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The installation is about as easy as it gets.
You will have more trouble getting the nuts to pop loose from the two brackets on top off your strut towers than you will have installing the strut bar! It took about 5 minutes (and a lot of effort, use a wrench and a rubber mallet) to get the nuts loose and the brackets removed from the engine bay.
Installing the strut bar is a piece of cake that even a 9 year old could probably figure out.
Simply stick the bar into the two braces and secure them (do NOT tighten them) with the bolts. Then simply place the bar in place (the bar goes towards the back of the engine bay). Place the nuts back onto the bolts sticking up through the towers and tighten the living crap out of them. Then do the same for the bolt/nut on each side of the bar.
BOOM. Your done. In around 10 minutes.
After installing the strut bar, I drove my car (a 2004 Optima EX V6) around the block so that it could get settled in (and I knew that the nuts probably needed to be tightened a bit more after the bar settled in) and when I came back I tightened the nuts some more. After that the bar has stayed tight and the nuts won\'t tighten anymore.
I noticed quite a bit of improvement. My tires didn\'t squall when I went around some of the bends on my road. And, before I installed the strut bar, my tires made quite a bit of noise at times. I tested it some and determined that I was able to go around 5-6 mph faster around than the turn than before and not screech tires. I took my car onto the curvy mountain roads and really tested it out. The handing feels a lot more responsive. When jerking the wheel, the car felt like it was being chucked into that direction. The car felt tighter over-all and the bumps on the road were easier to feel since the movement of each side\'s springs/struts is transferred to the other side.
Don\'t expect a smoother ride with this strut bar installed, the road will feel a tad rougher.
Over-all, I am pleased. The improvement was immediately noticeable and I hope that, as strut bars are advertised to do, it will reduce my tire wear a bit. My under-steer was slightly reduced, the car felt stiffer in the front, the steering response was improved, and the installation was a breeze.
I definitely recommend the strut bar for the \'01-05 Optimas.
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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