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My LCA Brace =) and a bit of a how-to

3K views 46 replies 21 participants last post by  2000 G-Twenty-T 
#1 ·
Well, i FINALLY got around to it.

First of all, these nuts are on there tight. its hard to get a breaker bar on there because of the wheels too. so as was mentioned in another thread you have to use the weight of the car:


get the wrench on there, a board, SLOWLY lower the car until you hear the nut pop loose.

when tightening,get it as tight as you can by hand, and tighten it as much as you can with ONE lowering of the car the same as pictured above. you should have probably about one thread of the bolt sticking past the nut.

when you take the nut off, leave the triangular washer in place and put the bar on directly before the nut.
THATS IT!!!







heres how low my bumper is:


heres how far below the bumper the bar hangs:


lowly mclow ftw =)
 
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#9 ·
Nice write-up! And yes you definitely loos some ground clearance, as the bar actually goes across and below the center cross-member. I have two questions to ask. First, is your car an Automatic? (The bar you got/installed is spec'd as such). And second, why did you locate the bar ends between the Nut & Triangular washer? Why not install the LCA bar ends behind the washer so the Washer & Nut are on the same side - IE NUT-Washer-Bar End-LCA. I'm not saying/implying what you did was wrong, really just more curious why you did it that way.

Oh yeah, PLEASE update us on your speed-bump tests......lol
 
#10 ·
damn, thats pushing my comfort level when it comes to being close to the ground for a daily driver. if u hit something at a higher speed, say goodbye to your a-frame.
 
#13 ·
^ thats what the front sway bar is for lol

it connects the two front wheels via their control arms to make sure both wheels turn just as well without the push of the outside wheel and the pull of the inside wheel causing flexing.
 
#14 ·
haha yeah, my car IS an automatic. although im in the process if getting the manual swap parts, so hopefully this summer =)

the bars for manual and automatic are different, the auto bar sits the bar a bit back for clearance of... something. which i couldnt figure out. there wasnt much there really.
the automatic bar WILL fit on the manual, and honestly it looked like the manual would fit on the auto, but i couldnt say for sure i say be safe and get the auto for every car...

as far as speed bumps - generally to save my bumper i go at an angle, BUT now that this is there, if i go at an angle, i have more of a chance of centering out on this bar. Seeing as its directly between the wheels, the only way it will hit something level is if the suspension is compressed quite a bit.

or of course if i straddle something tall.

im really not all that worried about hitting it on much, mostly just scraping if i enter a driveway that has a sharp bend in it at an angle. Pats is pretty scratched up, but hes been ok so far.
ill be out and about today and let everyone know the verdict on speed bumps. ill take all of them that i can.

the reason i went washer-bar-nut was because the mount behind the washer, is not very flat. the holes in the bar were about as bis around, but not quite, so i feared that when torquing it down a bit, an edge of the mount part would go into the hole on the bar causing it to sit at an angle. it would be like taking a washer thats got a big hole, and putting a small nut on it - so it doesnt hold the washer flat very well.

with the big nut and the washer on either side, the bar sits nice and flat.
 
#15 ·
enohand said:
i mean any clearance issues??? have u went over any speedbumps??? my bumper hits speed bumps so i think this might

It was my garage that bar was installed in lol so I am also qualified to answer these questions... My driveway is steep as shit and my dodge avenger that is not even lowered will scrape the bumper going in and out:

You can kinda see how steep the driveway is behind it.

Anyways on his way out the bumper scraped a little bit but the bar did not, so I guess you would be suprised. It's more about the position of the bar I think, even though the bar hangs lower the bumper will scrape because its all the way at the front of the car so of course that part comes down lower in this situation.

Speedbumps may still be dangerous though. :naughty:

Chris
 
#17 ·
as i just mentioned to chris over aim

the bar is as someone said to stop the wheels from being pushed/pulled, well, what about this:

a 3 point bar that mounted to the crossmember as well. that way, when i turn, the whole wheelbase cannot move at all through flex. good idea? no?
im trying to figure out, and i dont think, that this bar, or this part of the crossmember will be moving at all. so i dont see why a 3 point brace wouldnt just be a bit better.
any thoughts?
 
#19 ·
Other companies offer a 4 point brace the connects the brace to the chassis as well. Either way, this bar in combination w/ the fstb is really a great improvement...i think it makes the car handle really firm and nicely. Dont think you have to worry about speed bumps that much. I drove mikes car looking for bumps and it actually wasnt that bad.
 
#22 ·
well i did some tests:
speed bumps, driveways, railroad tracks

i also measured:
2.25 inches of clearance :p

my conclusion:
as i thought, speedbumps were no issue. the bar goes up with the wheels, the bar goes down with the wheels. IF you hit it hard enough to hit the bar, you PROBABLY are retarded, have blown shocks, and could care less about suspension.

driveways are a potential hazard - because i always enter at an angle, it puts the corner/highest point of the driveway in the center of the wheel base:



as you can see its VERY close. but after all these tests - not a scratch =)





as for handling, i havent tried a WHOLE lot, because its been wet, and i havent had time to get to some good roads, but the little i have tested, i can definitely feel a difference in the front. before, you could tell that the rstb had tightened the back end up, but the front felt sloppy. now it feels tighter too.

even with 2.25 inches clearance, i think for daily driving, everyone will be fine. just dont straddle things, and on steep driveways, be careful.
its not going to be hard to keep from hitting things, anyone whos getting one of these has driven enough to save their front bumper, its just like learning to do that.
 
#23 ·
The bar sits between the front wheels, correct(that's what I assume from the pictures, and it being attached to the LCA's)? So, wouldn't your car bottom out before the bar hits the ground? Unless you're driving over bricks, I don't think there'd be any clearance issues...

<- Suspension newb
 
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