I followed the instructions PERFECTLY, and when closing my hood, it closes uneven and the drivers side sticks up a bit.

After searching, I''ve heard of some people not even using the strut bar spacer, which I tried and seems to work, no vibrations, but the strut bar is AWEFUL close. I've also heard people remove the strut bar spacers on the drivers side only, and leave the strut bar spacer in on the passenger side, which I tried as well, and the hood closes better as well, and seems to work.

Just wondering how come these tips aren't in the instructions at all?

And how come some people use the strut bar spacers, and the hood doesn't hit? But with others it does? I suspect that the people whose hoods DON'T hit, are the ones who aren't tightening up the strut bar again after installation like the instructions state, which would make the strut bar useless!

Also. The instructions need to be edited. The part where it says to reinstall the strut bar, and it just says turn the the center adjusting nut 1.7 turns. Well? Which direction? You need to say to tighten it, just like unsaid to loosen it during the dissemble!! It might be assumed, but why not be as specific as you can.

Thoughts?

 

i also would like to know

 

Bar height has some adjustment. You can extend and contact the bar to clear the plastic motor cover and hood.

 

^^^^ Yup, that's it! I ran into the same issue with my 3/8 spacer which is bigger than the 5/16 spacer. Had to continually adjust by trial and error on the height adjustment until i got it right.

 

I'm aware of the adjustment. However, I wouldn't really call it an adjustment. It's more of a tensioner. With the strut bar spacers IN, you can LOOSEN the center adjustment bolt, and the strut bar will lower, in order to clear the hood. But now there's no tension on the strut bar, and effectively making it useless.

Even the FSM says that you MUST tighten the strut bar 1 3/4 turns after installing. And when you do that, it raises, and hits the hood.

So I'm pretty confident in saying that anyone who has the Motordyne 5/16" spacer kit, and uses the strut bar spacers, has an untensioned strut bar.

 

There is quite a bit of variation in how the cars come built from the factory due to tolerance stack up. There is a degree of unavoidable variability built in from the Nissan factory.
Some engines sit in the engine compartment higher or lower. The same with the strut bar to hood clearance too.


There is one forum member (Motormouth) who was able to fit the 1/2" spacer under his strut bar with no strut bar spacer at all. But this is very rare.

We used to manufacture a 3/8" spacer for the Z but the number of fitment problems was a little too high. Approximatly 1:100 had an interference fit, so we switched to 5/16" where its improved to about ~1:1000.

In any event, if you put 1.7 turns on the strut bar spacer tensioner bolt it will provide the correct amount of tension.

Tony

 

The problem with turning it 1.7 turns, is that it raises the strut bar, and the strut bar comes in contact with the hood.

So what I've done is removed the spacers on the drivers side, and kept them in on the passengers side. And the bar has about 1 1/4" turns on it. Not fully tensioned but I think it should be enough.

Maybe I should try taking passenger spacers out as well, and tension it a full 1.7 turns and see if I get any vibration

 

It sounds like your strut bar placement is on the high side of the factory tolerance stack up. It usually isn't a problem but if excluding the strut bar spacers makes it all fit good, go for it.

 

Lol good guess! After i installed my 5/16" spacer i tried to tweak the strut bar but there was just no way to tension it like it was stock without it either hitting the hood or rubbing the top of the plenum.

I tried using spacers + washers on each side, spacers on one side + washers on the other, only spacers on the passenger side, only spacers on both sides with my friend pushing the strut bar to the passenger side while i tighten the bolts.

So now i just have the strut bar sitting on spacers "semi-installed" with absolutely no tension... and it still hits the hood when i make sharp turns from a stand still.

 

What you describe there is not hitting the hood, its the plenum touching the strut bar.

Its all in the adjustment.

One of the things you can do in the adjustment of the strutbar is to loosen up the strutbar bracket bolts such that the bar can be shifted to the driver or passengerside. In your case you want to move the bar toward the driver side and tighten the strut bar bracket bolts back down. Then you can put in the 1.7 turns on the tensioner bolt.

1) Loosen up the bracket bolts.
2) Turn the tensioner bolt all the way such that it brings the left and right brackets in towards each other.
3) Shift the whole bar to the *driverside and tighten the bracket bolts back down.
4) Put the 1.7 turns back on the tensionerbolt and that should do it.

