View Full Version : Hotchkis Front Sway Bar....


quitate54
03-15-2005, 07:22 AM
What about this product.....will this really improve the ride??

Especally if combined with either the Hotchkis or TRD rear sway bar??

Very Curious.........

monkeyboy
03-15-2005, 04:47 PM
it won't improve the ride it will improve your handling..... But is adjustable so you could get it a little tighter than stock or go to rattle your teeth out... :P ... just depends on what you are looking for...

ty6
03-15-2005, 04:55 PM
I've seen a definite improvement in handling.

justin83
03-15-2005, 05:07 PM
I've found that upper sway bars don't really do anything major for your handling if not paired with a lower stabilizer bar.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question432.htm

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2005-06%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=strut+mount

you can find a good kit here...
http://www.nopionline.com/nopistore/dsp_part_detail.cfm?vmakeid=380&vmodelid=300&vcatyear=2005&vnopinum=493%2B1553&vTitle=SCION%20tC%202005

quitate54
03-18-2005, 05:15 AM
Does anyone know where I can get the front sway bar only?.......

Also, can you have the front on street and the rear on race or vise versa??

quitate54
03-18-2005, 05:16 AM
Also, where can i get the trd struts/shocks alone for a good price??

suby2scion
03-18-2005, 06:32 AM
best price on struts/shocks I found so far was either sparks toyota or mcgeorge's. each one sells them for around $320 I just ordered mine form Sparks last night. Shipping to SoCal was only $16!

Do a search on yahoo for them if you don't know the web address or you can find them on this site.

By the way, Justin83 you are thinking of strut bars...wer'e talking about sway bars...different animal altogether.

yamaha16bw
03-23-2005, 06:52 PM
I've seen a definite improvement in handling.

ty6,

How hard was it to install the front sway bar? On there webpage they have downloadable step by step guide but it looked like a pian in the *** to install.

trdtcny
03-23-2005, 07:14 PM
I installed my hotchkis front and rear sway bars not too long ago. Great imrovement for the cars handling, especially on off ramps and highway lane changes. Anyways, it took me about 2 hours or so to install the front and the back. The front one is the hardest, you have to remove the front splashgaurds and unscrew the steering craddle enough so it will drop enough so you can remove the stock one and put on the new one. Takes some patience doing this, but over all its not hard at all. (Def worth it)The rear one is really easy, just remove the stock one and replace it with the hotchkis sway bar. After the install i drove down the road and noticed that my steering wheel was turned to the right but my car wasnt pulling or anything, so i put it back on the lift and found the problem. When you tighten the steering craddle back up, make sure that you center it, it will have about a two inch give either way when loose, make sure you align it up in the center before tightening, that was the only problem with the directions, it was in there. Hope this was useful and not too long.

yamaha16bw
03-23-2005, 07:31 PM
Thanks for the info

Gmoney
03-24-2005, 04:22 PM
I wanna know where i can buy the Front sway bar only. I already have the TRD rear sway bar. anyone?

scrap
03-24-2005, 04:34 PM
I don't think you can buy just the front it comes in combo only, I have the trd rear and I want the front so I think the only opition is to buy the whole thing and sell the trd.

yellot00tr
03-29-2005, 03:23 AM
i second that-i was looking for the hotchkis front only also. i might actually sell the trd rear and buy the eibach set once i hear some more info about it-supposedly its available april 1.

JasonH
03-29-2005, 12:50 PM
I posted this in another thread. The short version is: You really don't want to use a Hotchkis front sway bar with a TRD rear sway bar.

does anyone know if the hotchikis front sway bar can be used with the TRD rear sway?
You could do that, but you probably don't want to. Here's why:

The TRD rear bar is made to work with the stock front bar to give the tC more neutral handling. From the factory, the car understeers. The addition of the TRD rear bar brings the tC closer to neutral (no oversteer, no understeer.)

The Hotchkis front bar is made to be used with the Hotchkis rear bar. They are both much stiffer than stock (and stiffer than the TRD rear bar,) and are tuned to give the tC neutral handling when used as a pair.

If you put the Hotchkis front bar and TRD rear bar on the tC it will corner flatter than stock, but it will tend to understeer. Ideally, you want the car neutral, or even a little towards oversteer since the forward weight bias makes the car tend to understeer regardless of suspension setup.

