Courtesy of Fixer
Road Race Front Strut Bar

Tools Needed
14mm 3/8" Socket
3/8" Socket Drive
3" Extenstion
10mm Socket
Phillips Head Screw Driver

This is what you start with.


Start by removing the two rear engine covers.


Your Engine bay should now look like this.


Remove the two 14mm nuts that are toward the inside of the engine bay.


Place the strut bar over the exposed studs.


Secure the bar with the nuts that were removed. Tourque on the nuts is....29-37 Lb.ft.
The bar is now installed....about 3-5 mins.


You can now install the engine covers. Trimming of the underside of the cover will be needed.


Now your done.....


Courtesy of Adrock
Road Race Rear Strut Bar

Tools Needed
3/8 Drive Ratchet
12" 3/8 Extension
10mm & 12mm Deep Sockets
Flathead Screwdriver
15/16 Open end Wrench
2 1/2 Diameter Hole Saw

Before


On the drivers side, remove the 10mm bolt for the sub bracket and the knob for the cargo net.
On the passenger side you have to pop off the little cover for the 10mm bolt.


Other side.


I didn't need to pull the seatbelt retractors off, but it will make it easier to reach inside. It's up to you.


Remove the nut closest to the inside of the vehicle on both sides.


For cutting the holes I measured from the top of the metal bracket straight down inline with the small hole. I measured down 3 1/2 inches, but just going 3 inches would have been better. Once you have it measured, use a pencil to mark the cover. The pencil will show up better than using a marker. Then start cutting.


Once you have the holes cut, adjust the bar so that it's as short as possible. This will allow you slide it far enough into on hole and then into the other. This way you don't have to take any of the coverings loose. Then, set one end of the bar over the strut stud, you will then need to turn the bar until the other side lines up with the other strut stud. Once you have it adjusted, and over both of the studs, reinstall the nuts and tighten them down. Now use the 15/16 wrench to tighten the large nut on the bar itself. Once everything is tight just rienstall all the other pieces as they came off.


When you're all done it should look something like this.


Enjoy!
-Ryloth

Awesome, Ryloth. Thanks for the diy...glad its an easy one i can do..

nice and easy DIY good job..

but my question is what do these strut bars actually do by installing them in our car??

they help reduce body flex and body roll. It helps cornering.

Could someone with the rear RRM strut bar please take a measurement from the floor to the very bottom of the bar? I have a sub box in my hatch, and by looking at those pics, I can say it's gonna be VERY close on whether I can get that strut bar to fit or not.

I was gonna try to do it visually using the hatch light, but of course, my light is horizontal to that one being vertical. And a measurement is obviously more accurate.

Thank you!

its approximately 12.5"

Wow. What the quickness. I've gotta run outside and check the height of my box now.

Edit: My box is 13.5" tall. Damn it all. Eh, I could just move the box forward about three more inches, and fit the bar behind it. Oh well.

Do you think there is anyway to increase the height of the bar by about an inch and a half, or so. Like maybe using a longer bolt and a couple of nuts as spacers? or would that compromise the rigidity?

Thats not really my department. Your welcome to try and I don't see why it wouldn't work, but that tiny little bolt already gets stressed enough. Making it longer will only stress it more. Send RRM an e-mail or give them a call and see what they think.

will it help if i just installed the strut bar in the front? or do i need to do both front and back to make it effective?

I'm not sure, it would probably help to an extent though.

Just a TIP, If you go the way of removing the rear seatbelt retractors .....DO NOT let the seatbelts move into the retractors more than where they would be when mounted. Once the belts go past the brake inside the retractors they will not release. I found this out the hard way and had to have my dealership take apart my backseat and rear seatbelt retractors. ....this cost me $

What mm are the nuts over the rear struts? Mine are stripped so I need a new one....

10 or 12 mm, can't remember.

I had the same problem when I installed my rear bar. If you get the seat belt retractor leveled just right, you can manage to get them to come back out. A REAL PITA though.

Here is my contribution to this mod...

This will help to make a "cleaner install" when you are finished.

For the front, I wanted to keep the plasic cover in the engine bay, but the ends of the bar wouldn't fit under the covers. I used a 1" holesaw and cut the plastic cover where the ends were to come through. I also used 1" plastic caps to cover the top of the ends of the bar to give it a cleaner look. See pics below.







For you guys that want to do the front bar install the same way I did... drill your hole at the inboard edge of the "little bump" in the panel above the strut bolt that is to be used.

Here is a pic where you are to drill the 1" hole in the plastic panel so the hole is where it is needed.




For the rear, you have to cut a 2" hole in the side panels for the bar to fit through. Since the bar is only 7/8" OD pipe, and I didn't want the gaping hole around it, I went to my local hardware store and bought rubber washers that have a 7/8" centerbore hole and are 2 3/4" outside diameter and are only 1/8" thick. The 2 3/4" diameter of the washer will help if your measurements are off slightly to cover up your error. The rubber washers fit over the bar very snug and gives the job a much cleaner look IMO. To put the washers on, all you have to do is unthread the adjustable end of the bar, slide both washers on, and thread the end of the bar back in. See pics below.








As for the measurements for the holes in the side panels... I took off the top plastic covers from the strut locations and I measured down 3 1/4" from the top of the panel that is to be drilled. As for the measurement from front to back, I eyeballed that. I first drilled a small pilot hole to make sure I was in line with the strut bolt to be used and then took a 2" holesaw and ran the drill in reverse so it wouldn't "shred" the panel. Worked out very nice.

Hope this helps...

Those are some great ideas bro! I would have never thought of the caps or the washer. The only thing I am wondering about is, how is the washer staying next to the carpeted area? It seems like it would just slide around on turns....did you use some sort of adhesive?

The washers I used are snug on the bar... just enough that they don't slide around. That is why I gave the size for the washers I used. Make sure you don't get them too big or they will slide around.

Clarke

Does anyone know how to put the front shark racing strut bar on? It's a little different than the one on the diy. I understand how to put it on but should the bolts holding the bar in place be tight or loose?

Definitely TIGHT!

Has anyone tried the one for the Alpine SC?
I had to end up grinding down part of the resevoir so that the strut bar could fit properly. It looks clean, but they don't tell you that in the instructions :p

I have the SC bar and it fit fine. I also used to have the SR bar and it sucks. When I went to install the RRM bar I looked closely at the SR bar and it had bent under cornering forces. I think aluminum is not strong enough.

Its a 14mm nut that screws onto the strut bolt.

To keep the seatbelts from getting sucked into the retractors, you can use Vise Grips. Before you ever unbolt the retractors, pull the seatbelt out at least a foot (to play it on the safe side), then clamp a set of Vise Grips (or similar apparatus), and it'll keep the belt from getting sucked in.

as far as the front strut goes. i know the RRM bolts on to one bolt, but i've seen other struts that bolt on to all three....is this an advantage over the RRM somehow?

I know this is probably a dumb question, but will installing front and rear strut bars void any type of warranty on the car? and another thing, is there any difference or advantage in using certain brands or types of strut bars over others?

Thanks.

I have an I4 question for the RRM front strut bar, since I don't have any plastic covers that the V6's have, that means I can just bolt them up straight on right?