210,000 miles...Sparco bar doesn't fit...

[Jared K]

What if you pull the third nut off of the strut mount and lower the strut until the top of the studs are flush with the strut tower surface?

You could get into the engine compartment with your hands on one shock tower, your feet against the other, and push.

You could put a pry bar between the vertical portion of the strut bar and the shock tower.

I doubt that your frame relaxed so much that the tires were 1" of the ground one day and touching the ground the next day. Your jack probably lost pressure. Actually, I can't imagine that your frame will relax over time at all.

Jared K

[b00b00]

According to Ireland Engineering, there were two slightly different unibodies made with different widths between the strut towers. I measured my own car and it ligns up to the mm with the "narrow" version so I have reason to believe what they say.

Here`s the link:
https://secure1.nexternal.com/shared...RowID=237&All=

If you are having *that* much trouble getting the bar on, I'd be asking myself some questions.

I'd say, sell the bar to Jordan and get an IE bar.
-a-

[e304lyfe]

According to Ireland Engineering, there were two slightly different unibodies made with different widths between the strut towers. I measured my own car and it ligns up to the mm with the "narrow" version so I have reason to believe what they say.

Here`s the link:
https://secure1.nexternal.com/shared...RowID=237&All=

If you are having *that* much trouble getting the bar on, I'd be asking myself some questions.

I'd say, sell the bar to Jordan and get an IE bar.
-a-

heard it all before.. still don't believe it. if IE truely believed this, they would track down what years and models have the different distances.

i have heard many people with many different year and model e30's complain about having a hard time getting the bar to fit. is this to say BMW randomly changed the distance between the strut towers throughout the years the e30 was produced?

i think not... IE just makes a bar that compensates more for cars that have tweeked or worn bodies.

anyway... to answer the initial question.. be a man and muscle the bar on. little pushing and prying and it will go on.

[Jared K]

IE's site says the difference between regular and short is 1 inch! You are certainly not going to bend the shock towers 1 inch. However, iIf your bar is almost fitting, then you don't have the different size that IE is talking about. So, you are left with one option, keep prying...

[NickP]

By the looks of the pictures ( thanks for resizing them ;) ) your bar should pop on if you loosen the third shock tower nuts on both sides allowing the strut assemblies to lower.

[Sean]

By the looks of the pictures ( thanks for resizing them ;) ) your bar should pop on if you loosen the third shock tower nuts on both sides allowing the strut assemblies to lower.

I like you're thinking, I'll have to give that a shot! Oh - it was way late, I was too lazy to resize...lol ;)

Jerod, you're right about the settling part I thought was occuring. I used our better jack, and it didn't move overnight.


Thanks for the pointers everyone, it's really given me something to work with. I'll be trying t a few things this weekend. I want to repaint it silver before I go thru the whole hassle of getting it on, so I should get around to that this weekend.

I'll keep you all posted!

[uofom3]

remove all the nots on the shock towers... this is where i jacked mine up....

i was fortunate and my bar was only off by about .5 of an inch... just keep jacking it up as hig as you have to (within reason) it will fit eventually, but if you really don't think it's going to work, don't force it or you'll do more harm than good

[Dave]

My suggestion: man up. With some creative twisting/pushing/pulling, it'll go on. Very rarely do they simply slide on.

Mine pretty much did.

[E30325i]

i snapped one of the studs trying to do this.....it sucked, and i still haven't bothered to install it again.

[Axxe]

In a friends honda we simply streched the car a bit to fit it in. The shop where I do my work is a farm, so we hooked up one strut tower to a hydro pole with chains, and the other to a tracter with chains and a rachect bar. We stretched it enought to stick the bar in, and now the front end is much tighter. Don't know if you are hardcore enough to do that, my buddy was really nervous when we were doing it.

[Beej '86 325es]

My suggestion: man up. With some creative twisting/pushing/pulling, it'll go on. Very rarely do they simply slide on.

What Bill said. I have heard of people supporting the car from the subframe, then having people sit ont he fenders to spread it apart.

[DanGillan]

In a friends honda we simply streched the car a bit to fit it in. The shop where I do my work is a farm, so we hooked up one strut tower to a hydro pole with chains, and the other to a tracter with chains and a rachect bar. We stretched it enought to stick the bar in, and now the front end is much tighter. Don't know if you are hardcore enough to do that, my buddy was really nervous when we were doing it.

please tell me your joking?

[Axxe]

In a friends honda we simply streched the car a bit to fit it in. The shop where I do my work is a farm, so we hooked up one strut tower to a hydro pole with chains, and the other to a tracter with chains and a rachect bar. We stretched it enought to stick the bar in, and now the front end is much tighter. Don't know if you are hardcore enough to do that, my buddy was really nervous when we were doing it.

please tell me your joking?

Nope, all it needed was half an inch, and it went to alignment the next day (was dropped at the same time) and everything was straight. The tractor was standing still FYI, just using it as an anchor. The rachect bar/winch did all the stretching. Two clicks and the bar dropped in. What do you think they do at body shops to straighten a car out with major warping/sagging problems after an accident? They stretch the sucker.

[kowalski]

take off the 3rd nut so it can be angled then finger on the 2 nuts and tighten them till its all lined up you should be able to get enough angle by loosening the 3rd one if its verry close. good luck to you. can anyone get me the exact measurements of the strut bars? 3d measurments like thickness and everything please!? and these are made of alluminum right?

[Sean]

take off the 3rd nut so it can be angled then finger on the 2 nuts and tighten them till its all lined up you should be able to get enough angle by loosening the 3rd one if its verry close. good luck to you. can anyone get me the exact measurements of the strut bars? 3d measurments like thickness and everything please!? and these are made of alluminum right?

No, steel I think.

I don't have measurements tho.

Haven't put it on yet, I'd like to repaint it.

Should I strip the old paint, or just paint over it?