Strut Brace

[Shadowv4l]

wow, long day at work.... I guess i was thinking of the FWD strut bar, it looks almost identical to the one you made in the pic. srry for the confusion. But still, keep up the good work!

[glhs727]

I would take one for sure. I'm am not impressed with the current vendor offering that is out there. They use a flimsy aluminum rod with brittle cast aluminum end plates that snap in half if you tighten them down without modifying them, and even then it's iffy; no thanks.

Would prefer wrinkle black powder coated here.

Not sure what you mean by current offering.... Here is a picture is the old style strut bars (bottom bar) made by Steve Anders and sold by FWD and TU at one time. Steve was sent overseas many times in the early 2000's and eventually the ability to be supplied in a timely fashion became an issue. We ended up making our own. I think we have been selling our own design for about the last 2-3 years (top bar). Ours are laser cut plates, steel bars, FK sperical rod ends. A little different than Johnny's design, and I can't speak to all appllications it can/will fit. We only have 2 bars left out of our last batch, then we plan to make a couple of small design changes for the next batch. I like our bar design, I also like Johnny's bar as well, so it will be nice to have alternatives, and if we don't have any of our own in stock, I would have no issue sending them to polybushings to buy one. I think both our designs (Johnny's and FWD) are great pieces! Keep up the good work!

[GLHNSLHT2]

where are the pics?

[iTurbo]

Ah yes the one I was referring to was the Anders strut tower bar (bottom in pic). I bought one from TU and one from FWDP a while ago, didn't know you went to a different design. To Cindy's credit, she replaced one of the plates that snapped in half on me at no charge. Still, the cast aluminum plate was a design flaw from the get go in my opinion. Maybe if our strut tower tops were perfectly flat it would be OK, but they aren't. I had to grind out some of the material on the inside diameter so it wouldn't hit the lip of the inner hole for the strut mount. You could also easily snap the mounting ears for the bar itself if you aren't careful when tightening them. Really hard to get the bolts in too, because they interfere with the plate mounting nuts.

[4 l-bodies]

Here is a couple photos of the test on the CSX-T.
Took it off the wagon, no adjustment, fit right on to the Shadow.
Added some Play-Doh to test clearance when I shut the hood.
Squished the doh but not enough to touch the bar. There is
about 3/16" of clay left, so there is clearance but not a lot.

Okay do they fit a shadow with a 2 piece intake? IMO, your gonna need all that 3/16" clearance for them not to hit on the Shadow. Been down that road Johnny
BTW- I'm glad your testing these out on various vehicles. It absolutely slays me when people sell products they market and have never installed on vehicles there product claims to fit. Then when you complain/inquire it's too bad, so sad... Sucks to be you.

[GLHNSLHT2]

looks like you need to update the image in your catalog then?

[tryingbe]

These bars clears the 2 piece intake in my Daytona and Omni. Not sure about Shadow.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mikecombs66/...&_trksid=p3686

[glhs727]

looks like you need to update the image in your catalog then?

Yes I do need to update the site. I also have about 150 more products to add on the site..... so much to do, so little time!

[black86glhs]

Yes I do need to update the site. I also have about 150 more products to add on the site..... so much to do, so little time!

Stop trolling the internet and get to work!!!!!

[Johnny]

Okay do they fit a shadow with a 2 piece intake?

Should but would now like to try it on a Daytona, Lancer etc...with a two piece.
I know a guy in Portland that would let me try it on his Shelby Lancer.

These bars clears the 2 piece intake in my Daytona and Omni. Not sure about Shadow.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mikecombs66/...&_trksid=p3686

Those are pretty! Aluminum is flexible. If you just want a nice looking piece and
inexpensive these are it!! And they do work to a point. Okay for easy street driving
and car shows.

If you want strong, people will want steel ones like I am making.
That is the reason I started to develop these. I have been asked and asked
over and over to do it by people and also by one of my venders.

[rbryant]

These bars clears the 2 piece intake in my Daytona and Omni. Not sure about Shadow.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mikecombs66/...&_trksid=p3686

I still say those look goofy on an lbody because they are at an angle instead of being square with the towers.

It was a compromised way of making the two piece intake clear the bar and he purposely didn't mention it on his website. I actually thought that my towers/frame was bent or something when I first installed it because it looked so weird. All he had to do was provide different offsets on his rings to make it right and he wouldn't do it.

When I complained about it he refused to take it back so I don't recommend him or his bars.

It is good to see an alternative.

-Rich

[iTurbo]

I asked that guy about that very issue on eBay and never got a response....so I never bought one.

[rbryant]

I asked that guy about that very issue on eBay and never got a response....so I never bought one.

Worse yet if you look at this description from ebay:

"Never had a return or complaint in 6 years....read the feedbacks.."

That is a lie.

I complained, I asked for a return, and I was not allowed to return the new item.

All of this was when buying it directly from him so the complaint doesn't show on ebay.

BTW you can also see the offset in the picture now which is a good thing... IMO It is actually less obvious what is wrong when looking from the front it just seems weird and wrong...

In the ebay level of quality it is better to just buy a rear bar for a 1G neon and drill a single hole in your strut tower to make it fit the lbody than buy the mikecombs66 bar...

Knowing Johnny his bar will be night and day better than that.

-Rich

[glhs727]

I thought the ebay bars were 1st gen neon bars with the holes redrilled. At least they look identical to the 1st gen bars that vibrant made.... I know they do not fit a shelby charger. One of my customers bought one a LONG time ago and it didn't work

[tryingbe]

For the price I paid, I have no complaint.
Beside, I drive a ugly turbo dodge. So function > looks.

[rbryant]

I thought the ebay bars were 1st gen neon bars with the holes redrilled. At least they look identical to the 1st gen bars that vibrant made.... I know they do not fit a shelby charger. One of my customers bought one a LONG time ago and it didn't work

The mikecombs66 bars on ebay are made for the lbody. I am just lumping them into the same quality category as the $30 neon bar and noting that if you want a cheap bar that it is cheaper to get a Neon rear bar and make that work because it is shorter than the front bar and one out of two holes fit and the other ends up in a good place if you just drill one hole in each tower... People that have my camber plates can actually use a neon rear bar as a direct fit as long as it clears the engine.... Clearing the engine (intake manifold) on the lbody is the big problem.

Either way your bars or Johnny's will be far superior to the mikecombs66 ebay bar.

BTW:

It would be good if everyone just removed the hinges and rod ends from the bars.
They add cost and having a pivot point on a strut tower bar is a bad thing!

-Rich

[Johnny]

It would be good if everyone just removed the hinges and rod ends from the bars.
They add cost and having a pivot point on a strut tower bar is a bad thing!

Solid is best. I am doing it this way first so it will fit most style of these cars. If anyone wants
A solid one, let me know, i can make one that way once i get this underway. This one will be
Better/stronger than what most of them i see out there.

Even better is to triangle it with the firewall. But most people dont need that or want that.
But that could be a next step.

[GLHNSLHT2]

most people are stupid. I'd love to have a triangulated bar

[rbryant]

most people are stupid. I'd love to have a triangulated bar

Our firewalls are prone to cracking so be careful if going that route...

If I was starting from scratch and had a donor car I would probably start by cutting the firewall out of the donor and putting it into the project car over the normal firewall to make two layers and double thick.

There are stories about the shelby team secretly stamping out thicker than normal firewalls for the race cars.

Then after that point the triangulated bar would really work.

-Rich

[Johnny]

Then after that point the triangulated bar would really work

But i was thinking of a differant way to tranglate it! I have an idea sort of like the cars when i was working on ac cobras and panteras at the hotrod shop..well sort of like that.