Strut Bar

[Whiskey River]

Hi guys, I ordered and received the strut bar from GM Parts Direct a couple of days ago and I have a question. How much space should be between the alt and this bar? Currently, in a test fit, my bar SITS on the alt. I have been able to move it around and find a suitable spot to mount it but now it only clears the alt by less than 1/4 inch. Any ideas? Can I use any type of spacer? I had an idea of buying two strut covers and cutting them to make a bracket to fit the bar and allow me to just bolt it right on or take it off when needed. But if you could, let me know about the clearance. Thanks.

[Mike J.]

There is a guy on ebay who is always selling the gm brace for the buy it now price of $30 when you can get it from gm for $14 no shipping.

He does have some instructions and pics and it looks like the bar comes real close to the alt. Heres the link to his current listing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1871784668

[Guest Anonymous]

Mine is kinda close to my alt. I got poly dogbones and now the motor don't roll and I'm not worried about it hitting.

[Whiskey River]

I never thought about getting the poly dogbones. Thanks for the tip.

[ismellrealbad]

do these actually give you a noticable gain in handling?

[GPRACER]

These bars are labeled with an arrow to show which side goes towards the front. Shouldn't have an issue with alt contact anyway, just get it in the right spot before you drill the holes.

 

I paid 18$ canadian for mine, anyone have pictures for mounting one of these in the trunk as a rear strut brace? does not seem too hard.

[Guest Anonymous]

These are too wide for the trunk. You need to cut a small section out of it and weld it back together. I can get the measurements if you want.

[Intlcutlass]

There is a guy on ebay who is always selling the gm brace for the buy it now price of $30 when you can get it from gm for $14 no shipping.

He does have some instructions and pics and it looks like the bar comes real close to the alt. Heres the link to his current listing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1871784668

 

 

Anything you want to add to this???

[Whiskey River]

Well, I finally put the bar on my car and it actually clears the alt better than it did in my test fit. I didn't take into account that the bolt heads would add about 3/16" of additional clearance. The bar clears the alt just fine now. I did notice that after I had installed it, my car is tighter in turns. In fact it now tends to oversteer as it used to understeer if pushed too hard. Thanks for the info on the bar guys. It helped handling quite a bit, now to upgrade the springs and shocks.

[J]

PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Whiskey River]

I'll have to work on that, I'm one of the few people left in the world that does not have a digital camera.

[J]

i'm with ya on that!!!

[zeroburn]

hey if you go to http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/ and look up that part # you can get it for about $14.00 shipped to your door.

[patgizz]

 

pic of it.

 

PS - i hate that dude on ebay, he stole my idea and drove the price way down.

[patgizz]

http://community.webshots.com/photo/59416546/59416717SErICB

 

there it is back when i had the 3.1

[1trucavalier]

my strut sits close to the altenator also but it doesn't touch it. solution is easy if for some reason yours is to close or touches the altenator. Just turn it upside down on the edge of a curve or whatever (try not to scratch it) and slighty press your foot in the middle bending it SLIGHTLY upward and just go back and lay it on top. Continue process until it won't touch or rub if your engine bounces. I got poly mounts also so mine engine won't be rocking.