strut brace

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Mar 30, 2008 | 11:44 AM

gmcmillan

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strut brace

hey everyone, today i was doing some spring cleaning on my car to get her ready for summer and i pulled a stupid

i had the intake and throttle body off cleaning them out and boy did they need it. while it was off i did the throttle body bypass mod. after putting them back on i forgot to put the strut brace back on shut the hood and took it up the road to test it out. i was about 30 seconds up the road when i realised that i had forgotten the strut brace so i went back and put it on and now it's a little bit miss aligned, my engine cover doesn't fit anymore. is this bad?(i'm guessing so) and how can i fix this?

Mar 30, 2008 | 12:54 PM

BMonkey

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gmcmillan

hey everyone, today i was doing some spring cleaning on my car to get her ready for summer and i pulled a stupid

hmmm, that shouldnt cause major misalignment, its just a reinforcement member that lots of cars operate without just fine. How is it misaligned? Are the holes for the bar too far over the studs so it seems like it's too wide to fit? Is the car parked on a level surface?

Mar 30, 2008 | 01:01 PM

dannobre

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From: Smallville

Unless you had the shock bolts off as well...you will be OK. Just re-re the bar.

If you had a non-OEM bar...you might have to push the top of the shock around a bit to get everything to line up. Don't worry...it doesn't effect your alignment or anything

Mar 30, 2008 | 02:20 PM

Razz1

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From: Cali

You can rebend it or jack up the car and put on stands. Then see if it fits.

Mar 30, 2008 | 03:57 PM

gmcmillan

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the passenger side is a bit closer to the front of the car than it normally is. like the bar doesn't fit in the grooves of the engine cover.

thanks guys for all yer help i was a bit worried
it's definately great havin' a place like this to calm my nerves

Last edited by gmcmillan; Mar 30, 2008 at 04:01 PM.

Mar 30, 2008 | 04:11 PM

Mazurfer

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From: Indialantic, Florida

You should be okay, but if you find you need it, I do have the OEM strut bar and brackets for sale.....cheap.
Shipping to Canada shouldn't be too extreme.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-parts-sale-wanted-44/fs-couple-oem-items-remain-138818/

Dave

Mar 30, 2008 | 04:22 PM

gmcmillan

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thanks mazurfer, but my bar is fine aswell as the brackets it's just misaligned atm

Mar 30, 2008 | 04:42 PM

BMonkey

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gmcmillan

Hmmm, I'd try putting it up on jack stands to take the pressure off of the strut towers. Also, this seems kinda obivous but I gotta ask, are you trying to put one side all the way on the lower the other one on? You should drop both sides of the bar down onto the studs at the same time.

Mar 30, 2008 | 05:18 PM

gmcmillan

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the bar fits over the bolts it's just misaligned. it doesn't fit in the grooves of the engine cover anymore. the passenger side of the bar is closer to the front of the car. where before it would fit in the engine cover grooves nicely

Apr 3, 2008 | 02:12 AM

#10

gmcmillan

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ok, well i jacked the car up and tried to move the bar lol good luck on that one. you'd have to be pumped up on roids to budge it even with the pressure let off the front end. any other ideas?

Apr 3, 2008 | 08:20 PM

#11

BMonkey

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gmcmillan

ok, well i jacked the car up and tried to move the bar lol good luck on that one. you'd have to be pumped up on roids to budge it even with the pressure let off the front end. any other ideas?

Take the bar off completely, go to a local mazda dealership, tell them that in a fit of drunken stupidity your friends convinced you to remove "this bar thingy" from your car (say that so they don't think you were purposefully working on the car because you don't even know the proper terminology for it). Then you can have a trained service tech who understands the concepts presented to you in this thread reinstall the bar correctly and you'll be fine.

Apr 4, 2008 | 12:09 AM

#12

gmcmillan

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i don't know the proper terminology? is it not called a strut brace?

besides i figured out the problem and all is well and aligned properly now

Apr 4, 2008 | 09:47 AM

#13

BMonkey

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gmcmillan

i don't know the proper terminology? is it not called a strut brace?

besides i figured out the problem and all is well and aligned properly now

I know you know the real terminology, I was saying to pretend like you don't to fool the dealership. Besides, to take off the throttle body and intake, you never needed to take it off the brace to begin with