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View Full Version : Hotchkis rear swaybar quick-review



vtluu
10-25-2004, 02:51 AM
Installed a 24mm hollow rear swaybar from Hotchkis on Saturday:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album06/swaybar.jpg

The instructions included with the swaybar were detailed, thorough and easy to follow. Fitment was excellent with all pieces going into place precisely and without any hassle. Build quality seemed excellent as well.

Holding the OEM swaybar in one hand and the Hotchkis in the other, they feel like they weigh about the same. But the Hotchkis will be stiffer by virtue of its diameter.

I've only had limited opportunities to test it since but the car feels good so far. The real test will come at my next autocross event...

For as low as $165 OTD from some vendors, the swaybar is a great bargain and a fine performer as well.

go2evo
11-03-2004, 05:21 PM
i'm getting that bar too, did you installed all the way to the stiffest?

vtluu
11-03-2004, 05:44 PM
I've had it on the middle setting so far. Interestingly enough when I had new tires installed yesterday the technicians noticed the right bracket--specifically the part that's attached to the frame with 2 bolts--was broken, snapped cleanly along the part where there's a hole in the middle of the bracket. I'm not sure how or when this happened--maybe it happened before Sunday's autocross because I thought the car a lot less tail happy than I thought it would be. Or maybe it happened when I took a small jump later that day--I heard something snap or impact when I landed but didn't see anything broken when I inspected the car. :oops:

To their credit, I called up Hotchkis's customer service yesterday, and when I told them what had happened, the first question they asked was "Where should we ship the replacement?" :thumbsup:

BluEvo
11-03-2004, 05:46 PM
when i looked under there, i saw that it was set to the middle setting. i too, was thinking of getting that sway bar a couple months ago, but i didn't have much feed back from anyone that had one or installed on. so i will wait for Mr Tam for some feed and review.....

go2evo
11-03-2004, 05:51 PM
there's alot of feedback in evolutionm.net. they are all good feedbacks

EvoVIII
11-03-2004, 07:57 PM
I don't feel a thing when I install my Cusco rear sway......

vtluu
11-03-2004, 08:09 PM
I don't feel a thing when I install my Cusco rear sway......
How did you try it out? Track? Autocross? For the most part you're not going to notice a difference in day-to-day driving.

GokuSSJ4
11-04-2004, 12:08 PM
unless you set it to the stiffest settings( driving on the street you have to be careful) and get the correct alignment for it. the ass should come loose easily making the car turn alot faster.

vtluu
11-06-2004, 11:25 PM
Got the replacement brackets from Hotchkis on Thursday and installed them tonight. The unbroken bracket had cracks in it as well and I believe it was only because the right one broke that stress on the left one was reduced and it hadn't broken--yet. I believe there is a fundamental design flaw in the Hotchkis bracket.

Here's the broken bracket you can see there's a square hole in the bracket that's an obvious weakness:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album203/IMG_0039.sized.jpg

You can also see how soft the metal is from it deforming around the bolt as it was stressed. I torqued the bolt to the factory spec for the bolt that holds the two factory bracket pieces together (19 lb-ft) since Hotchkis didn't give a torque spec. In other words I don't believe the bolt was overtorqued.

Here's a newly-mounted bracket:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album203/IMG_0036.sized.jpg

Now here's the same (side) bracket with a couple weeks of driving and one autocross on it; see how it bent:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album203/IMG_0028.sized.jpg

Here 's a close-up of the bent bracket; see the cracks forming around the square hole:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album203/IMG_0040.sized.jpg

I believe it's only a matter of (short) time before the new brackets break again. I'll be forwarding these images to Hotchkis to see what they have to say. Until/unless they can provide correctly-designed one, I see a few possible courses of action: (a) get a swaybar bracket from WORKS (whose rear swaybar is also 24mm), (b) replace the weak part with a "Home Depot" brand bracket (mending bar), (c) get someone to make me a stronger replacement for the replacement piece. :(

EvoVIII
11-06-2004, 11:36 PM
(D) ask for money back, BTW why didn't u go with Cusco Rear Sway bar?? they are 24mm too

vtluu
11-06-2004, 11:41 PM
Hotchkis was cheaper and more importantly, hollow--much lighter. The swaybar itself is fine... just need a better bracket. Oddly I've never heard anybody else complain about such a problem. Hotchkis has a pretty good rep amongst the autocross people I know.

http://www.hotchkistuning.com/bin/misc_pages/evo8.htm

Takashi
11-07-2004, 01:08 AM
would you have to special request the brackets from works? i dont see it on their website.

i've got a hotchkis bar sitting in my closet....

MarkSAE
11-07-2004, 02:40 AM
I have the WORKS rear sway bar and it reuses the OEM bracket.

vtluu
11-07-2004, 10:59 AM
I have the WORKS rear sway bar and it reuses the OEM bracket.
Interesting... Does it use a new bushing or just squeeze the 24mm swaybar into the factory (22mm) bushing?

