[Oscar The Grouch]

Ok after yesterday's research and today's discussion with one of the mechanical engineers here at my office, whom is a big car buff as well, I think that the HTP crossbar would be mildly beneficial for traction purposes.

Helping with preventing lateral stiffness and underbody structure does aid in developing better traction for straight line. In my learnings of traction bars, they tend to do one of two or sometimes both things.

1. Maintains stability of the axle/lower control arm location (from front to back), thereby maintaining the downward pressure on the shocks towards the pavement. Without this, the axle would be moved forward or backward of the bottom of the strut and the shock would not have a more vertical travel.

2. Some traction bars use the movment of the axle when torque load is applied to redirect forces upon the springs, this I have only seen in a leaf spring application so far and I cannot see this so far on a FWD strut type suspension. Therefore this type of traction bar isn't feasible at the moment on our cars.

Using this knowledge, the first point I make in the previous paragraphs makes sense for using the HTP crossmember and Lakewood Traction Bars as both try to apply excess pressure on one side of the cross member to minimize any arm movement to the front or rear of the car.

***Point of note***

I would think that using the crossbar would be effective, however an LSD and a stiffer suspension setup would be required to gain maximum traction, especially for drag racing applications.

As for myself, I think I'll be purchasing one of these HTP crossmembers as I am replacing both lower control arms in March, which should make things very interesting. B)

[Scorcher000]

Cool, I'll personally let you know how it feels with stock suspension in a few days.

[tetra]

Awesome research man, I'll be picking one of these up in the spring for sure.

[Oscar The Grouch]

Placed the order for the brace and rear adjustable toe arms.

<--- Stoked!!!! :D

[Scorcher000]

I'll be installing my on Sat right before I head out to the auto show

[tetra]

Nice, that's next on my list with a H&R rear sway bar :)

[GFXjamie]

should get all 3 stress bars, upper front, x brace and rear. with all 3 it stiffened up my sedan SOOO much very noticeable by comparison to stock with all the goodies have added to my car

ofcourse i just have FS lower, but im sure with xbrace it will be even bette

[Oscar The Grouch]

GFXjamie,Feb 11 2010, 04:25 PM Wrote:should get all 3 stress bars

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Already there, mon frere. :D

[tetra]

I don't want to get the rear one because it eliminates a lot of trunk space. I seen a few pics of it on a guy's 2008 sedan on FF and it's almost right in the middle. I need some practicality. On the hatches it's at a perfect spot where it doesn't get in the way.

I already have a strut tower bar, just need the X-brace and the RSB and I think it'll be tight enough combined with my drop and some good rubber.

[GFXjamie]

we kudos for you oscar, i think i mite let you join the cool club after all... once you get a torsen that is!

as for the rear bar it really doesnt take up all that much room. when i went to the track i fit easily my 3 ton jack, 2 slicks, some camping chairs and a bit of food in there. plenty of room in m sedan... shouldnt be all that much different in 08+

heres it in my car when i first installed it


also, oscar heres my slicks back whe i first got em when i was sitting on a prokit... looks pretty sick i must say LOL back when i have a fart can exhaust and a short ram intake



thats without a spacer, but requires a spacer if you wanna turn the car, otherwise you rub struts

and heres how they look doing a burn out.. im a whore on this site today LOL

[tetra]

Cool, I'll try to find those pics and compare.. I'm a little upset right now. FSwerks did a little blunder. They shipped my exhaust kit and forgot to send me the god damn tail pipe piece. I have the muffler, the mid pipe and that's it. No tip pipe.

[GFXjamie]

Wow... have you contacted randy or vik yet?? they will get you taken care of im sure, better cover extra customs to!

[tetra]

Yeah, I talked to a rep called Rafi or something.. He's going to call me back in an hour, he's investigating what happened. There wasn't even a receipt in the box ffs. I guess they were in a hurry. I know they are good for customer service. He said he'll declare the pipe as 5 bucks if he ships it UPS, he might ship it USPS express he said as well.

We'll see.

[Oscar The Grouch]

tetra,Feb 11 2010, 06:05 PM Wrote:Yeah, I talked to a rep called Rafi or something.. He's going to call me back in an hour, he's investigating what happened. There wasn't even a receipt in the box ffs. I guess they were in a hurry. I know they are good for customer service. He said he'll declare the pipe as 5 bucks if he ships it UPS, he might ship it USPS express he said as well.

We'll see.
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Raffi's a great guy to deal with. You'll have the missing part in no time.

[tetra]

Yeah, I told them straight up that I know they have some of the best customer service out there for Focus parts. I'm sure they'll get it fixed quickly. I'm a bit dissapointed, but s*** happens.

[tetra]

I spoke to Raffi again, they are sending me the piece tonight. I knew they'd pull through for sure!~

[Oscar The Grouch]

awesome. make sure you get some clips with it.

[Scorcher000]

VF Street mount adn HTP Brace on the car.
Noticed a big difference in cornering on stock suspension. The mount is perfect and nice and smooth threw the shifts. Well worth the money.

To install the mount.
18mm socket on the bottom. 21mm wrench on the other end of the bolt. use a stubby wrench for easy installation.
Pry bar to put front of control arm back into place needed.
Use a hoist if possible and a good air gun.
Two ppl didn't hurt to have either.
Be safe doing this one.

[Oscar The Grouch]

Well I was supposed to get my cross member brace today along with toe arms. But for some reason, HTperformance requested Fedex to return my package to them... I don't know what's going on, but I'm ready to f***ing break something. Had a s*** day at work and was looking forward to seeing some nice shiny new stuff.

Tried calling the vendor, no answer although they are still open. I'm not sure WTF is going on but this better be good... :angry: :thumbsdownsmileyanim:

[Scorcher000]

Maybe they mixed up the order or forgot to put something in it. Plus it could have gotten damaged and was returned because of that.
Take you time and if its not in tip top shape when you do recive it then I'd say its war time lol.

Plus when you do get a hold of them tell them you want it express and free domicile too. Your not paying for something that is late.