Hey guys... has anyone had this issue before?

I bolted in a rear strut brace tonight and when all was finished, I went to close the trunk and the swing arms bounced off the bolts that hold the bar to the brackets.

After messing around a bit I've realized that if I get new bolts with a head maybe half as thick as the one it came with, I'll be able to clear the arms and I think it's only an issue on the driver's side.

Just wondering if anyone's had to deal with this and what their solution was.

Thanks all!

Hmm,
Never had that problem WW.

Braces I've tryed were:
Vibrant, Ractive, Freedom design w/ ractive end links (current), RK sport, and the two versions from a jbody seller from some time ago that was on my other cav.

Granted none of my cars are lowered or anything, so I'm not sure about that factor.

But factory ride height never a problem.

-M


Remember....syringes go in the RED waste basket.

my vibrant went in without a hitch on my '05 cavalier

Seriously? Nobody?

The guy I bought the brace from said it was a Vibrant but it doesn't look like the ones on their site. Of course... the site says they're new and improved now so I expect I have the older design.

Mine has C-shaped brackets with two holes. I didn't need any washers or anything because the part that goes over the bolt that comes up from underneath is bent to fit over the raised part.

I'll try to get some pics tonight to show what's going on.

Ok, here are a couple pics I just took. Climbed inside my trunk and everything!

is that as high of a picture as you can get? i know there isn't much room, i had a hell of a time getting a ratchet up there.

WW,

I just checked my ractive rear bar and now that I look, it is a very tight clearance. However, I have had the bar for 3 months now and there is no evidence that the hinges are hitting the bolts.

What type of bolt are you using? I have a 1/4" Socket Head Cap Screw by 1" long. The height of the head is only 3/8".

Also, there should be a little clearance on the holes that go over the stut mount bolts. Can you push the bar as far forward toward the front of the car as possible to get some extra clearance?

If you need spare bolts with nuts, I have a spare set from a front bar lying in my garage.


tygriff

Thanks for the offer! Sounds like the same bolts I've got though.

It's gnurled around the outside surface so I might just grind them down to the bottom of the allen socket and use them like that. That should give me the clearance I need.

Either that or I'll drop by Home Depot and see if they've got some really shallow pan head screws or something.

I'll get it figured out. I'm just surprised nobody else has ever run into this!

I have a vibrant rear brace with all kinds of clearance!!

From what it sounds like though you may have difference mounts cause I had to use the washers on mine, as you mentioned Vibrant has more than one version. Although I think I also have the old version (are there only two?) cause the most recent pictures I've seen of vibrant rear bars they all seem to be bent on each end to make abount a 135 degree angle, on each end. I think this must be for better clearence in the truck; mine is a strait bar just like the front one so it has a better chance of getting in the way when loading/unloading the trunk.

I've also heard of other people having trouble with the vibrant rear braces cause there isn't much thread to screw into when installing it given the distance between the mounts and the lenght of the brace and such; so the new mounts may have been designed to fix this problem (all just speculation though).

Anyway I'm sure with some time and a little thought you'll get it. I had to actually bend the flanges (??) on each of my mounts because when I attached them they didn't point directly at eachother and instead pointed outwards more. There is some play in this area, maybe bending the ends (flanges) a little towards the front of the car will give you enough room to put that sucker back on?

Stay cool yo

maybe loosen up the plates and see if they will move back

ive got rk sports and freedom designs , and have installed a vibrant


not 1 problem with any of them

My rear bar looks similar to that, and i didnt have to do anything to the trunk arms to make it work. I'm wondering if theres a installation issue with the brackets, or the wrong bar?

I picked up some bolts from Home Depot that don't have as big a head on them. All is well now.

I'll try to get some more pics showing how little clearance there is now.