Factory Front Strut Tower Bar

[TheBlackBeast]

I'll be hitting 20k by this weekend already - I'm track for close to 30k in my first year! The past month has seen roughly 5k miles put onto the car with the majority of them spent to/from LA from my home for work.

This past weekend I noticed the welds on the factory strut tower bar have started to lose some paint. As a result it also looks as though they have started to rust? Can welds rust? I'm not that familiar when it comes to that arena. I know some rust such as on bolts that connect the turbo/manifold/exhaust can occur but is this normal? While I do know that the strut tower bar is not a supporting device of the car, it it were to fail mid turn I can imagine the instant change in suspension geometry might be catastrophic... Anyways, would anyone recommend replacing/repairing/upgrading? If upgrading, what brand would one recommend? I attached a few pics of the welds.

I'd appreciate hearing from other members with higher mileage if they see the same and/or if they can load images showing what theirs look like.

[geargrinder]

It looks to me like it wasn't properly prepped before the initial painting at the factory. I'm sure you could get that replaced under warranty. Another option would be to bead blast it, and re-paint it yourself. Unless you want a different look, I wouldn't worry about upgrading this part. It would take a lot to go beyond the capacity of the factory strut tower bar. .02 :D

[Blaze]

I thought the OEM strut bar was aluminum? Guess not.

Cusco makes a nice/inexpensive 3 point brace. You can probably pick one up off the evo forums (SoCalEvo.net / evolutionM.net)

[TheBlackBeast]

Thanks for the input so far guys. Hmm... One says keep it stock another says upgrade? Any other members have input?

@ Blaze: it looks as though the part connected to the strut tower is stamped metal and the bar sounds like steel when tapping on it. Is the strut tower brace the same size (length, dia, bolt hole size, etc.) on both evo X and RA? Would you mind taking some quick measurements?

[MikeW-RRE]

There maybe was a little residue from the weld that the paint didnt stick well to. In So Cal it would take 10 years for that to rust enough to effect it structurally. Somewhere that they salt the roads much quicker.

I wouldnt worry about it. The next step up from there would be to just repaint it. Overkill would be to replace it. But replaceing it with a cute bar would make it... well much cuter under the hood :-)

Mike W

[MikeW-RRE]

The RalliArt does not have the center mounting point that the 3 point EVO braces use. That third point would just be hanging out in space.

Mike W

[Blaze]

The RalliArt does not have the center mounting point that the 3 point EVO braces use. That third point would just be hanging out in space.

Mike W

Srsly? I need to look under my hood more often....
Maybe I'll make a set of falsie studs and use an evo bar anyway.
That'd be cute fo sho! ;)

[Ladogaboy]

If it's steel, I wonder what it weighs... :eek:

[TheBlackBeast]

Thanks for the input all. As Mike pointed out, there is no center location for the strut bar. So... That means if I were to replace it that it would need to be one specific to the RA. I think I will see what I can get with warranty...

[steven444]

yap its of steel

[RA9]

DC sports made struts for our cars but i dont know the quality

[TheBlackBeast]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll have to check it out later. Their entire site is flash and well, that just doesn't fly on my cell phone.

[TheBlackBeast]

A solution has been found!
http://www.roadracemotorsports.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_30&products_id=562