civic ED strut bars?

[ouch]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/88-91...ht_3683wt_1167

what you guys reckon?

[string]

Will do absolutely nothing except look tacky and make it harder to transport things in the boot.

They're cheap because unlike what the add claims, they're made out of the cheapest and lowest quality materials you can imagine.

If you want to "improve handling" you need a beefy bar with SOLID mounting brackets, not flimsy pieces that you could bend with your hands.

[ankles]

I got a kit from this manufacturer the other day, but got the version without the c-pillar bar. I realise a tri-brace would be better for the front, and there are other options for more bracing in the rear, but didn't want to spend a heap on strut bracing & tie bars without testing them first to see the effect. Given the other suspension modifications I'm doing (32mm ASR autocross rear swaybar and other stuff), I think some reinforcement may be of benefit.

As for the quality of those bars, they don't seem bad in any way. I would certainly agree there are better looking bars out there, and ones that will offer greater rigidity, but these will do for the time being. I'm going to use them on a CRX, so it won't affect boot functionality much, but obviously on a Civic sedan or a hatch with the rear seat in the upright position the case would be different.

[string]

Would you feel comfortable jumping up and down on one of these bars? If the bar isn't rock solid it's going to do nothing.

[ankles]

When I install them I might have to set up a piece of string, tied to the same points as the strut brace in the rear of the cabin where it can be viewed by a passenger observing it while I drive. If the strut brace bends under load while cornering, the string will go slack and I'll know I'll need something stronger. To test the one in the front I'd have to borrow a race cam off someone, although I'm not sure they're suitable for dealing with under bonnet temperatures. The other way to test the front one would be to remove the bonnet and do the string line trick.

[string]

So can you bend it with your body weight?

I've come across an ebay bar before (looked identical to the one in the OP) and I could flex it with my hands.

[ankles]

Haven't tried that, but I'll give it a go when I get home. I'm certainly hoping that's not possible! I am slightly concerned, as the link that was posted above has a different seller name, but the bars look exactly the same, and the seller was listed as based in the City of Industry, which is where my bars came from. :S

On the bright side, they didn't cost much, at least not relative to the brand name parts I've ordered (which are NOT from eBay).

[string]

-nuke-

[ankles]

I had actually wondered about that myself after they turned up. But when replying to this thread I just stuck with the assumption that they resisted compression.

Thinking about it a bit further, if you're cornering hard, with a beefy swaybar underneath the car, as the suspension on the outside wheel is loaded up, the swaybar will attempt to counteract this by forcing the inside wheel down to maintain traction. The strut brace should therefore be acting to resist compression, because if the chassis would be trying to bend inwards to resist putting the inside wheel to the ground.

If the strut brace is in place to resist tension, then if I am able to bend it outside the car, it won't necessarily be an issue, as it is entirely possible for an item to be able to resist a tension force but not a compressive force (eg. steel is better at resisting tension than concrete, but concrete is better under compression than steel).

[ankles]

Oh, and using the above theory, if a strut brace is there to resist compression, I am NOT going to get a concrete strut brace fabricated simply because concrete is better at resisting compression than steel!!!

[~Sp33~]

They do nothing.

[CivtecEG]

i have the exact set, seriously dont do shit, the brackets seem okay, but the bars can be bent by hand, all i did was replace the bars with some proper steel.