URG8RB8

I am hoping somebody with one of these bars can answer a question for me. I recently purchased this bar used and it has two big dings right in the middle on top of the bar. Before I waste my time having these welded so I can sand and polish, is this from the hood? Is it supposed to clear everything? Looking for somebody that has experience with this bar.







If it is normal to rub on the hood then I don't want to waste my time. I would also be curious if there is any special procedure to installing this bar properly as I don't have any instructions and see that it is non-adjustable. Guess I should go to the RD website and search which I will do now, but experienced input would be nice as well. Thanks!

Dougs951S

As far as I know, just like sway bars you want to torque strut bars down while they are loaded, so that means with the car on the ground. Other than that, pretty straight forward. My strut brace took lots of hand grinding to make sure it cleared everything and its basically a contact fit. The bar is touching the intake manifold and clears the fuel rail by maybe 1-2mm.

ekoz

I had one and it never rubbed. It was a pain to remove when doing maintenance so I replaced it. All I did was get all bolts started with maybe a thread or two so it was very loose. I don't recall having to do anything special to get it on.

URG8RB8

Do you have the two dings shown on the front top of the bar? I was aware of the tight clearance on the bottom.

URG8RB8

Well, that is good to hear, at least about the hood not rubbing. The maintenance issue is a PITA. No choice but to live with that. Well, guess I am going to fill those two dings then and polish it out.

Dougs951S

No Eric, my hood does not contact my bar.

Dougs951

Those are from the hood. I don't have that strut brace but on my brace the rub marks are in the same spot

URG8RB8

I am getting a little confused, all I care about is this particular bar. Is the RD bar prone to rub on the hood and produce the marks that are on this bar? If so, I am sure as Hell not going to waste my time filling them and sanding down the welds. I will just live with it as is. Here is a pic before I started polishing:

lejams

Don't understand those marks. It should not touch or rub anything. I have one going on 15 yrs and never a problem. As far as the maintainence, it's on par with typical 944 procedures. Just another thing to move to get to something else < 5 min.

reno808

it could also be weak mount(s)

mj951

No rubbing on my RD bar either. I did have to trim and bend the heat shield at the brake booster down a bit and make a slight adjustment (little grinding at bar mount) to clear RE camber plates. I also agree that it can be a pain to remove for maintenance but I still like it and have no plans on replacing it.

URG8RB8

OK, that sounds better, I will proceed in making this a shiny piece of beauty then. Thanks for all the input! Maybe one more question. PO removed it because he said made it too harsh for street driving. This is my DD, so curious if anybody else thought it killed the ride for a street car.

thingo

I used to have a similar bar, same sort of design, I came to the conclusion that it was bending, that's why I went to a kla, I expect it bends as well though..

mj951

The bar should not increase harshness on the road.

When I installed mine I was doing some other things including rebuilding the ball joints, installed delrin center sway bar bushings, sway bar mounting braces and RE camber plates and I thought it made for smoother steering with better feedback but did not think it made for a harsher ride. If anything the RE plates may have increased the harshness, but I really didn't notice it. I'll be curious to hear your opinion of the change in ride quality if that's the only thing you installing, keep us posted.

67King

Eric, put some tape on it. Put some shoe polish or something on the hood. Close it, drive around, and see what it looks like. You may not even need shoe polish, the tape may tell you all you need to know. The clearance in that area is notoriously tight, I would not be the least bit surprised if it rubs. Furthermore, production variability nearly 30 years ago was probably greater than you want to imagine, so I would not be surprised if it would rub on one car, and not on another. Hood height may also be affected by how good the rubber bumpers are. The latch is all stamped steel, and riveted on. So there is a lot of room for stackups to lead to an interference fit.

I'd do all of that before THINKING of trying to "fix" that "problem."