*This part can be varied as needed.

Try it and let me know what you find.

Tony

 

I fail to see how the BAR can be shifted. The driver side holes in the bracket are circular, with barely any room for movement side to side. And since the bar is attached to the drivers side bracket, it can't move side to side. As apposed to the passenger side holes which seem to be more oval, and have room for the passenger side bracket to move side to side (by screwing in the bracket of course)

 

Both sides are oval and allow about a 1/3" shiftability. The mounting surfaces at the strut bracket are at about a 40' slope.

This means that if you shift the bracket over 1/3" it means that the bracket will effectively move down nearly a 1/4". That gives you nearly a 1/4" more hood clearance.

Note: The outer sides of the strut bar is the areas of the strut bar that comes closest to the hood. Moving it down that slope can make a significant difference in hood clearance.

Also, before mounting the strut bar, by turning the strut bar tensioner such that is brings the brackets towards eachother moves the bracket surface mounting points downward. This gives more hood clearance and lets you turn the tensioner bolt to 1.7 turns.

I've installed too many of these spacers to count, and in the tight fitting hoods I've encountered, I've always been able to make it fit if given some time and experimentation.

Try it.

And of course... if you still cant make it fit we have a 100% money back guarantee. Its OK for us to have this as a policy because they have such a high success rate. And I'm always available on the net or phone to help out.

Tony

 

Gotcha. I'll give that a try. I'm going to put the spacers back in on both sides, and try to pull the brackets together, which will lower the strut bar. Hopefully clear the hood, and still allow me to tension it fully

 

I installed spacers back on both sides, untensioned the strut bar, and kept turning it to pull the brackets in. The passenger side bracket came in lots, and the drivers side bracket came in only a small amount. The holes on the drivers side bracket are not oval like the passenger side. But, they are a little bit bigger then the bolts, so it came in and down a little bit as well. I tightened up the bolts, then torsioned the strut bar 1.5 turns, and closed the hood. A bit better, but still uneven on passenger side. I then had to take out the rubber cushioned pinned into the hood in order for it to side even. So, I'll leave it like that.

 

You can see that I put enough tension on the bar to shift the black mounting bracket. So it is possible to “shift” the bar and mounting bracket.

 

Well, if you think about it carefully, the bar cannot shift side to side. The bar is attached to the drivers side bracket, with no adjustability, and the holes in the drivers side bracket are circular, not oval. They are however slightly larger then the bolts, allowing you to move it SLIGHTLY. (1/8")

So when you tension the strut bar, with the bracket bolts loose, all your doing is moving the passenger side bracket in or out. And since the perch it's angled, your also moving it up and down. Your not moving the bar side to side anymore then the driver side bracket holes allow (1.8")

 

OK, good. That is the easy side to fix.

Note: If you can make it fit better without the strut bar spacers, you don't have to use the strut bar spacers. These are optional and can be used as needed.

Take them out on that side and put it all back together the way you have it now and you should be totally clear with the plenum, strut bar and hood.

You're almost there.

EDIT: I have a couple of strut bars here and they both have oval holes in them, but if yours are round I'm not too surprised. I've found Nissan isn't always consistent in how they make various parts on the car.

 

Oops. I meant to say drivers side! LOL

It was slightly uneven on the drivers side. And I can't pull my drivers side IN / DOWN because MY holes are circular. However, I did take the rubber padding off the hood, and it sits fine now. I'm happy with that. I could also just put the padding back in, and take the spacers out on the drivers side. No worries. I'm 100% satisfied!

I understand, and agree with the different tolerances, and specs for each and every car.

Thanks for your help!

This thread will be a good read for others if they have any similar problems!

 

Thanks Tony! I'll try what you suggested once i take my car out of storage by the end of the month then report back here on how it goes. It sure would be nice if this is the cure to my situation and I'd have a fully functioning strut bar again!

One more quick question; are there any recommended torque settings to tighten the strut bar brackets to the suspension tower?

Once again, thanks Tony! Love how you and your company fully stand behind your products, and the amount of R&D you guys put into it with the A+ customer service is why I will be purchasing one of your exhaust systems in the near future!

 

Thank you!

For the two nuts its 20 ft-lb each; and for the six bolts 24 ft-lb each.