how harsh of a ride will the hotchkis sway bars make it? I was thinking about the trd rear sway but obviously it is not the stiffest sway. I got the trd springs and struts ready to install. I am trying to get better handling without killing the ride. Does anyone have this setup? is the ride really harsh?

If you are worried about keeping your ride, I recommend the TRD rear sway. I have been autoxing on it since last year and it is a nice setup. Great mix of street/weekend warrior.

I will be going hotchkis in a year or so (maybe less if I find a deal), but I am also wanting to go with some nice adjustable coilovers, corner balance, etc since I am pretty much addicted to autoxing it and will probably outgrow the setup I have now pretty soon. But I have been very happy with my trd rear and trd springs.

well that is what I am looking for. I have been leading towards the TRD just wanted some experiences

i have the hotchkis set and it's not too harsh at all. i'm even running them on the stiffest setting. i previously had the trd sway bar and it worked for me but i wanted to go stiffer.

if you're just planning to run a rear bar, i'd suggest the progress bar because it has one more stiffer setting than the TRD.

im definetly going to get hotckins as my next mod i would go wit trd, but hotckings got front and rear

^^ Front and rear isn't necessarily better. TRD is fine for the daily driver that hits the autox course on occasion. The install for the front bar is a PITA as well haha

It is not really whether front and rear > just rear.

Sways are all about balance tuning. If you go too stiff in the rear in relation to the front, it will oversteer too easily and vice versa. So if you go much stiffer than a TRD in the rear, you really need to go stiffer in the front to keep the balance right. Since hotchkis bars are a lot stiffer than trd, you need to run a stiffer front to keep it in check. So with the hotchkis setup, you can reduce body roll much more and still be able to balance out the handling properly. The sacrifice with super stiff bars is that the car will be rougher when hitting uneven bumps, since you are transferring more energy to the other side of the car (less suspension independence). This can make it less comfortable on the street, and can make it jump around more in the corners on bumpy pavement.

So it really is how you want to drive the car.

I just got done with the hotchkis sway bars today and took my TC out for a spirited ride and can tell you I do not think it was worth it on my daily driver! In hind site I would of got the TRD rear sway only. I put the rear bar in myself but had a shop do the front and it cost 350, but I trust them and was happy they did it. After driving it with the front on the softer of the two settings and the rear on the stiffest setting i can say that it does handle better but it wasn't really worth the 650 or so total in the end! In mid corner if I lift it will understeer controllably. Kinda fun actually!

Just my .02 and it may not even be worth that!
Dave

i'd go progress over TRD simply because the Progress bar comes with new end links...

i have the Hotchkis sways and love em...

ok, i just got these about a week ago and i need to know how do i want to set this up, stiffer in the rear and softest in the front. or vice versa, or keep both the same. :ponder: ok what if i just install the rear bar and not the front bar?

I have had mine for a bit now and like the stiffest setting in the rear and the mid or soft setting in the front. I can't seam to remember if there is 2 or 3 settings up front. You do want the rear stiffer than the front.

With mine like I said it will go into a corner pretty much neutral and if provoked I can get the back to come around a bite for fun.

As far as just installing the rear, chances are high that you'll see some 360s...

I've kept mine at the lowest (soft) setting on both... Ride quality has been comparable to stock, but I definitely get some sliding if I lift off the throttle too much. Handles corners MUCH better though overall. I am definitely happy with my purchase.

One day I'll get out and bump it up to the stiffer settings.

dwmtl1000s im a little confused about not having the rear stiffer than the front, since you mentioned you had the rear on the stiffest setting and the front mid-soft setting? thanks for the input guys.

The softest setting on front is much softer than the softest setting on the rear.. so the rear is still stiffer with them both on the same setting. The front is around 70 percent stiffer (on the stiffest setting) and the rear is about 340 percent stiffer on its stiffest setting.


The reason the TRD bar doesnt come with endlinks is because there is absolutely no need for them with a bar of that stiffness. Having adjustable ones is nice if you are going to run coilovers and corner balance, because you can adjust the preload on the bar... but otherwise, there is no need to change anything about the endlinks with a trd sway.

what setting do u have your sways on? Whats the best setting if your just running street and autox

I run a TRD rear on full stiff, and love it for street and autox.

