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- - Strano Front Bar install (https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26903)

Strano Front Bar install

I installed this yesterday, and not finding and install guides, I thought these notes may be useful.

FYI - there may be quicker and easier ways to do this, but this is just how I did it.

Jack the car up as high as you can at the front, use jack stands and remove front wheels.

I removed both the front and rear under trays. You may be able to get away just removing the rear.

Remove lower endlink nuts.

Need a ratcheting 14mm for the lower sway bar bracket bolt. I couldn't get anything else in there. I completely removed that bolt. Mind you don't rip the steering rack rubber thingies.

Remove the side plastic trim near the upper bolt - makes it much easier to get a hold of the nut as it comes off.

Stock bar can exit either side of the car.

Strano bar will only go in from the passenger side.

Lube up the bushings and locate them roughly in the right spot. Put bracket over the top and get ready to put bolts in.

Put lower bracket bolt on first and just get the threads started, and then get the nut on the upper bolt. Tighten each one a little at a time until both are tight.

Make sure Strano bar is centered before you connect up the lower endlink nuts. Too far to one side will make the endlink bolt hit the control arm under compression. Put a jack under each control arm and move suspension through full range of motion to make sure you have clearance on both sides.

Replace all the bits lying on the floor!

How's the difference?

Tough to tell on the street as I don't drive the car super hard, but I expect it will feel much more balanced at the next autocross I take it to.

I think if you're running CS/RTR/STX, some kind of front bar upgrade is required. Sam has done his homework on this bar, and I trust his judgement.

So I have installed both the Whiteline and Strano bars.

You do not really have to remove the metal front cover with any install method.

Even though it may seem like more work I found it easier to just remove the brackets from the car and then swap the bar and put it all back on the car. I could see how the font swaybar bracket bolt cold be easy to cossthread. It's 4 bolts on each side to remove the brackets

Would you say this bar is developed more for AutoX than it is for the track?

I ask because the car is so balanced I would think that if you stiffen up the front, you'd want to stiffen the rear a little.

I would say it has its uses for both but more for autox where you have faster transitions. The car is a little tail happy at times. Also useful to maintain camber in classes like stock where you cant use camber plates. In both endeavors it helps keep the rear inside wheel down so the LSD has a chance to work better.

Can you share the torque specs for the sway bar d-brackets and the factory end links? It would be nice to have all the information for the Strano FSB install in this DIY thread... Thanks

I installed the bar Saturday and took it out yesterday. I'm definitely getting some knocking under full compression even though I checked it for centering. There is definitely tight clearances. I'll try to adjust it this weekend again. Some people are putting shaft collars on it to prevent it moving side to side. I'll be doing that this weekend. I also ordered Whiteline end links to stiffen it up even further. The OE end links won't cut it with such a beefy sway bar.

I autocrossed yesterday with the local Porsche club and the bar felt great. The grip level was huge compared to what it was before, it just needs some tweaking and adjustment. I'm happy with it overall.

The Whiteline endlinks aren't going to offer much more than adjustability, and you'll need to lengthen them to the same length as stock with the Strano bar. Sam has always run the stock endlinks with it. I would look at the collars, some folks with the latest revision bar have commented on it shifting pretty large amounts.

If the bar is too far inward it might be hitting the chassis or control arm.

I am going to install mine tonight. I did some exploratory prep yesterday and it doesn't look too bad.

It makes it easier to access the the sway bar bracket nuts if you turn the front wheel to full lock and use swivel socket adapters. At first I was going to drop the the whole bar down, but it's really not neccessary if you do it this way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVThis (Post 854789)

Are you saying full lock one side and then full lock the other to get more of the steering rack out of the way? I'll give this a check cause if I could do it with a socket it will be easier then a ratcheting 14mm wrench so I can get more torque on it.