[Jutod]

Anyone ever used any of the Ultra Racing bars and suspension products? I've been looking at this strut bar and wonder if it will also fit a 2016 ST? Or were the 13 -16 models the same?

I like that the UR bars are solid and rigid, and don't have pivot points like ball mounts, or bolted points that can move and flex.

Ford Focus ST 2.0T (2012) Front Strut Bar / Front Upper Brace / Front Tower Bar

Can anyone recommend a solid welded strut bar and rear shock bar. Most I find are not solid welded bars.

Thanks!

 

[Duchess]

I would be shocked if they're not the same. Strut towers are hard points. Modifying the inner structure of the car would be extremely expensive (not just in manufacturing, but I'm pretty sure it would need to go through a rectification of crash testing), so that wouldn't be part of a facelift, but a full-on change to the platform (and even then, they usually carry over as much as they can for as long as they can).

I don't know if this would apply as much, particularly on a car that's so much stiffer in every axis, but when my 1990 Subaru Legacy wagon was getting near 200k miles and started squeaking, I used a bar in the back that had threaded ends between the bar and mounts that were meant to fine tune the width and I jacked the car up and cranked the bar wide to preload it. Eliminated the squeaks (from that immediate area, anyway) and stiffened the rear up noticeably, making it more predictable when dancing. So, anyway, my point is that if you get a quality bar with the threaded ends, you might be able to make it a little more of an active device than a fixed-width one. And the bar I used in the Legacy was meant for a later Impreza, which wasn't even a concern as the basic platform was used well into the 2000s for most of their cars. I wouldn't doubt that various chassis stuff from different models still transplants in today, but I stopped caring about Subarus when they stopped caring about making them, so I don't follow them anymore. Ford isn't Subaru, but manufacturing is manufacturing and bean counters are bean counters.

 

[Jutod]

Can anyone verify if a 2012 ST upper strut bolt pattern and spacing between the struts are the same as the 2016 version. I see that the Mountune bar says it fits 12 -16 (all models) so does that mean they're the same? Or does that just mean the Mountune bar simply has several bolts patterns on it that allows it to adapt to all those year models?

Below is a link to what I'm what trying to figure out will fit my 2016 ST. I really like the welded hard bar that doesn't have bolted joints or possible pivots like all the other bars I have found.
Ford Focus ST 2.0T (2012) Front Strut Bar / Front Upper Brace / Front Tower Bar

Any insight about this would be appreciated by whomever might know.

 

[HDubs]

Looks like it would work. I never heard of this company but their bracing looks cool. TB Performance also makes chassis bracing for the STs

 

[Jutod]

I never heard of this company but their bracing looks cool.

I agree, and the best part to me is their products don't have flexible joints or flexible connections to the car..... they are hard rigid connections (like I would expect bracing and strut/shock bars to be).

I think I will buy one of the Strut Bars.... it has to come from Malaysia however. I just wish I had a definite answer if the strut towers changed from 2012 to 2016. There's also the possibility that the 2012 Focus ST they used to design their bar was an Asian model, and therefore is maybe different than our North American versions.

I looked at the TB performance strut bar, but I didn't like the ball joint attachment at each end. Again, I feel that would somewhat defeat the concept of the upper strut bar completing the "BOX" where the struts are tied together on top. I always heard that said "BOX' should be solid and not allowed to change it's geometry/shape. that if one side cambers the other has to follow. I may be way off base here..... but it seems like to me the top of the "BOX" can change geometry with ball joint ends on the TB Performance strut bar. And along those lines..... the Mountune bar has bolted parts that can pivot as well.

I think this picture tells it all....... So I'm guess I will try one. IMO it's the best bar I can find for the upper struts.... I just hope it fits.

 

[Rule1]

I wouldn't really be that worried about pivoting at the joints in this context. The primary forces are acting along the the length of the bar, and not controlling/limiting the up and down motion between the two strut towers that much, which should be minimal anyway, based on how rigid this car is. I imagine that if the bolted or ball joints were that much of a blatant flaw in the design, at least mountune would be designing theirs differently.

 

[Speedy12139]

looks like a stout piece

 

[HDubs]

The only thing I can see being less than ideal is changing the spark plugs would a PITA with this bar. Can't access one of the plugs without moving the intake tubing out of the way

Having seen the TB strut bar in person it's definitely a beefy bar.

 

[TORA]

I'm not a big fan of strut tower bars, specially when the struts are so far back in the engine bay. It's more of a cosmetic piece. If your car is caged and that is tied into the struts then I could see some benefit. If not I would put the money elsewhere.