I just recently spent $450 at Spohn getting SFC's, Wonderbar and an ADJ panhard. I got the SFC's and panhard on...and WOW, feels like a totally different car. BUT, when I went to install the wonderbar, I couldnt get it to tuck in the right way....it keeps hitting the coolant fan brackets on the radiator.....is this normal?? My car is stock....no aftermarket radiators or fans. I thought about just milling out the mounting holes...but its about a 1/2in off....I just dont want to ruin it's integrity. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.......

 

I had some problem along with many other members. I had to cut away at the fan braces so it would fit right. I also had to make the holes bigger to fit.

 

Mine went right in, no modifications what so ever...

 

I just got finished doing a search about it. Damn, if I would have known, I would have NEVER ordered it. Thats hell to spend $60 for something u have to hack up to make fit right. Oh well.....it looks like it was engineered to fit w/out electric fans.....guess Ill have to enlarge the holes.

 

I believe it only needs to be cut if you have the duel fans

 

I have a single fan, that may make sense. However I didn't need to enlarge any holes.

 

Mine seems to line up with the holes.....just cant tighten anything up because of how the bar goes against the fan mounts on the lower part of the radiator. I might be able to grind part of the plastic away from the fan mounts. Im hoping to get this on soon....

 

I had the same problem, so I sold it. I also didn't believe in cutting the car, even plastic, to get a part to fit. I run stock GM bars on my cars, and got both for less than $40.

Ed

 

Mine fit fine once I enlarged the hole. I wonder if all of them is like this or if they have two jigs set-up for this part. The hole was so far off I cannot see some being able to bolt right on and others not.

 

TDS Wonderbar = Direct Bolt In

 

That's how mine is, which explains why it's not on the damn car right now. I really don't think a product that costed me $60-something is worth it if i have to modify the thing to make it fit, although ti was designed for my car. Steve said that my frame might be tweaked, and suggested loading the suspension differently when putting it on- but nothing helped. The bolt hole is nowhere near where it should be. It's about 1/2 to 3/4" off.

 

Well, my suspension was even loaded properly, and its still at the wrong angle to fit properly. If you notice in the pic on the website, the one they show installed DOES NOT have the electric fans on the car. I think this thing was made with that car in mind or something. When I hold the bar up to where its supposed to be bolted in, the fan mounts are directly in the way. Oh well, guess I'll either sell it or hack into it. Anybody wanna buy it for $50??lol

 

Mine fit. Single electric fan.

 

I had the GM unit and it bolted up in a matter of minutes and cleared everything.
My friend with an 82 T/A ordered the BMR one and it would not fit his car at all, so I swapped with him.
It took me a few hours trying to get it on before someone here told me that they had to elongate one of the bolt holes.

This is the GM unit,


and this is the BMR unit,

 

Guess it is pretty much a luck thing when getting the bmr or spohn bar to fit w/o modification. My bmr went on in 10 minutes, but I can see where there would be problems on other cars...

 

Installed two TDS bars and they've got on like butter on hot bread. Super easy to install.

If it were me, I'd send it back to Spohn for a refund on his nickel [bill to his UPS or Fedex #]. Spohn makes a lot of great products, but everyone has a couple of things that they're not great on. With that said, I've used a couple Spohn rear suspension parts and they were beautiful.

 

I installed the wonderbar from Top Down Solutions. It was a PERFECT fit.

 

yea i had to shave down the mounts on the duel fans and enlarge the holes a litte to get my spohn to fit(pita). From what i've read the tds bar seems to bolt up much better but i bought all my stuff from spohn so thats what i went with, but if i had to do it again i would have gotten the tds.

 

I just put mine on. It was a spohn unit. and it directly bolted right on to my 1991 3.1l with single fan radiator perfectly. no modifications needed.

 

Its the dual electric fans that their brace will not work with unless you grind.

We had the same issue years ago and corrected it with an updated design and it clears the same as stock.

 

Mine was basically touching those plastic things, I just put it in today, It's a Spohn part btw. I guess they make them all by hand and they have shitty quality control?

 

As I understand the situation, cars with dual electric fans may have issues with Spohn's brace. Is that the case here?

JamesC

 

I was going to order one from Spohn..... not any more.. Looks like UMI will get my business.


OR.... would an OEM factory unit work just as good ??

 

You also might consider TDS and Global West (this latter fits my car which is equipped with dual electrics).

JamesC

 

The TDC unit looks exactly like an OEM one !!

 

I also have a Top Down Solutions brace and it has been a great product. I think their brace has the most durable powder coating. All of my powder coated pieces have a few scratches, not this one! The TDS brace also uses all the bolts there to mount the brace.