Do-Luck (RXB) Center Support Bar
Personal Installation Instructions
by C. Jensen / L. Anderson

DoLuck RXB Ad

Begin with a little Disassembly and Preparation

  • Remove plastic doorsill scuff plates to gain access behind/under the carpeting and to the mounting area near the seatbelt anchor.
  • Remove the lower seatbelt support assembly using a 14mm socket (the resultant large 14mm cap screw will serve as the bar's primary fastening mechanism)
  • Next, I recommend discarding the stock lock-washer and then placing some cut silicone hose in the new gap to help reduce vibration. This lock-washer steals precious threads from this most precious of anchors in your car's safety system.
  • Look behind the carpet approximately 20cm from this primary bolt (toward the back of the car) and note the perforated circle in the approximate location of the secondary fastener. It's like it was waiting for this mod right out of the factory! Gotta love these cars!
  • Remove the circle of carpet and trim (if necessary) to match the newly revealed bolt hole.
  • The new bolts that came with the bar (11mm) will go in each of these holes.
  • Repeat the first (5) steps on the other side.

    Installation of the Bar Itself

  • Locate and start the secondary fasteners on one side of the bar (since they're a little more difficult to start) and do the same for the primary fastener, the bolt that anchored the seat belt. Be careful not to cross-thread anything!
  • Adjust the threaded mid-section (using the mega-wrench included) until the mounting flange on the other side lines up to its respective holes. First, make sure the lock nuts are loose. They are loosened by rotating them towards the front of the car. To expand the bar outwards, rotate the center nut toward the back seat.
  • Locate and start the secondary fastener thru the 2nd plate, then slowly adjust the threaded mid-section until the flange lines up well enough to get the second and final primary fastener into it.

    Optimization

  • Now is the time to line it up to your satisfaction. Be sure everything is all nice & tight.
  • Reinstall everything you removed. Beware that the carpet gets cinched down pretty tight and Larry had to trim off the green plastic edge right near the bar on his '87T to get the door sill plastic to mount w/o bumps. However, I did not. Whatever minor adjustment you have to do, it's worth it.
  • Lastly, I would retorque the center pre-tensioning nut after a couple weeks of driving to get an optimal amount of preloading. I was able to crank down on it a little more after it had time to settle and work itself in. Plus, the carpeting will compress a little more after a while. Remember to retorque all (4) of the fastening bolts as well after retorquing the bar.

    Installation Time Estimates

    45 mins -- 2 hours (depending on how much you savor this one :-)

    Driving Impressions (- Chris)

    Homer would give this one a "Woohoo!". There's a definite increase in the torsional ridigity of the car. You feel it especially over bumps. From an engineering perspective, I'd say that the natural frequency of vibration of the car is much lower now. When hitting bumps, the car feels a little more "German" so-to-speak. It is, however, stiffer. Therefore, when riding on washboard surfaces, you might pickup a little more high frequency vibration through the car. Handling-wise, it's excellent and even more confidence inspiring... even for a non-targa person such as myself.

    Larry quantified it for targa people simply as "a 70% increase overall". He feels like he can take corners much faster and with less dramatics. This is one helluva nice mod.

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    Christopher M. Jensen
    © 1995/96/97/98/99 CJ Inc.
    Created: Apr 22nd, 1999
    Last modified: Apr 22nd, 1999