So I have been looking online how to remove the front strut bar and I get the same instructions and Im kinda confused. I see you loosen the left and right bolt holding the center one in place, then mark the center bolt and loosen it 1.7 turns. then what?? does it come out or do I have to take all the bolts out?

 

i just took the 4 bolts off?

 

so you didnt loosen the strut bar at all just took off the bolts on one side?? which side???

 

excuse me... i took all 8 off.

 

do you use a torque wrench to put it back on or just socket, I think they are making the instructions more complicated than it actually is to do... did you use any gasket sealer??

 

WTF? Gasket sealer?

Are you talking about taking off the strut bar, or installing a plenum spacer?

The strut bar has 4 bolts on each side. Just take them off. Righty-tighty/lefty-loosey. Thats it, all done.

 

yeah Im doing both hence the title of the thread

 

Right, I got that, but I was referring to this post:

 

I was just wondering if people used sealer when they put in their spacer or just tightened it up

 

Here is where members get into trouble. Removing and installing these bolts when there is tension on the bar.

 

For the plenum spacer? Dont see why you would need any sort of sealer.

 

the plenum spacer should come with a gasket.

You must release the tension on the strut bar first before removing the bolts.

The strut bar torque is 33ft-lbs

 

You'll also need a deep socket to get to the final nut on each size. Just unscrew them, and undo the clip from the left side.

 

I just loosened the 6 bolts, and the 2 nuts (require deep socket). I didn't do anything with the tension.

BTW, Trust Strut FTW.

 

you can take some tension off of it before you take the bolts out but it really isnt necessary. If you do, draw a line on it so you can tighten it down close to where you had it.

 

TAKE TENSION OUT OF IT! Just follow the instructions. If you don't loosen the tension on the strut bar, you run the risk of cross threading one of the 6 bolts when you try to put them back in, since the holes might not match up perfect.

 

Oh Snap that's all i did also?

 

asa far as the plenum spacer goes, you need a gasket on both sides of the spacer. If you don't have gasket for both sides, you could use rtv on one side, but make sure you do a neat job. If you have to go the rtv method, use the rtv on the side of the spacer that touches the upper plenum. assemble everything, toque it spec and let the rtv setup and dry. once cured, remove the upper plenum and rtv'd spacer. trim away any excess rtv that oozed out when you torqued it down. reassemble and torque to spec.

 

EXACTLY!