***Richie's Front Strut Bar***
#91
04-17-2007, 04:01 AM
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#95
04-22-2007, 02:17 AM
Originally Posted by johnjayb
so does this mean that there will be no more??? did i really miss out?
#96
04-22-2007, 07:47 PM
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#97
04-23-2007, 12:29 AM
Well since I was the LAST one to get the patented Richie Front Strut Bar, let me just comment on what everyone will be missing out on.
Just two weekends ago, I threw on some BC Racing Coilovers. NOT Buddy Club, but,
http://www.bcracing-na.com/
Anyway, I re-bolted my 9 and 10 inch wheels and went for a drive. The coilovers were great, but there was something missing. Knowing how much chassis flex the G35's suffer from, I knew that a strut tension bar was the missing piece. I proceeded to hop into this thread and found that there was only ONE BAR LEFT. I PM'd Richie on Wed, he shipped Thurs, I received Sat.
I was frightened to read the day after I sent payment to Richie, that a thread in the For Sale section read that the Richie bar did NOT fit over coilovers with adjustable suspension. No worries, there's always a way around road blocks.
I pulled out the bar and right off the bat, the bar did not fit. If you look at the design of the bar (or rather the braces), it proceeds to run a lateral tension bar across the middle open area of the strut tip. I messed with it for about 15 min and found that I was able to get the left brace on half way, but the middle of my strut tip was still in the way. Enter exhibit A. HAMMER
Laying the brace on the ground at a 3 point angle so that the lateral brace was exposed, I initiated gentile/accurate blows to the brace. To my surprise, after a few strokes, it began to give and I could see that the brace was bending in the direction that I wanted it to. About 10 - 15 strokes later, the straight brace was now crooked with a nice turn out. Damage was not done to the rest of the brace and I was very happy to see that the brace fit very nicely over the top of my strut tip. I was not able to reconnect the finger adjuster to soften and stiffen my struts, but I compensated with an Allen wrench that was long and straight. Adjustments can be made no problem.
After that, I hammered out some space on the other brace, and screwed in the lateral strut bar to complete my work. I did notice that the braces were slightly bent after the hammering, but after you screw everything in, it pulls itself together without any visual imperfections.
The ride was nothing short of amazing. The G responded instantly just driving down the road. Simply making the left hand turn out of my street, where the right strut tower housing would flex and rise with the pressure of the turn, the bar kept the right and left wheel grounded and the body roll was drastically reduced.
If the following story doesn’t seal the deal, I don’t know what will. I was coming off the freeway with my GF and there is a 25mph freeway exit right by my house on 880. For those of you that live in the Bay Area, it is the Bascom exit traveling North bound toward the airport. The turn is relatively sharp and people get freaked out because they can’t see the exit of the turn itself.
Anyway, I hit the turn and found that the car dove right in without any hesitation. The steering wheel responded quickly and precisely unlike any turn I have ever experienced in my G. After we exited the turn, her jaw hit the floor (as did mine). The car jammed right through it without any significant body roll, screeching, or sliding. I was able to check my speedo to find out that I had exited at 60mph. Scary thing was, I think I could have hit it faster. Best part was though, she loved it. “Oh my gosh E, I can’t believe that your car handles this well now. That turn used to make the car lean and slide a bit if you hit it too hard, but this time it didn’t even fudge an inch. Plus I could tell how straight the front end stayed. Very nice!”
Folks, if you do nothing else in life, get this bar for your G. If you can’t get this one, get another one. But for only $275, this bar is worth every penny. Thank you for the fast service and an excellent product. Hope to see you build more so I can hear more stories like mine.
Just two weekends ago, I threw on some BC Racing Coilovers. NOT Buddy Club, but,
http://www.bcracing-na.com/
Anyway, I re-bolted my 9 and 10 inch wheels and went for a drive. The coilovers were great, but there was something missing. Knowing how much chassis flex the G35's suffer from, I knew that a strut tension bar was the missing piece. I proceeded to hop into this thread and found that there was only ONE BAR LEFT. I PM'd Richie on Wed, he shipped Thurs, I received Sat.
I was frightened to read the day after I sent payment to Richie, that a thread in the For Sale section read that the Richie bar did NOT fit over coilovers with adjustable suspension. No worries, there's always a way around road blocks.
I pulled out the bar and right off the bat, the bar did not fit. If you look at the design of the bar (or rather the braces), it proceeds to run a lateral tension bar across the middle open area of the strut tip. I messed with it for about 15 min and found that I was able to get the left brace on half way, but the middle of my strut tip was still in the way. Enter exhibit A. HAMMER
Laying the brace on the ground at a 3 point angle so that the lateral brace was exposed, I initiated gentile/accurate blows to the brace. To my surprise, after a few strokes, it began to give and I could see that the brace was bending in the direction that I wanted it to. About 10 - 15 strokes later, the straight brace was now crooked with a nice turn out. Damage was not done to the rest of the brace and I was very happy to see that the brace fit very nicely over the top of my strut tip. I was not able to reconnect the finger adjuster to soften and stiffen my struts, but I compensated with an Allen wrench that was long and straight. Adjustments can be made no problem.
After that, I hammered out some space on the other brace, and screwed in the lateral strut bar to complete my work. I did notice that the braces were slightly bent after the hammering, but after you screw everything in, it pulls itself together without any visual imperfections.
The ride was nothing short of amazing. The G responded instantly just driving down the road. Simply making the left hand turn out of my street, where the right strut tower housing would flex and rise with the pressure of the turn, the bar kept the right and left wheel grounded and the body roll was drastically reduced.
If the following story doesn’t seal the deal, I don’t know what will. I was coming off the freeway with my GF and there is a 25mph freeway exit right by my house on 880. For those of you that live in the Bay Area, it is the Bascom exit traveling North bound toward the airport. The turn is relatively sharp and people get freaked out because they can’t see the exit of the turn itself.
Anyway, I hit the turn and found that the car dove right in without any hesitation. The steering wheel responded quickly and precisely unlike any turn I have ever experienced in my G. After we exited the turn, her jaw hit the floor (as did mine). The car jammed right through it without any significant body roll, screeching, or sliding. I was able to check my speedo to find out that I had exited at 60mph. Scary thing was, I think I could have hit it faster. Best part was though, she loved it. “Oh my gosh E, I can’t believe that your car handles this well now. That turn used to make the car lean and slide a bit if you hit it too hard, but this time it didn’t even fudge an inch. Plus I could tell how straight the front end stayed. Very nice!”
Folks, if you do nothing else in life, get this bar for your G. If you can’t get this one, get another one. But for only $275, this bar is worth every penny. Thank you for the fast service and an excellent product. Hope to see you build more so I can hear more stories like mine.
Last edited by Driver Elite; 04-23-2007 at 12:33 AM.
#98
05-19-2007, 01:33 PM
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Location: San Diego; San Jacinto
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Originally Posted by richie
you missed out for now...we are in the process of bringing more, but it's going to take some time....sorry
#100
05-30-2007, 05:21 AM
Sorry guys...we're in the process of finding a new manufacturer =( But it looks like Stillen and GT Spec's fstb came right on time.
I'll update once I have something new to report in...sorry once again.
I'll update once I have something new to report in...sorry once again.
#101
05-31-2007, 03:19 AM
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#102
06-02-2007, 02:06 AM
UPDATE!
We getting things moving along and hope to get the shipment of the next batch by the end of June early July
We getting things moving along and hope to get the shipment of the next batch by the end of June early July
Last edited by richie; 06-02-2007 at 08:48 PM.
#104
06-04-2007, 02:12 PM
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Orlando
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