Strut bar woes...

[bwanac]

Hey boys and girls,

I recently picked up an Eibach strut brace off of a parts car, to see if I could fit it on my car. This is the hinged kind just so you know. Here is my dilemna.

The bar is from a 91 iC, and I drive an 87 eta. When I tryed to install the bar I could not get it to fit. Is there some special way of installing a strut brace? Does the convertible have a different strut bar than the rest of the e30's?

Or I read this from another post on here. He could not get his bar to fit so he relieved some pressure from the struts by jacking up the middle of the front subframe. This stretched the strut housing out a little and he could fit it in. Does this actually work? And is it OK to kinda jam it in their like that?

When I try to install it, it is only off by about a 1/4" if not a little less. What do you think I should do? Thanks

[Rob]

try jacking it up, i mean what have you got to lose?


Another idea, I believe certain models of e30s had slightly different spacing between the strut towers, which means you might have a strut bar for a 'wide' car while your eta is a 'narrow' car...something like that

[Bill 84 318i]

Just try different combinations of jacking up one side or the other, or jacking from the middle - stuff like that.

[De //m3]

not sure, but I believe convertibles and IXs have different spacing. Maybe not though. Mine wont go on though unless I jack up the car by the subframe and let it sit for a bout five minutes. Make sure to jack it in the center and not form the sides. Unless the fit is too far apart, then jack from the sides.

[bwanac]

ok will try it right now.

[m42technic]

Most likely your chassis is just a little "tired," so try jacking it up like other people mentioned to get the bar to fit.

[bwanac]

Well it went on. It did not want to but it did. I think it may also be that my frame is a little bent, as it was hit in the front a while ago. I forced it one there though. NOW help me with this. If the bar is to long and I somehow force it to fit, will I be putting to much stress on the bar and the front end? Will I only be getting negative effects from forcing a bar that is to long into place is basically what I am asking? I hope not, because I dont want to take it off, it looks so good. (pics of my rims and bar will be coming up soon!)