten up the car. They stopped producing them, so they are hard to find.
Back when I bought my first Q, I realized there was a need. I checked into the Stillen product, but was too cheap to buy one. I had been fabricating race car parts for years for other people, and decided to give it a shot. After much searching, I cecided I could not make one for less than about $150 from scratch. That is where eBay came in. I bought a cheap $30 strut bar for my wife's I30t. When it came in, I was going to install it. I had the hood open on the Q right next to the I, and thought, "I wonder if I can jsut modify this bar to fit on the Q." After about 1 hour of drilling, cutting, and test fitting, it was on the car. "Sorry honey, the I will ahve to wait for the second one."
I went for a test drive, and was flabergasted at the improvement. The car felt 1,000# lighter! I could change lanes without the threat of oversteer. It really tightened up the front end in hard cornering.
I shared my find with the club, and a few tried their hands at it. Some bought the wrong bars, and a lot asked if I would make them one. I striked a deal with some of the suppliers to buy in bulk, and started doing them for NICO members. That was about 5 years ago, I think.
Over the years, I have improved the product, and tried to keep my costs down.
Anyone is welcome to build their own, and it can be done in a few hours. All you need is a LH tap, a RH tap, a drill press, a chop saw, and some patience. I can hook you up with the supplier. He sells them for about $36.00 each with shipping. I can modify 20 bars in about 12 hours in the shop. That makes my cost about $51.00, not including the gas and packaging materials to ship tehm to you. I keep my cost at $55.00 because I don't consider this a money-making business. It is a service to the Infiniti community, and the owners that like to push their big fat cars a little more than the little old lady from Pasadena (no offense, my aunt lives there, and she used to race dune buggys!).
I have a few left from this batch if anyone is interested.