Hey guys,

So I am concerned there may be a problem with my new Hotchkis sway bars. They don't make noise at all driving around town but when I go over a speed bump in my parking garage I get a small clunk sound from the front of the car, my car is lowered slightly so is it possible its a clearance issue or are they not installed correctly? I would think if there was a problem with the installment it would make more noise. Never happened before with the stock sways.

 

If you put the endlinks in the holes Hotchkis recommends, (furthest forward on the front bar), the endlink is probably binding when the suspension goes through a jounce and rebound (ie, over the speed bump). I just installed a set of Hotchkis sways on my 2006 Z and noticed the endlink on the front bar is at an extreme angle when placed in the hole furthest forward.

I sent an e-mail message to tech support at Hotchkis about the sitution and no response as of yet. If you read through a number of treads on the subject, there are numerous compliants of noise after installing Hotchkis sways.

Maybe if the 350Z community decides to stop buying Hotchkis, they'll respond to the noise issue and we'll get some answers.

Try placing the endlinks in the most vertical position and see if your noise goes away.

 

I have a clunk, Add more grease and see if it goes away.

 

thanks guys, ill have the shop take a look

 

There is a whole other thread about this here:
https://my350z.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5032018

I don't think this is a Hotchkiss specific issue, they just happen to be quite popular.

Also, although it is not clear because the manual was not rewritten for the 4 whole bars, Hotchkiss recommends the third whole from the end of the bar on the front. The forth hole from the end is for the heavier G35. Besides, most don't complain about the front bar.

Dspiel, I noticed you joined in 2002, I don't know when you got your car and I don't know when they changed it but when I got replacement end links from Nissan for my 2004.5, the new ones had joints twice the size of the old ones. This leads me to believe Nissan knows the older ones did not stand up to the stress of the Z.

Chris

 

the end link problem is not related to Hotchkis. it is a common problem across manufacturers... it's simply that the end links were designed for a stock bar.

SPL makes replacements and now I saw Z-1 auto is selling some... and hypersprite says Nissan upgraded them so you have options to upgrade.

 

i have an 06.5 =)