Review- Hotchkis Springs

We had a local scikotics install party today, and my baby tc was under the knife for 7 hard hours. After those hard hours.. this has been concluded.

The front struts were pretty easy to get out and remove. Some of the bolts were crazy tight, i reccomend having an impact gun, but if thats not something that you own, i suggest good penetrating lub and a breaker bar. No spring compressor was needed to remove or install the spring. You can install them by leting the spring fly off (it goes about half a foot), and install the hotchkis by pushing down on the spring. Be extremely cautious.

The rear was a whole different story. The whole interior needed to be gutted, this included the rear seats, all of the trunk, and the rear quarter interior panels. All of this was done to get to the inside bolt for the top of the shocks, and the acutal nut on top of the shock. Removing the shock was a pain in the ___ also. Alot of penetrating lube and a breaker bar is a must.

Once the rear shocks were out, we had a problem removing the old spring and installing the new spring. By this time we got our hands on a spring compressor and removed the stock springs. The new Hotchkis springs have very tightly wound coils, so neither pressing on the coil or using the spring compressor would work. We had to put the shock assembly and jack up the arm into the car, then bold it from the inside of the car. A very big pain in the ___.

Conclusion:
The springs themself are very nice and well made, I give them thumbs up. The install itself was a pain in the ___. I would say the only way to get the rear springs installed would be either by the placing a jack under the rear arm, or taking the springs to a shop with a wall mount compressor. Other than that, Hotchkis made a very well design spring that I believe rides better than stock.

 

any camber?

 

Probably slightly. But as long as camber is under 2.5degree for a daily driver, you are going to improve the handling significantly without any extra wear on your tires. Toe wears tires fast, not camber.

with a 1.5'' drop, you are probably only looking at maybe .6 or .7degree camber.

With my 2.2''/2.3'' drop i have 1.5degree camber rear and .5degree front.

Cya

 

Should an alignment be done with any drop? not matter what brand springs you use?

 

Almost any brand, at least a drop with i think about 1.5" or more. I had the Hotchkis springs installed and i didnt really see the difference on the alignment but i went with it anyway! I could really tell a difference right off the bat. Love the drop! TEIN S-techs were too much of a drop for me and these ugly a$$ roads here! Overall, i give it a 9.5 out of 10. I wish Hotchkis makes some shocks to go along with their springs!

 

I have hotchkis springs on my xA and i think there pretty much crap... I dont know why but ive heard alot of 50/50 comments about these springs. Some people live by them and others like me want to throw them away. On my xA i have 6 dead coils, 6 dead coils!!!

The car does ride nice though and handles ok but a friend of mine has the tein S-Techs and they are SO SO SO much nicer (handling wise), but the drop is too aggresive for bad roads.

I wouldnt recommend the hothckis to ANYONE!!! but some people like them and other dont, just do your reasearch before making a mistake.

 

All you need to know is tanabe df210s.

Cya

 

I dont think i'm going to get an alignment, it still rides straight and i dont really care that much about my Craptenzas.

 

got any pics of your car with the drop? im ordering the springs tomorrow morning but i have to take it to a shop to put on but before i go to the shop im gonna remove the interior peices myself (to save time, money and just so they dont break anything ) do far i think the drop with these springs are perfect i would just like to see more pics. that is if you dont mind posting them

 

The install sounds like any normal spring/suspension swap. I've probably done a dozen or more installs and they all end up the same... a pain. Having access to a lift will make a ton of difference.

 

had my for over 6 months now and not a single problem yet . check the sig for pics if interested

 

had my for over 6 months now and not a single problem yet . check the sig for pics if interested. mine install was done in about 3 hours.

 

got the front done, working on the rear now..



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Holy thread revival batman!

 

lol, putting rims up tomorrow, so post up pic of the entire drop later

 

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