I was previously leaning towards going with hotchkis bars next to get rid of a bit more body roll. However, after looking it over more closely, autoxing it, watching what the big boys run on the tracks, talking with the nationals level autoxrs in our autosports club here, etc I have decided against it. Buy running super stiff sways, you run into inside traction issues in hard corners, causing the exit of the corner to suffer.. especially with an open diff. In addition, you sacrifice handling on uneven, bumpy surfaces by removing even more suspension independence.

I already like the balance the TRD gives in the corners (rotates predictably and in a controllable fashion). So I will most likely stick with it and move from the TRD springs to a set of stiffer coilovers (coilovers so I can tune and corner balance the setup more). The higher spring rates will help a bit with the body roll and I will keep the same amount of suspension independence. Should be a better setup all around.

Two seasons of autoxing the tC with my current setup definitely changed what I thought I wanted suspension wise. I may re-evaluate the sways again based upon my driving style after I move to coilovers, but for now I doubt it.

just installed the hotchkis sways on the tc today, and might i say it was a quite a bit different in all aspects of the drivability of the car. as far as ride comfort being different, its not too bad, but i havent really been on any excessively bumpy roads yet. and yes, the front sway was a pita to install, basically because of the mass amounts of different bolts you have to remove just to drop the cradle and get to the sway bar itself, from there it was cake. but i wouldnt recommend installing it with just floor jacks and a dolly, i had the availability of using a lift. so get it installed by a shop, 350 does seem a bit steep for the job though.

just installed the hotchkis sways on the tc today, and might i say it was a quite a bit different in all aspects of the drivability of the car. as far as ride comfort being different, its not too bad, but i havent really been on any excessively bumpy roads yet. and yes, the front sway was a pita to install, basically because of the mass amounts of different bolts you have to remove just to drop the cradle and get to the sway bar itself, from there it was cake. but i wouldnt recommend installing it with just floor jacks and a dolly, i had the availability of using a lift. so get it installed by a shop, 350 does seem a bit steep for the job though.

what settings are u on?

I just got done with the hotchkis sway bars today and took my TC out for a spirited ride and can tell you I do not think it was worth it on my daily driver! In hind site I would of got the TRD rear sway only. I put the rear bar in myself but had a shop do the front and it cost 350, but I trust them and was happy they did it. After driving it with the front on the softer of the two settings and the rear on the stiffest setting i can say that it does handle better but it wasn't really worth the 650 or so total in the end! In mid corner if I lift it will understeer controllably. Kinda fun actually!

Just my .02 and it may not even be worth that!
Dave

huh? apparently you didn't actually put them on...or the shop lied to you. they make a great improvement....

just installed the hotchkis sways on the tc today, and might i say it was a quite a bit different in all aspects of the drivability of the car. as far as ride comfort being different, its not too bad, but i havent really been on any excessively bumpy roads yet. and yes, the front sway was a pita to install, basically because of the mass amounts of different bolts you have to remove just to drop the cradle and get to the sway bar itself, from there it was cake. but i wouldnt recommend installing it with just floor jacks and a dolly, i had the availability of using a lift. so get it installed by a shop, 350 does seem a bit steep for the job though.

what settings are u on?

im running the soft setting in the front, and the mid setting in the rear. just installed the camber links and bolts in today, now all i need is a performance alignment.

I just got done with the hotchkis sway bars today and took my TC out for a spirited ride and can tell you I do not think it was worth it on my daily driver! In hind site I would of got the TRD rear sway only. I put the rear bar in myself but had a shop do the front and it cost 350, but I trust them and was happy they did it. After driving it with the front on the softer of the two settings and the rear on the stiffest setting i can say that it does handle better but it wasn't really worth the 650 or so total in the end! In mid corner if I lift it will understeer controllably. Kinda fun actually!

Just my .02 and it may not even be worth that!
Dave

huh? apparently you didn't actually put them on...or the shop lied to you. they make a great improvement....

they do make an improvement. I agree with him tho, its not a 650 dollar improvement. More like a 275 bucks to buy them (used to be cheaper) and free install :P

You just dont push your car much (most people dont). If you autox'd or tracked the car you would know that stiffer sways make a HUGE improvement.

