I bought a set of Hotchkis sway bars. The front has 4 holes for adjustment. The most foward hole puts the end link in a very sharp foward angle . I am using the new Powergrid end links. Is there anything negative with the end link being at such a sharp angle? The lower end link attachment point is running running out of room to articulate. Could this cause a problem?

JET

 

make sure the endlinks are installed with the car in the air, but on a platform of some sort (ie on a lift, etc). The suspension must be loaded before you can torque the endlink down to final spec. The endlink should be perpendicular to the ground when you torque everything down

 

There is no setting except the lnext to ast hole in the sway bar (rear) where the end link could possibly be perpendicular to the ground.

I installed the bars on an alignment rack so there was weight on the wheels.

JET

 

You're right....I ran into the same situation with the Hotchkis sways I just purchased. If you follow the instructions provided by Hotchkis and install the end link in the hole position furtherest forward on the front bar, the endlink will bind and probably snap off.

The same is true with the rear. Hotchkis recommends the rearmost hole. If you do that the endlink is cocked like a bastard. In my opinion, any position other than straight up and down with the endlink basically renders the sway bars useless.

I used the second hole from the rear and it seems to line up fairly well. These sways are not multi-position adjustable as advertised.

 

I just got off the phone with Hotckis tech support. He stated the end link does not need to be prependicular to the ground. It can be as much as 30 degrees from perpendicular. The end link should however have enough articulation not to reach it's limit when moving.

The end link in the first hole on the sway bar put's the angle past 30 degrees I believe I will have to take some pics. It looked like there was little articulation left in the lower end link attached to the lower control arm.

But.... if there is a limit to the angle from perpendicular for the end link that means that as you get farther away from perpendicular the less the endlink can do it's job.

I don't understand aftermarket companies. Why would they put a hole in the sway bar you can't use? WTF!

JET

 

so in conclusion which hole for the front and back sway bar? i will order these sway bars soon i heard they are good

 

hey JET...how did this turn out...?

 

I am running the end links in the second hole from the front on the front bar, and the middle hole on the rear bar. The car was tracked liek that and the settings worked nicely.

JET

 

+1 I am using the same settings...

 

I guess now I don't feel as bad having the "older" 3-hole version.

 

3 hole? That is so yesterday!

JET























J/K

 

jet you have any pics of the holes your using?

 

^

 

Did you have any issue with the thread not being long enough to engage the blue lock on the nut? I installed my Powergrid endlinks on Cobb front sway bar (the blue version of the Hotchkis) and it was perfect the first day and has developed a rattle since then.. I'll get it in the air when I get home to confirm what is coming loose.

 

the threads on the endlinks are sufficiently long to grab the nyloc insert - it doesn't need to come to the end of the nut, as that's what the nyloc is there for, to ensure it doesn't come loose once properly torqued

 

I think my rattle was coming from the nuts on the center adjustable rod of the endlinks (the jam nuts). I tightened those up and so far, the rattle is gone. The nuts connecting to the sway bar and the control arm were just as tight as I left them.

 

On my fronts after persistent loosening of the nyloc nuts on the lower arm pivots I finally went to steel locking nuts and have had no issue since. For some reason the nyloc over the long haul wasn't working for me even with enough torque. The nuts are similar to these -



No big deal, my end links and bars work great. Previously I actually damaged one of the stock end links in the rear, when I removed it the pivot was frozen as through it was deformed or bent. I used middle hole in the rear and still do, started on 2nd stiffest in front and backed off to #2 (next to least stiff) due to some of that beam feeling where one wheel hits a bump and the other one moves, too.



Here's the org nyloc bolt and there's plenty of thread, it just wouldn't stick for me.



Man I think it's time to ditch the stock dampers for some new ones, almost 60k and they're pretty toast.

 

I put mine on a few weeks back - I didn't feel too confident on the nylon holding with such minimum thread engagement so I put some good old Locktite on the stud.

 

just installed hotchkis sways 2 weeks ago. Used a jack and jackstands and followed their instruction sheets.

Those directions said nothing about loading suspension before torqueing.

I have them set second hole from front in front and first hole (softest) rear.

They seem to work just fine and I rechecked torques after a week.

Sunday is my first AX with them.

 

The Hotchkis instructions don't say anything about loading the suspension - it's part of the Powergrid endlink install process. These are adjustable endlinks which allow you to preload the swaybar.

When you install the sways, because both endlinks are the same length, there is no torsion through the bar. Once you sit in the car, the swaybar gets loaded by the force exerted on the front by your weight. The adjustable endlinks allow you to take that load back out by lengthing/shortening the endlink. Now, with you in the seat and the car sitting flat, there should be no loads on the swaybar.