I just installed the front sway bars by hotchkis, and christ, those bolts that held the bracket on would not give. I had my ratchet and my breaker bar and I huffed and puffed and was barely able to get the 2 my new impact wrench couldnt get an angle at.

Who else was force to go buy an impact wrench for their car? I must say, $100 for the cordless, $50 more for the impact sockets (dont use 1/4" that you already have!!!), and those bolts did come off licky quick. Now I can make believe im in a pit crew for my tires.

On a side note, i put the front at hole 3 (80%) and the backs at hole 2 (80%). and WOW, i can feel the difference when i pull a hard turn.

 

I already had one. It's essential to working on cars!

 

it is! I dont like that i had to spend $150 after barely starting the install, but it would be good to have.

Also, i reinstalled the huge plastic cover only to see that the two side plastic gaurds were off. At that point I said the hell with it, im not going to use those. Does anybody else do this?

 

However you should be able to get those nuts off with a breaker bar and some WD40 as that was the way I was able to get them off, if you still were having issues with getting them off with the breaker bar grab a pipe to slip over the breaker bar to give you more length.

 

Great tool.

Many members do not understand how an impact tool works. High torque - impact last a millisecond - moves the nut a fraction of a millimetre. Repeat 60 times/second.

You can achieve the same torque with a breaker bar. Difference being that the bar applies torque slowly, and may round the nut.

 

or not release rust and snap the bolt!

 

I used liquid wrench, not sure if that helped or not. still, it made the bolts look cleaner tho

 

Handles no better than stock, actually worse since the stiffer bars will not let you have as much camber gain as you had with stock bars. You also still have the same amount of understeer that you had before. Go to a softer front bar setting , let the tire grab more and reduce understeer.

The stiffer the bar, the more traction you remove from that wheel and the more camber you will need.

 

An impact wrench is the perfect way to break a stuck-on bolt. You do better with a penetrating lube and slow steady force from a breaker bar.

 

This. I just replaced my front end links and changed the setting to medium from stiff - car turns in so much better now.

 

PB Blaster is your friend!

But on a serious note, my 15 gallon air compressor and pnuematic impact gun were one of the first tools that i ever bought! Its really more of a necessity than anything else...

 

so stiff up front, medium in rear? I ve heard people on this forum say that 80/80 was the way to go for the hotchkis and that they too felt alot better. Now you say that it handles no differently and its all in their heads?

/confused

 

You'd be surprised what can be in some people's heads o.O I wouldn't doubt terrasmak's knowledge on the subject though. Think about everything people do to their cars and claim gains, yet can't show any.

I adjusted mine to be medium rear and 1 from full soft up front. Gave me a bit more oversteer, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Though now I realize my rear tires are crap...

 

can't say i've ever used a electric impact gun? or thought they worth any good.

Im hoping to go air this winter. just gotta pick a tank & stop spending on the car.

 

Best 2 investments i have made, my 33 gallon compressor tank and my campbell hausfell impact gun.

 

I always use power tools as an absolute last resort OR if I know the bolts not too rusty. All my friends make fun of me because jobs take me longer than them... But I've never broken a bolt, never cross threaded a bolt, and only rounded less than a handful. Meanwhile, they've all had bolts snap/cross thread/etc.

Set the front a bit softer. When the rear is stiffer than the front, the car will generally tend to oversteer.

Enjoying oversteer is probably why your tires are crap!!

I've used electric impacts with pretty good success. Air is more powrful, but electrics are way more portable.

 

sounds like you need a gym membership ive never needed power tools for anything and i have intake exhaust hfc and swaybars just start early soak everything in pb blaster way before you start and just do work no breaker bar needed exept for top bolts on the cat

 

I was never "forced" to buy an impact wrench. I bought an air compressor and various air tools several years ago. I consider them to be very important tools in my garage and hope I never have to do without them.

 

Battery powered impact is the greatest thing in the world for removing wheels. When I used to autocross regularly and did more track days, I was swapping wheels practically every weekend. It's gets old doing all that by hand.

 

I've translated this post for everyones benefit: