i have an 05 base and im wondering which should i first buy as my suspension mod. Coilovers or sways? im planning on getting the tein basics for coilovers and if i was going for sways i was planning to pick up the hothkis sways. Which should i do first? sways or coilovers first?

 

not sure........id say sways.......Hothkis rocks ruff(love the hell out of them)

 

in my honest opinion
i'd say get some nice quality coilovers
and you may not need sway bars at all.
my z corners flat. so i don't have any issues and did not feel that an aftermarket sway bar was necessary

 

Got the Tein basics first and cornering was great compared to stock. Have yet to get the Hotchki's sways. I still feel pretty confident going into turns, the handling is alot more predictable.

I say it really depends.
If you're just driving on the street for now and driving in moderation, hit up the coilovers first.

If you want to do some heavy canyon carving/ autocross/ or track, go with the sways since you'll notice the tight handling right away.

I also do agree with the guy above me, a great set of coilovers....Zeals, HKS, Tein Flex can also be a marked improvement.

 

ask yourself this..how much budget do you have any what are you trying to accomplish?

And do your research on the sways.....Hotchkis are good, but many have had issues with them due to the poor design around the collar.

 

the hotchkis TVS1 package is very awesome from what i hear(i only have the sways).............comes with the springs and sways will run you about 300 bucks

 

Hotchkis sways are around $300....the TVS is more

 

I'd pick up a set of HKS Hypermax or JIC FLTA N2's and if u want to stay tein go FLEX at least......
Tein basic doesnt have great spring rate ...
I agree that you might not need swaybars after coilover install...
My Z handles like its on rails and damn roll is minimal even on softest setting...
For oversteer imo... get coils set rear on stiff and get a rear sway bar and leave front stock...

 

+1 for Hotchkis sways

 

i've done research and i haven't found anything that was so much of a worry to steer me away from the hotchkis, can you fill me in? i know you like the cusco sways. can you tell me the pro's and con's of both sways? as well as price difference.

 

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....tchkis+collars

I've seen this first hand as well on a car...the swaybar walking from side to side. It should never do this.

The Hotchkis are hollow...so they weigh less. Some see this as an advantage - I personally don't but it's a matter for discussion I suppose. To me, a solid bar, like Cusco or Progress, are the way to go. Simply more durable, and far less likely to have any defects during manufacturing, or bend, move with use. Weight is an important factor with unsprung items - wheels, for example. A sway bar, however is sprung weight. As such, the weight will have no affect on how the suspension reacts. In my eyes (others may disagree), I see the hollow bars as being a good marketing tool, but not having any plausible benefit vs a solid bar. The solid bar, aside from being far less likely to fail, has the added bonus of physically lowering the car's CG. Whether this is noticeable to you is another question to debate

To me, it's all about the stiffness. Not sure if anyone has ever done a good swaybar database comparing actual bar diameters, the materials used, etc but it would be a very good asset for those looking to get the most out of the suspension

 

I just bought the Hotckis TVS 1 kit ($400) and also got the McMaster collars ($35); both prices included shipping. I agree that the wieght reduction due to the sway bar being hollow doesn't have as much of an impact b/c it's not a rotational weight, but every pound counts. The main reason I went with it was the price vs. performance. I'm on a limited budget, and ppl have all had good reviews on the Hotckis springs and sways...some may like other brands more, but you'd have to pay a few hundred for them.

-my $0.02

 

Sways.

 

my last concern in regards to hothkis vs cusco is what happens if i buy the sways and then i get some coilovers later on. will any of them not go hand and hand and actually make my suspension setup worse.

cuz from what i read is that the cusco rear is not adjustable.

another concern is that i read that cuscos sways may be too aggressiver? someone actually said causing too much oversteer?

 

the adjustability has to only do with the number of holes on the "ear" of the sway itself. By adding more holes to the mounting ear (where the sway connects to the endlink), you alter the effective stiffening % of the bar itself, relative to the stock bar. I've had customers drill an extra set of holes in their Cusco rear to gain one position of adjustment, but frankly, I have not seen the need to do so. The rear bar seems to be a good % stiffer than stock, but not overly so that it causes issues.

As for being "too aggressive", I completely disagree. I've now used these with a variety of alignment settings, several different tires, and 2 different sets of coilovers, on both daily driving (lots of rain), and track, and my car is extremely neutral. Remember, your sways, springs, alignment, tires, all work together - neither is a magic cure all, and in order to dial the car in well, you first need to identify what you wish the car would do better than it currently does.