Just a little ranting on my part, because it's so fun when all you can hear is the rattling of a lovely strut bar while driving your car.
Pilot Strut Bars Suck
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rousie13
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Pilot Strut Bars Suck
I had a Pilot rear and front strut bar. Well the front one now hits the motor for some odd reason on start up. The rear one rattled like a mother. I got pisse* today and decided I was gonna "fix" it. I took off the bar and beat the sides in with a hammer so it would be tight against the bar, then tightened the nut as hard as I could possibly get it. If it rattles again, I'm throwing that damn POS out the window. You definately get what you pay for. Just a little ranting on my part, because it's so fun when all you can hear is the rattling of a lovely strut bar while driving your car.
Just a little ranting on my part, because it's so fun when all you can hear is the rattling of a lovely strut bar while driving your car.-
DriftFactory
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rousie13
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2BN_S13 wrote:Or maybe its the installer?!?Or maybe the frame is bent on your car and everything is outta whack. Dont flame me, you have probably never had it checked.
No, it's not the installer. They're strut bars, not exactly rocket science to install. The frame is straight unless a frame can bend from driving and never even being in a fender bender ever.
The part where the bolt goes through the bar to mount it on the part that is attached to the strut tower is over gapped. The space is a lot wider than the bar and you couldn't tighten it enough to squeeze the bar in there tightly. So I persuaded the sides in, so I could tighten it up snugly. Now on the front one, not sure why it's hitting now, when it never used to, but I can deal with that.
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ricebike
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Quote »The part where the bolt goes through the bar to mount it on the part that is attached to the strut tower is over gapped. The space is a lot wider than the bar and you couldn't tighten it enough to squeeze the bar in there tightly. [/quote]
ha, soo mebbe a defective part: my strut mounting plate didn't have a wide gap like you've described... u got ebay ones? i've got pilot motorsports while my bro got ebay...
i've notice the difference in the quality of the mounting plates, the thickness of the metal used as well as the welds were slightly ,inferior on ebay stuff but not on the aluminum alloy bars themselves...bars are EXACTLY the same...
hmm, so the front still hits the bar on startup? i'm still guessing a weak motor mount just d/t the fact that it'll rotate a bit when u r bumping the starter... have someone crank it while u look under the hood to confirm. I wanna know...
thanx
ha, soo mebbe a defective part: my strut mounting plate didn't have a wide gap like you've described... u got ebay ones? i've got pilot motorsports while my bro got ebay...
i've notice the difference in the quality of the mounting plates, the thickness of the metal used as well as the welds were slightly ,inferior on ebay stuff but not on the aluminum alloy bars themselves...bars are EXACTLY the same...
hmm, so the front still hits the bar on startup? i'm still guessing a weak motor mount just d/t the fact that it'll rotate a bit when u r bumping the starter... have someone crank it while u look under the hood to confirm. I wanna know...
thanx
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WeldingHank
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rousie13
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I took the bar out of the holders(part that bolts to the strut towers). I then preceded to beat the part that the bar bolts into on the strut tower piece with a hammer(so the gap was smaller). The bar now sits snugly in there, and I just tightened the bolt as tight as I could get it. I should throw some paint on it to make it look better, but no biggie. I'm not sure why the gap was so big on mine, must be a company defect or something. If you have no idea what I mean, and want pics, I can get some.
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Dattebayo
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I think if they are "defective" as everyone seems to think, you should return them to the company you sold them to instead of beating them into submission.
I know its kind of a moot point now, but i learned my lesson on the last set of tension rods i got that were defective. I forced them into place. They didnt bolt right still, and the company would not refund my money because i beat them.
Just a side note, did you own your car for the whole time its been on the road or has there been another owner? I would still get the frame checked out as this is one indicator that there might be a problem.
I know its kind of a moot point now, but i learned my lesson on the last set of tension rods i got that were defective. I forced them into place. They didnt bolt right still, and the company would not refund my money because i beat them.
Just a side note, did you own your car for the whole time its been on the road or has there been another owner? I would still get the frame checked out as this is one indicator that there might be a problem.
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rousie13
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2BN_S13 wrote:I think if they are "defective" as everyone seems to think, you should return them to the company you sold them to instead of beating them into submission.
I know its kind of a moot point now, but i learned my lesson on the last set of tension rods i got that were defective. I forced them into place. They didnt bolt right still, and the company would not refund my money because i beat them.
Just a side note, did you own your car for the whole time its been on the road or has there been another owner? I would still get the frame checked out as this is one indicator that there might be a problem.
I've had them installed since last summer without a hitch until this year. The threads on the bolt seemed like they were holding the bar in place(one side was still tight), but broke loose and let it vibrate in the larger gap(on the other side).
I'm the second owner of the car and ran a carfax on it and it said absolutely nothing. And how do you go about getting it checked?
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rousie13
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ricebike wrote:oh i guess your 'mileage may vary' cause i don't see any locking washers or locking nutz on them... mebbe time to invest on some threadlocker if it happens to get loose again?
soo how was your motor mounts up front? still hittin the bar upon startup?
I haven't gotten around to reinstalling the bar yet, been working on my exhaust and custom ramps this weekend. I'll get to it this week and let you know.