I've designed a replacement using eMachineShop's software:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album203/swaybar_brackets.gif

Pricing comes out to something like:
- $124 for 1 set :(
- $33 (each) for 5 sets :)
- $21 (each) for 10 sets :D

If I can find a few other Hotchkis swaybar owners with the same problem it could be cost-effective to fabricate replacements.

wilson1
11-07-2004, 11:02 AM
Tam,
how much lighter is that bar?

vtluu
11-07-2004, 11:11 AM
I didn't weigh them but it feels about the same weight as the factory 22mm bar.

MarkSAE
11-07-2004, 11:31 AM
Interesting... Does it use a new bushing or just squeeze the 24mm swaybar into the factory (22mm) bushing?

I've designed a replacement using eMachineShop's software:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album203/swaybar_brackets.gif

Pricing comes out to something like:
- $124 for 1 set :(
- $33 (each) for 5 sets :)
- $21 (each) for 10 sets :D

If I can find a few other Hotchkis swaybar owners with the same problem it could be cost-effective to fabricate replacements.

The WORKS sway bar comes w/ new bushings that have a larger inside diameter.

What material is the broken bracket made out of? A simple L-shape bracket like that can be made using some steel bar stock you can buy at Home Depot. You can do the 90 degree bend on a vise, cut it to length, and drill the holes yourself. Definitely can be done for cheaper than $124 a set but won't look as pretty.

IMO, a well designed part should not require any tweaking/redesigning by the end user to make work. I think you should just slap the stocker back on and sell the hotchki car w/ the new bracket before it breaks on you again. Then get the WORKS bar. ;)

vtluu
11-07-2004, 11:39 AM
IMO, a well designed part should not require any tweaking/redesigning by the end user to make work.
Agreed... as I said, I've forwarded the info to Hotchkis and I'll see what they have to say...


I think you should just slap the stocker back on and sell the hotchki car w/ the new bracket before it breaks on you again. Then get the WORKS bar. ;)
But it's hollow! And red! ;)

MarkSAE
11-07-2004, 11:47 AM
I guess if Hotchki takes care of this for you, it should be fine. They should definitely foot the bill on this one, not you.

And I hear ya on the red thing. ;)

EvolvedDSM
11-07-2004, 02:49 PM
I have the WORKS rear sway bar and it reuses the OEM bracket.
Interesting... Does it use a new bushing or just squeeze the 24mm swaybar into the factory (22mm) bushing?

If I can find a few other Hotchkis swaybar owners with the same problem it could be cost-effective to fabricate replacements.

WORKS engineered an entirely new bushing to work with the OEM bracket.

RT
11-08-2004, 10:42 PM
Tam-

The reason for your bracket failure is incorrect installation, not incorrect design. You have not completely installed the Hotchkis bracket system properly. I can see you left out two very important pieces that in-fact support the bracket that is bending and breaking.

We’ve run this sway bar (which is some 5 lbs. lighter than stock) for a full racing season including practice every other week or so and road mileage to and from events. We also installed ours when they first came out, no problems.

It also appears (not completely sure) but you have another very important support bolt missing from the forward bracket at the top. Or maybe you just didn’t have it in yet, but your installation of the bracket system is for sure incorrect and the reason for your bracket failure.

Rick

RT
11-08-2004, 11:02 PM
BTW- The deformation around the bolt hole is in-fact a warning sign that way too much load is being transferred to the bracket at that bolt location, not metal that’s too soft. That isn’t happening when you torque the bolts down, its happening when you drive the car. The bracket is being twisted apart because the piece that it lays in as a guide and support has not been installed behind it.

I can see from the first photo posted in this thread it was wrong from the start, all you did was put the new piece back in the same way you did the job the first time.

I’ll take a photo of a correct, complete installation of the bracket system tomorrow and send to someone that can post an image.

Rick

vtluu
11-08-2004, 11:15 PM
Holy crap, you're right, I just rechecked the instructions and I really goofed it up. D'oh!

Takashi
11-09-2004, 12:04 AM
that sux tam, fix it! :)

plus you really worried me there for a second!

vtluu
11-09-2004, 01:13 AM
All right, one hour later and I've remounted the swaybar correctly this time. Luckily I was able to recover the bracket pieces before they got bent up again. I'd overlooked the fact that I was supposed to re-use part of the factory bracket. Boy do I feel stupid. Must read the instructions more carefully next time! :oops:

vtluu
11-09-2004, 01:27 AM
Oh and thanks Rick for spotting my mistake! :bow:

RT
11-09-2004, 07:57 AM
Cool Tam, you’re certainly welcome. I hadn’t been able to follow-up on threads lately and was catching up on some reading late last night when I saw your additional problems, saw the pics and said OMG! :shock:

We’ve raced with this bar all season, no problems, you should be O.K. from here on out. 8)