There is no bigger bang for your buck on this car than changing your tires, sways and springs, hands down.

quick question regarding front sway, or really everything up front after install. since doing it, and after alignment, i had started to notice faint popping sounds. for example, when accelerating from a stop, it feels like something is slightly moving, then when brakes are applied, it pops back. its really subtle, but it bugs. ive tried to see if the upper center strut bolts were loose on either side, and both are tight. inspected underneath and didnt find anything that would give me any kind of indication of a bolt or nut being loose.

Did you apply grease to the front sway bar bushings? It might be the bushings that are popping since the sway bar is turning them.

Did you apply grease to the front sway bar bushings? It might be the bushings that are popping since the sway bar is turning them.
i applied whatever grease that came along with the sway bars. the grease came in thse little tubes. if i need to apply more then i hope that it'll fix the prob. just seems like the slightest litle bump will make either a pop. a squeek, or some other random sound up front. gets annoying.

More lube, lol.

Did you apply grease to the front sway bar bushings? It might be the bushings that are popping since the sway bar is turning them.
i applied whatever grease that came along with the sway bars. the grease came in thse little tubes. if i need to apply more then i hope that it'll fix the prob. just seems like the slightest litle bump will make either a pop. a squeek, or some other random sound up front. gets annoying.

Do you have any other after markert suspension parts?

Did you apply grease to the front sway bar bushings? It might be the bushings that are popping since the sway bar is turning them.
i applied whatever grease that came along with the sway bars. the grease came in thse little tubes. if i need to apply more then i hope that it'll fix the prob. just seems like the slightest litle bump will make either a pop. a squeek, or some other random sound up front. gets annoying.

Do you have any other after markert suspension parts?

just the tein s-techs, ingalls camber bolts, and strut bar. i might have to put it up on the lift again to do a quick run through. make sure ALL bolts are tight.

Well the only other thing I could see that would cause a noise problem would be your springs catching and popping on the rubber perches. These also have to have some marine grade or some very good lube on them so they won't pop when you turn the steering wheel. Also check your endlinks and make sure they are not bent, I heard the fronts are easy to bend/break with the hotchkis front sway.

The old Hotchkis fronts without the flanges on the bar had the breakage issue. Make sure you're not buying a used set without that flange. I run hardest setting up front and mid in back for a neutral feel to me. That front undercarriage is a beast with hand tools and jack stands.

I'm runnin a full stiffy. :P Handles like a champ on curvy roads hehe

earlier today i took the car for a quick spin. first time since getting the car aligned within spec, with new brakes, and tires. took a small canyon cruise in country roads that i know by the back of my hand, and wow i was amazed how flat the car stays and how glued it is to the road, i could have actually gone faster. now i really wanna autocross at the next event.

HOTCHKIS FTW !!!!!!!!! I love mine. I know a lot of the big teams aint running them but also key word "race: teams. they run wider tires to compensate for a lot of things. ( too late for details) I am stiff in the rear and soft in the front. difference is big from stock, I have even ran it with the fronts disconected and it does feel different just not sure whether i like them, guess i have to play with them more.

On a side note, make sure you tighten the rack casing while the subframe is still detached. I had a heck of a time doing it with the subframe assembled.

rack casing?

There's 4 bolts that drop through the subframe that secure the rack casing. They've got nuts that have studs on them to keep them from turning so it's easier to torque the bolts from the top with the subframe dropped. And if it's a question of what the rack casing is, it's the casing for all the guts of the steering system (rack and pinion).

I recently found that one of the nuts had fallen off, and couldn't figure out what system it belonged to. The parts people couldn't find it on the subframe diagram, and eventually a collision guy came out and figured out it belonged to the steering system. I didn't want to pull the subframe down to torque everything down so ended up doing it from the bottom with a buddy holding the bolts with a ratchet from the top or sliding a wrench in between the subframe and the front sway. Gotta have small hands to do it.

The gist of it is get those 14mm bolts and nuts secured before you put the subframe back together and everything will be kosher.