Tower Strut Bar

[ucantcme]

Just bought one for $35 incl. s&h.

Take a look, what do you think??

eBay Motors: 01 02 03 04 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER FRONT STRUT TOWER BAR (item 310058362443 end time Jun-17-08 23:20:42 PDT)

[quicksilverdon]

I've read of some w/APC hitting the hood or firewall, but if yours doesn't, it's well worth it.
Go easy on the strut tower nuts - they don't take much torque..

[CREWZIN]

Agree with QSD. Great price, hope it fits without hitting.

[ucantcme]

That was my only concern...How will it not hit the hood?? I guess I'll find out soon, heh.

[CREWZIN]

It would hit the hood by sticking up too much in the middle between the struts. Look at my picture below and you can see mine just high enough to clear the vanity cover but low enough to just go along the top of the firewall. Doesn't hit anything.



P.S. the firewall strip of your won't look like mine as I replaced the rubber strip with a strip of chrome.

[ucantcme]

Where and how much did you get yours for?

If it doesn't fit, I'll return it and get it wherever you got yours.

I love your engine, Carey......Makes me cry inside, lol

[CREWZIN]

Unfortunately, I looked around and nobody seems to be selling the strut bar that I have. It came in Yellow and I had the vanity cover and bar painted professionally Viper Red. The ONLY problems I've ever read about is with the APC strut bar (like yours unfortunately) that people said hit the hood, but not all of them did so you may get lucky. That's the problem with APC parts, the QC (quality control) doesn't seem to be at the top of their list.

[cleverklutz]

I have the APC bar too. I picked it up for I think $29 or something at autotrucktoys. I did a bunch of research into it. It seems that the early APC bars were junk, they used brackets to mount the bolts to the strut towers, than brackets to hold the bar, the new one is a one piece design. I found the bar to be extremely light walled bar stock, and it doesn't take much to bend it by hand. I didn't expect anything out of it really, but it did give me faster turn in, and the part that is most important to me and I wasn't expecting, is that it got rid of my bump steer! I have to drive 8 miles of low maintenance gravel road every day, and that is all potholed and washboard. It used to be the steering wheel would always be trying to come out of my hand, now it is composed in that stuff. I'm planning on tying the strut bar into the firewall eventually to stiffen it up even more.

The bar fit good in my car, I believe it had to be forced over one of the strut mounts just a bit, I can't remember if the bar had to be compressed or stretched.

I'm interested to know how it works for you.
Ben

[ucantcme]

Originally Posted by cleverklutz

I have the APC bar too. I picked it up for I think $29 or something at autotrucktoys. I did a bunch of research into it. It seems that the early APC bars were junk, they used brackets to mount the bolts to the strut towers, than brackets to hold the bar, the new one is a one piece design. I found the bar to be extremely light walled bar stock, and it doesn't take much to bend it by hand. I didn't expect anything out of it really, but it did give me faster turn in, and the part that is most important to me and I wasn't expecting, is that it got rid of my bump steer! I have to drive 8 miles of low maintenance gravel road every day, and that is all potholed and washboard. It used to be the steering wheel would always be trying to come out of my hand, now it is composed in that stuff. I'm planning on tying the strut bar into the firewall eventually to stiffen it up even more.

The bar fit good in my car, I believe it had to be forced over one of the strut mounts just a bit, I can't remember if the bar had to be compressed or stretched.

I'm interested to know how it works for you.
Ben

Me too now....I prolly shoulda asked before I bought it, but I would really like one. I will be sure to post pics and all that when I get it installed in the next few days

[PTmodrod]

Good luck with the bar! If it works well, for that price I might just have to get one! They do look good...