Who has the best deals on hotchis sways and springs?

Hotchkis Sways - $299 shipped:

http://www.z1auto.com/prodmore.asp?m...ng&prodid=1345

Hotchkis Springs - $184 shipped

http://www.z1auto.com/prodmore.asp?m...ng&prodid=1343

Hotchkis TVS (Sway and spring package) - $439 shipped

http://www.z1auto.com/prodmore.asp?m...ng&prodid=1344

all in stock

Thanks for the thorough info, Z1. I am leaning towards that Sway and spring package. Might as well do it right. Will I need a camber kit? Can I perform this work on my own? I am pretty handy with a tool and usually can get through a project with a little coaching/instruction. Oh, I presume this set-up will work on a 2003 Enthusiast, is that correct?

Yep these fit all Z's, coupe and convertible, from 2003 and up.

Install is easy - if you are even remotely handy, it should be no problem to install. With air tools and even just jack stands, it's about a 2 hour job for springs and sways together.

As far as rear camber, with stock wheels and tires you should be ok, though each car is different, so it's best to have alignment checked after install (drive around for a day or so to allow the strut mounts to settle back into place as that will establish your final ride height). With aftermarket wheels and tires, basically speaking the more aggressive your wheel tire combo, the more likely it is you'll need a rear camber kit. If needed, we have a TON of the SPC kits in stock

I am not sure I understand that statement... If there is a bump across the whole lane, I agree the sways are not doing anything. But if there is a bump on one side of the lane so that only one side of the car hits it, the the sway bar will come into play.

I am just confused about my 06's suspension. I know that the rear end seems really firm. It's either the shocks or the springs.

I am not convinced that it is because of springs. On the surface it may seem that way; the 06 spring rates being considerably higher in the rear seems like a likely candidate, but keep in mind the location of the rear spring with respect to the pivot point of the rear lower spring tray and the location of the wheel where the force is exerted. The rear tires have more leverage on the rear springs so they should be higher. The front suspension has less leverage on the front spring, so the uneven spring rates would seem ideal.

It could be that there is too much compression damping in the rear shocks and not enough rebound damping.

I really don't want my car much lower than OEM. I already scrape the front bumper here and there. I want to think that new shocks could help the way it handles. But I am hoping someone else has already done the trial and error so I don't have to. Has anyone tried changing shocks only on the 06z to see if that maked a difference?

I am considering going with Koni SA. I liked them on the M3 with fairly soft springs, but I did not dial in too much rebound damping. just a bit and they felt good.

The sway bars just is to reduce body roll through being stiffer to "twist" vs not having a swaybar. The thicker you make the swaybar, or the larger in diameter or the more inboard you make the fulcrum point, the more resistance to twist the bar has and the less body roll you have.

You are not looking at the car as if it has an independant rear suspension - the scenario you describe is precisely the issue with solid axle rears (generally speaking, though some cars emply a single beam axle with suspension mounting that rivals a true independant rear).

In your instance where you complain about rubbing things, I'd just leave the car stock suspension wise. While an aftermarket set of shocks might work well, the inherent issues that the early Z's had (highway bounce) are gone on the later model cars, and any handling woes would be easier solved by swapping to a better overal tire with a stiffer sidewall than stock.

I'm seriously thinking about buying and installing this Hotchkis Stage 1 TVS Kit. My only concerns are i want to keep my rear 06 springs since they are much stiffer than the Hotchkis. And will i have to get an alignment done.

http://www.intensepower.com/host1tvskit3.html

Oem springs 350Z 2004.5 to 2006
314 front / 427 rear

Hotchkis 350Z Linear springs .6”/.8” drop on 350Z
Spring rates in lbs
340 front / 330 rear

Say what?

You want to use Hotchkis front springs but use your stock springs on the rear?

That will look horrible and probably handle like total ass.

I thought I was bad by thinking it would be cool to use the 1" drop Eibachs on the rear and the Hotchkis' fronts but your car would looked totally raked. Like the car from Starsky and Hutch:(

:+1:

Nice Starsky and Hutch reference.

Sometimes we need to think outside of the box.

Hotchkis drop front and rear is .6/.8

If one wants to keep their oem rear springs and run the hotchkis front springs, all you do is cut down the oem rear upper spring seats with a hacksaw and do a little bit of finishing work with a dremel. Youll end up with the same exact .8" rear drop, but with oem rear springs.

I am just saying that in real-world handling, there is a point of diminishing returns with sways. I agree that with the thicker the sway, the less body-roll, but the trade-off is that with thicker sways, the more closely you couple your left and right suspension on a particular axle and the less independent-suspension feel you have driving on straight, bumpy roads. You might want this on a track, but it might not be good for real-world handling.

I think the bounce is back with the 06's. They are sooo bouncy in the rear, it's not funny. I was able to spot my wife in her 06 z at night about 1/4 mile in front of me on the highway. hers was the car with the headlight beam pattern bouncing up and down like a slammed civic with old, worn-out shocks bouncing off the bump stops (Highway 85 south in the bay area- locals know what I'm talking about). It's that bad

Also, I have the GT, which has the 245/40-18 front stretched onto 9" wide wheel and 265/35-19 rear stretched onto a 10" wide wheel. Also, it comes with the RE050a, which is much better than the RE040. When these wear out, I'll be going with PS2's, which manage to have a fairly soft sidewall, but have very good turn-in response (black magic or something)

so what would be a good mild strut setup? I have been running hotchkis on my stock struts for over a year now and the car is starting to feel bouncy to me, I want to get rid of these 03 struts. I would consider a whole new spring/strut package but that doesnt seem necessary.