Either go with the Hotchkis set or the stock front/TRD rear setup.

trdmica
03-30-2005, 06:09 PM
are trd front/rear sway bars the definite way to go for great handling.

JasonH
03-30-2005, 06:22 PM
are trd front/rear sway bars the definite way to go for great handling.
TRD only makes a rear bar. Hotchkis makes the stiffest front/rear set so far.

Wide_tC
03-31-2005, 04:46 PM
Regardless of whose products you buy. Whether it is ours, Progress or Eibach, etc. It is always the best to try to use the same manufacturer for everything. Most companies do a good amount of R&D to get there kits to work together. Mix-matching the parts does not always mean a better improvement. This is why we sell our bar kit as a "Tuned" set, as an example.

yamaha16bw
04-01-2005, 02:22 AM
^^^ So would it be a bad idea to use Hotchkis sway bars with TRD Srpings or do you mean mixing sway bars?

neuromonic
04-01-2005, 05:55 AM
Regardless of whose products you buy. Whether it is ours, Progress or Eibach, etc. It is always the best to try to use the same manufacturer for everything. Most companies do a good amount of R&D to get there kits to work together. Mix-matching the parts does not always mean a better improvement. This is why we sell our bar kit as a "Tuned" set, as an example.

Don't discount this advice as a sales pitch to sell more product! For people who don't understand the importantace of spring rates, the implications of different stiffness sway-bars, and other finer points of suspension tuning it is often possible to find a decent suspension tuner that has already made many of those hard decisions for you.

By sticking with one brand (Hotchkis, TRD, etc.) you will at least have a comfort level knowing the manufacturer designed the line of products to operate well as a set.

This is not to say your car is going to blow up if you buy a hotchkis sway bar and a TRD strut-tie bar. But you can really screw up the handeling of your car if you just start buying pretty parts and slapping them on.

(my two cents)

Wide_tC
04-01-2005, 04:11 PM
^^^ So would it be a bad idea to use Hotchkis sway bars with TRD Srpings or do you mean mixing sway bars?

You can mix products. All I am saying is that from any companies standpoint. They typically have made one product to compliment another product.

Us as an example. We do springs and swaybars for the TC and xB. They were tested as an individual product for ride quality and performance. They were then tested together to make sure the car performs to the level we expect it to.

From a sway bar standpoint. I would not typically recommend to mix and match those. You can get into handling issues. Such as to much under or oversteer.

yamaha16bw
04-02-2005, 12:22 AM
^^^ Well I have TRD Springs but im looking into Hotchkis sway bars. I dont want to mix match sway bars. I dought that would be a problem?

Wide_tC
04-02-2005, 04:39 PM
^^^ Well I have TRD Springs but im looking into Hotchkis sway bars. I dont want to mix match sway bars. I dought that would be a problem?

That should be no problem.

DuMa
04-03-2005, 06:30 AM
whats the cheapest place to order the hotchkis sway bar set?

Rigley
04-03-2005, 08:42 AM
I've seen the Xb set for $189 plus shipping, and the
Tc set for $300 plus ship. Both located at
www.Hopupracing.com

:clap:

yellot00tr
04-03-2005, 06:55 PM
these guys have it for the tc at $269
http://store.yahoo.com/ntnsracing/hospswbarset.html

trd sparks has it for like $289 but will give a sl discount i think.

mpbrown
04-03-2005, 07:28 PM
what about TRD rear sway and the hotchkis front strut bar?

jrv2000
04-04-2005, 05:46 AM
what about TRD rear sway and the hotchkis front strut bar?

sure, just to let you know your not going to feel a difference with any strut bar, its just for looks.

yesti
04-08-2005, 11:41 PM
I've found that upper sway bars don't really do anything major for your handling if not paired with a lower stabilizer bar.

upper strut bar, right? ;) those will sharpen the steering turn in but only if the chassis is sloppy to begin with. marked improvement in my 85 civic, probably close to nothing in the tC.

frame
04-12-2005, 07:19 PM
Mcgeorgeparts has the hotchkis sway bars for 195


Nevermind, they just took it off. They advertised it twice, one for 289 and the other for 195. Might have made a mistake.

yellot00tr
04-13-2005, 03:55 AM
195 was for the xa/xb.