View Poll Results: Otto vs Custom Enterprise

Otto

34.04%

Custom Enterprise

27.66%

other (specify)

38.30%

Voters: 47. You may not vote on this poll

Newbie’s question – FSTB

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09-30-2005, 05:55 PM

#41

BewstAdd1ct

Supporting Maxima.org Member

Join Date: Dec 2004

Location: Lakeland, FL

Posts: 1,587

and agreed with d00df00d, the bar helps both, regardless... wether you preload it one way or the other is just personal preference or driving style, bar improves both greatly.

09-30-2005, 06:00 PM

#42

DrKlop

Driving is the next best thing

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Appreciate your help guys, installing my FSTB tomorrow

10-03-2005, 12:00 PM

#43

DrKlop

Driving is the next best thing

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Hey people, finally installed and tested my FSTB

Installation was not as easy as I thought. In order for the brackets to fit perfectly I had to trim both the brackets and the metal on one of the strut towers. After that I covered those spots with clearcoat and only then installed the FSTB

The holes on the brackets were wide just enough for the bolts to fit in. I tightened the nuts to 40 lbs-ft and FSTB bolts to 30 lbs-ft. Fist, wanted to make them tighter but it felt like they were ganna crack - they would probably never crack but I got scared and stopped.

Driving impressions:

Today I took my car for a drive and drove it on highway, highway ramps and bumpy roads. During normal driving I got a slight increase in steering feel. At highway speeds 70 – 100 the increased steering feel is more noticeable. On bumpy roads the car handled better but the ride became a little harsher (I don’t think a passenger would notice this difference though) than before.

Highway ramps is where my FSTB demonstrated the most noticeable difference. Before when I would take a corner at car’s maximum abilities it showed horrible understeer. Now, when I took my favorite “test ramp” I was very pleasantly surprised. Obviously, the car still understeers but now it is much closer to neutral. Basically, if we take understeer of a stock Max as 100% and neutral steer as 0% than the bar decreased understeer buy at list 60 -70% Previously, the fastest speed I could take that ramp was a little under 40 mph with the front tires literally screaming. Today, the needle was at 43+ and the car felt much more predictable.

Bottom-line: I recommend FSTB to everyone who still does not have it.

Thanks to everyone who helped me deciding on which bar to get and explaining how to install it.

10-03-2005, 05:42 PM

#44

Haibert88

Senior Member

Join Date: Sep 2005

Posts: 181

I've got a question kind of related to this thread...does hard cornering wear out the ball-joints and all the other links that are connected to the steering system? I know it wears out the tires much faster but what about the steering components? How about bearings?

10-03-2005, 08:29 PM

#45

d00df00d

Old enuf to pick his own gears

iTrader: (4)

Join Date: Sep 2004

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Of course it does.

10-08-2005, 10:48 AM

#46

minsbang

Senior Member

Join Date: May 2003

Posts: 2,085

Quote:

Originally Posted by chenzarino

They are all the same get one for 20 bucks off ebay.

Yes, go on ebay and save some money. There is no need to spend over $50 on a bar.

10-09-2005, 11:00 AM

#47

DrKlop

Driving is the next best thing

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Quick follow up question, guys. Do I need to retighten the bolts after a couple days of driving?

10-09-2005, 12:42 PM

#48

d00df00d

Old enuf to pick his own gears

iTrader: (4)

Join Date: Sep 2004

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You shouldn't have to.

10-11-2005, 12:13 PM

#49

tripleGmax

Senior Member

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no offense, but this is one lengthy discussion on a strut bar......cant wait til you decide on other suspension mods

10-11-2005, 12:30 PM

#50

d00df00d

Old enuf to pick his own gears

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Well, seeing as how our cars' frames have the rigidity of a thick slice of cheese, it stands to reason that this would be a hot topic.

10-11-2005, 12:31 PM

#51

tripleGmax

Senior Member

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haha cheese. true.

04-09-2006, 11:54 PM

#52

XyNoix-HIC

Senior Member

Join Date: Mar 2006

Posts: 160

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrKlop

Installation was not as easy as I thought. In order for the brackets to fit perfectly I had to trim both the brackets and the metal on one of the strut towers. After that I covered those spots with clearcoat and only then installed the FSTB

TRIM?!? What do you mean TRIM!?!

04-10-2006, 09:36 AM

#53

DrKlop

Driving is the next best thing

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The strut towers are not perfectly smooth (as you can see on the lower part of this pic). So when I put the brackets on, one of those uneven spots got in the way and did not let the brackets be in a full contact with the strut tower surface. To fix that, I simply cut a small piece off of each bracket. I also had cut off a small metal thing that got in the way of the bar (driver side strut tower, not shown on the pic).

Sorry, it's been pretty long time ago so I can't describe exactly what I did...

07-19-2006, 12:03 PM

#54

JUS10

Member

Join Date: Sep 2005

Posts: 32

Damn, That Was A Lot Of Reading, It Was Good Though...

08-23-2006, 10:31 AM

#55

EnsignB

Member

Join Date: Dec 2003

Posts: 45

Is the Otto bar no longer available for a 2002 Maxima?

Thanks.

10-23-2006, 06:00 PM

#56

super6

Senior Member

iTrader: (5)

Join Date: Feb 2004

Posts: 1,404

Quote:

Originally Posted by d00df00d

Well, first of all, I can't really say much about the performance of the 5th gen bar because.... I have a 4th gen, and I got the 4th gen bar, which IMO is pretty different. The 5th gen still looks like a pretty stout design to me, and I still think it'd be a better alternative than the Stillen bar because it's much cheaper, but since it's designed more like most FSTBs than the 4th gen one, I just don't have enough info to tell you whether it'd be as worth it for the money as the 4th gen one is.

I bought the 4th gen one because it's designed a lot more robustly than most bars we see in the US. Look at how broad the bar is, and look at where the bar attaches to the mounts: It's a heck of a tougher way to mount the thing than those thin attachment points on every single other FSTB for the Maxima:

the 4th gen design looks like its by far the best design, with they made one for 5th gen like that! the 5th gen one is still better than the ebay bars, but the ebay ones are 25 bucks.

02-22-2007, 10:04 PM

#57

Simon The Noob

Newbie - Just Registered

Join Date: Feb 2007

Posts: 1

Greetings and Salutations
I am new here but I like it.
I am thinking about buying a Maxima Diesel.
Anybody know about these fine pieces of Machinery???

02-24-2007, 03:03 PM

#58

MacGarnicle

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might want to ask your questions in the 1&2nd gen forum.

03-31-2007, 05:18 PM

#59

Mugen13

Senior Member

Join Date: Apr 2001

Posts: 131

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnsignB

Is the Otto bar no longer available for a 2002 Maxima?

Thanks.

i tried buying a otto bar back in may of 06 and procarparts said there would be a 2month wait so i cancelled my order. now that i want it again, its not available. sigh

08-31-2007, 01:22 PM

#60

BJSE03

Junior Member

Join Date: Aug 2007

Posts: 14

Nothing like digging up an old post, but FYI.......

I just purchased a NEW OTTO FSTB about 1 1/2 months ago although it was $90. It is really a great bar; nicely finished and fit perfectly.

It seems that there may be still a few available new out there. I don't know if I can post the name of the place which I bought it but if anyone is interested in knowing where, let me know!