Hotchkis Front Sway Bar....
Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 47
From: Richardson, TX
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... 
... just depends on what you are looking for...
... just depends on what you are looking for...
Junior Member
sIcKsCiOnS
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2
From: Washington, PA
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&l...&q=strut+mount
you can find a good kit here...
http://www.nopionline.com/nopistore/...ON%20tC%202005
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question432.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...&q=strut+mount
you can find a good kit here...
http://www.nopionline.com/nopistore/...ON%20tC%202005
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 222
From: Lake Elsinore, SoCal
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.
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.
Senior Member
SL Member
Scion Evolution
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,860
From: Motor City
Originally Posted by ty6
I've seen a definite improvement in handling.
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.
Junior Member
Team ScioNRG
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 4
From: Buffalo
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.
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.
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,560
From: Newark, DE
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.
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.
Originally Posted by JasonH
Originally Posted by helloimerwin
does anyone know if the hotchikis front sway bar can be used with the TRD rear sway?
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.
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 150
From: Whittier, CA
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.
Senior Member
SL Member
Team ScioNRG
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 183
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.
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)
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 150
From: Whittier, CA
Originally Posted by yamaha16bw
^^^ So would it be a bad idea to use Hotchkis sway bars with TRD Srpings or do you mean mixing sway bars?
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.