Genuine Mugen Rar Strut Bar DIY

[QKSLVER03]

I just received it this afternoon, it was sitting on the front porch waiting for the Driss Meister .

Well here goes the DIY as promised for you guys... It's really easy.

First off... a couple of pics:



Box Content:
Mugen rear strut bar
Mugen sticker
(4) M10 14mm bolts (longer than stock to accommodate the bar)
Intructions
(2) Templates
Rubber body molding to cover the jagged edges from cutting.


When I got home and saw it, I went straight to Lowe's and got me a new toy:


Here are the templates:


1- Ok first of all, of course after putting the seats down, check out the area you're going to be working in, put a couple of rugs under the rear seat latches, because boy is there going to be some shit flying around.

And the tools required are:
14mm socket
Wrench (I think that's what it's called)
Dremel
Tape
Scissors
Glue
Vacuum
Used rugs

Pictures of both sides before starting anything:



2- Next take the template and cut it in half so you have one (1) for each side, driver side and passener side, then start cutting and follow the outer side which is marked with a dash line. DO NOT CUT THE SOLID LINE, OR ELSE... you're fucking screwed, no not really.

Here is the passenger side:


3- Tape up the piece of paper onto the area using marking tape. Here is a picture showing the driver side taped up.


4- Perfom step 3 for the passenger side.

5- Now take your dremel and start cutting and now you follow the solid line on the paper. BE REALLY CAREFUL AS THERE IS A WIRE BEHIND WHERE YOU ARE CUTTING. Here is the result for both sides (you can see the wires I'm talking about):



6- Now you skip this step if you want and go to the next one, but if you're a clean freak like me, you're going to use your cool Dyson vacuum and suck up all the plastic crap that's left in your hatch.

Cool Dyson Vacuum


Clean Hatch


7- Next, install your Mugen sticker on the bar:


8- After that, unbolt all stock four (4) M10 14mm bolts. Here is a picture showing the driver side without the bolts:


9- Align your Mugen rear strut bar with the holes, grab the supplied longer M10 14mm bolts and start screwing them with you fingers. DO NOT PUT ONE IN ALL THE WAY BEFORE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ONE. Do all 4 of them at the same time. BTW you shouldn't have any problems aligning them, the bar fits like a glove as long as - like I said - you don't tighten one then go to the next one. Then start tightening them using the wrench. This picture shows the bar installed:


10- Install your supplied rubber body molding along the jaggededges and VOILA! End result... A cool looking Genuine Mugen Rear Strut Bar. I hope this DIY helps and most importantly gets stickied.


A couple of more pictures from the front seat with the bar installed:
Driver Side:


Passenger Side:


As you can see, I still haven't performed step 10 because I still want to smoothen out the edges before installing the rubber molding.

[TireMeltingRSX]

Great write up Driss. Stickying it now

How's the car handle now?

[djbme83]

good job driss. do you have any pictures of it installed from the front seats?

[QKSLVER03]

Thanks guys, you can feel the rear suspension is more tuned, I mean both sides are on the same page. Other than that, I noticed a big difference in cornering, but you gotta be taking a serious corner carrying some speed. I love it.
DJ, I'll get you a picture from the front seats.

[n0s_speed]

Originally Posted by QKSLVER03

Thanks guys, you can feel the rear suspension is more tuned, I mean both sides are on the same page. Other than that, I noticed a big difference in cornering, but you gotta be taking a serious corner carrying some speed. I love it.
DJ, I'll get you a picture from the front seats.

great write up. good job driss.....clean freak!

agreed...you notice great difference. same thing when i installed the rear sway bar. better handling in cornering...

can you take a close up pic for me? i want to see a finishing touch.

[n0s_speed]

ugh, when i install that, i'll have to freaking move my capacitor and amp elsewhere.

[djbme83]

i dunno if i would install this. mainly b/c if i wanted to carry large things, the bar would get in the way when i folded down the seats

[QKSLVER03]

Yeah but it's literally 10-15 minutes to unbolt it and put the stock bolts back on if you're going on a trip and you're not going to need it. Although there are other strut bar that actually once installed are under the carpet, but then you'd have to cut through the carpet and all that jazz. I love this one for the quality, you can tell it's well made. I'll get pics of the welds as well for you guys.

[Nikon1]

Great job and Write Up Driss! Thanks for all the great pix as it showed me that if I wanted to install this, just like n0s, I'd have to relocate my amp.

Glad to hear that you can feel a difference - it always helps when you can see a return on your investment.

To a job well done!

John

[Cloud_Walker]

"Install your Mugen sticker" omg liek 15 hp!!1

And Dyson vacuums are cool.

Nice write up. Was the dremeling tedious?

[QKSLVER03]

Originally Posted by Cloud_Walker

"Install your Mugen sticker" omg liek 15 hp!!1

And Dyson vacuums are cool.

Nice write up. Was the dremeling tedious?

you know it



Yes dremeling was very tedious, especially the passenger side since I'm right handed. I still want to go back to it when I have some free time and make those edges smoother with another accessory that comes with the dremel, then put the rubber molding back on.

[venom3469]

Ok so noob question now. What does it do and how??

[TireMeltingRSX]

Originally Posted by venom3469

Ok so noob question now. What does it do and how??

It tightens up your rear suspension, which will give you better cornering ability.

[venom3469]

Oh thats good, so you can turn faster now. I just didnt see how it would work if it is inside the car. My bad

[Pippin]

Originally Posted by venom3469

Oh thats good, so you can turn faster now. I just didnt see how it would work if it is inside the car. My bad

I don't know if it's that you can "turn faster" per say, it just gives you better stability and better handling of the car when cornering.