An idea I had is to install the whiteline rear sway bar and also install the hotchkis front and rear bars as well.

For the xB the whiteline rear bar alone bring the car closer to neutral and the hotchkis setup can reduce the entire cars sway and keep it neutral.

It is possible to have three rear bars installed. Someone on clubxb.com forums has done it.
http://www.clubxb.com/forums/f26/521...nes-yesterday/
Though he's running a progress and whiteline together. Not sure if a hotchkis and whiteline will fit.

Anyone have an xB with the hotchkis setup? Then find someone local with a whiteline rear bar and install it and test it out!

 

just re-opening this thread, cause i finally just added this set up to my car.. the front sway bar was a pain in the ___, and the Hotchkis instruction booklet is less than helpful, had unfinished sentences, and skipped steps.. meaning we eventually through it away and tried it our own way.. thank god a buddy of mine let me use his shop for the lifts..

 

Yes, you definitely need a lift or else it's a very frustrating job.

So how do you like it? Which RSB do you have and other suspension mods?

 

i just Hotchkis all thew way around, i just started everything within the last month, my company is a dealer for hotchkis so i get a big discount, and took advantage,, i got the Front and Rear Sways, and the Springs, and the Strut tower brace.. i havent really had a chance to drive aggresively to try them out.. (have had bad weather here)

 

I have the front, rear and shock tower brace. Nice tight setup, no more "oh shoot" its going to flip feeling. Cant wait to install the urthene bushings in the links.

 

was thinking about doing the endlinks as well.. also a dealer for energy, just afraid of stiffning it soo much that i shake my car apart..

 

Added another rear bar since the last pics.

I'm also running the TE37s with A048s.



-Pete

 

No fair Pete, you have 4 jack stands....

 

does the 2nd rear swaybar actually help that much more.. cause it kinda intrest me alot.. im all about having the best handling vehicle.. and i am willing to sacrafice comfort for that.. but im looking at getting some 8" wide tires on 16" rims first..

 

Yes, these are the solid bars, and together, they are 24mm. Stiffer than the new hollow 24mm bar. I also went with 16 inch wheels. The suspension is very tight now.



-Pete

 

Those tires are sweet. I'm really digging them...

 

what tires are those? and how do they handle in the different types of weather? im looking a getting a set of Falken Azenis RT-615.. i know a few people running these on there BMW's and Mini's for Atuocross, and still use them on the streets, so i want to give them a try..

 

The tires I'm running are Yokohama A048s (medium compound). They are full race compound, and the tread wear is about 50. They don't last over 5000 street miles, but they are the stickiest, best handling tires I've ever used.

They are VERY expensive, but worth it if you like bombing the canyons or autocross. Because they are so soft, they are not great tires in the cold or wet.

When the weather is cold/wet I'm using Yokohama AVSES100s. They are very good street tires, but the slip angle sucks - so they break loose hard (not a smooth transition like the A048s). The ES100s are mounted on 5Zigen 16 inch wheels.

I think the Azenis have a tread wear of 120.

-Pete

 

I wonder if I can stack 2 of the newer bars? How hard is it to thread the bolt from the end through the holds of two bars vs one? What hardware? Just a longer grade 8 bolt and matching nut plus lock washer?

What if you put the bar on backwards?

I have the newer style bar and it maybe stiffed it up a bit, 20% I would guestmate, but it still rocked a bit before it was flexed into action.

The front one is well worth it.

 

It's harder to insert the longer bolt through the holes, but as you can see from the pics - it can be done. One trip to the hardware store for longer bolts, nuts & washers - Grade 8 or better. You got it right.

I agree about the front bar - it makes a big difference, especially with beefy end-links.

-Pete

 

speaking about that endlink, you know what size is needed?

 

The end links are generic one size fits all in the auto zone store snak oil section. THey have a whole assortment of generic urthene bushings for sway bars, control arms, etc. DO not bother asking the parts rep to look them up. My set came to just over 8 bucks and another 8 bucks for the hardware.

They come with the shafts or just the bushings. The kit that includes the shafts are a bit too long and the spacer is not needed. I just went to lowes today to get the hardware to mount them. Grade 8 4 inch 3/16 bolts, harden washers and lock nuts. Got a tube of mobile 1 grease to grease them.

The second rear bar is tempting, however my engineering side of me says a better way is to get something that touches the center of the rear cross member or rear of the car to flex or pivot off of.

 

well, my axle is blocking the bolt from entering, i try put the one side lower than the other side but it still blocking the bolt. The shop installed some cheap bushing while ago and the bolt are long, any idea how to get them out? thank

 

*watching*

 

Are you talking about the end link bolt for the sway bar???

In that case, undo both ends, the bar with some effort should be raisable or lowerable, then insert both bolts and reposition it as you place on the bushings and line up the hole in the control arm to finish it up.