Hotchkis Sway Bars

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:46 pm

wait, did you just speed away all quick like or what?

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:40 pm

No I kind of sat there for a second wondering what happened then drove off before the cops were called.

What aftermarket struts can I run to keep my SRT rims and TIRES? 215-50-17

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:53 pm

coilovers FTW man. i love them. the ride is a tad bit stiff but i can live with it to have my car handle like it does

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:55 pm

Will it run my tire size? I just realized I have really tall tires now.

Guy at the junkyard wants $85 for ONE SRT strut. Fuck!

OB · Post by OB » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:55 pm

Holy

They gave you enough confidence to drive up a curb? I gotta get me some of those! lol

Regarding the adjustment, the further you mount the bar from the struts, the more the bar will twist, resulting in less spring. 'Race' adjustment would be on the closest hole to the actual lateral portion of the bar.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:45 pm

Your directions are as confusing as the instructions to me LOL

Okay let's say this is:

O - Hole 1 nearest Engine 0 - Hole 2 towards bumper

WHICH IS STREET SETTING?

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:55 pm

Adionik wrote:Will it run my tire size? I just realized I have really tall tires now.

Guy at the junkyard wants $85 for ONE SRT strut. Fuck!

yeah, they're expensive but a nce upgrade

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:05 am

Yeah megan racing

how much did you pay? shiiiiiit time to put my stock neon strut that I took a BFH to and see if it will fix things a bit

gilly02le · Post by **gilly02le** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:06 am

hole closest to engine is street, hole closest to back bumper, is race.

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:19 am

take those bars off and send them to me before you get overconfident again and hurt yourself or someone else, please.

Oh yeah, this thread is worthless without pics.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:20 am

gilly02le wrote:hole closest to engine is street, hole closest to back bumper, is race.

You are my hero. And I did put it as so.

Wenuden - Screw you.

It's stupid ass reviews and zealous owners that got me thinking the damn car would handle like I thought it would.

Honestly if 3 out of my 4 tires weren't bald I don't think we'd talk about it...

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:15 am

Adionik wrote:Yeah megan racing

how much did you pay? shiiiiiit time to put my stock neon strut that I took a BFH to and see if it will fix things a bit

this is what i paid for them...

http://www.turboneonstore.com/customer/ ... at=0&page=

it took them a while to get here, but then again i'm in frickin WI

pyro · Post by **pyro** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:38 pm

Adionik wrote:It's stupid ass reviews and zealous owners that got me thinking the damn car would handle like I thought it would.

Honestly if 3 out of my 4 tires weren't bald I don't think we'd talk about it...

Okay do I get this right? You had bald tires, but sprung for sweet new sways.
You took your car off road because on the interwebnet, it said you should be able to make the corner at high speed.
You have bald, mismatched tires and are pricing SRT struts, for future rematch with said corner.

Might have made more sense to me when I was 18, but I don't think so!

edit: BTW-if you didn't understand what OB said, physics are not your friend, and you should drive slower

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:31 am

I have 4 brand new tires sitting in my garage. They were originally supposed to go in that day, but didn't because I took that stupid turn too quick.

I already have SRT struts all the way around.

And I have NOOOO intentions of taking that corner again.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:36 am

it's all good man. you learned your lesson and nobody got hurt. i always hate when people admit that they make a mistake and catch flack for it. i'm sure that even with the nice sways you'll be a little more consrvative with driving now

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:27 am

No shit...guess I need some more grill mesh to please the 30+ plus crowd

asanti · Post by **asanti** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:35 am

Adionik Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:27 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No shit...guess I need some more grill mesh to please the 30+ plus crowd

Hey now... I'm over 30.... and I'm not keen on grille mesh.

Later
Allex

pyro · Post by **pyro** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:16 pm

Sorry, I missed that you had the struts already. No rematch with corner, even on good rubber? Coilovers?
You let that corner beat you psychologically.

Grill mesh on '02 best $30 spent on car!

I pushed the front end halfway through an intersection yesterday taking a left turn at a light way too hot. I thought of you just as it caught traction and finally rotated, then floored it, making my escape with the driver's side lighting up. Apparently tires aren't so good either.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:51 pm

See i hear about that throttle taking you out of the turns...I think they mean BEFORE all hell breaks loose? I really need to learn how to drive. I do all my "practice" driving late at night so I don't injure anyone. But I deffinetely don't know how to drive this car to it's full potential.

$30 bucks!? DAMN! I know that shit was expensive. I got SRT grill mesh for $10 shipped...I thought the guy was scammer but he pulled through and I was happy haha.

I am thinking about getting coilovers. They are adjustable right? That's what all the fuss is about? You can drop it in an instant?

I will NOT be going back to that corner even when I put my new rubbers on...haha. I've learned my lesson the hard way.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:24 pm

Adionik wrote:See i hear about that throttle taking you out of the turns...I think they mean BEFORE all hell breaks loose? I really need to learn how to drive. I do all my "practice" driving late at night so I don't injure anyone. But I deffinetely don't know how to drive this car to it's full potential.

$30 bucks!? DAMN! I know that shit was expensive. I got SRT grill mesh for $10 shipped...I thought the guy was scammer but he pulled through and I was happy haha.

I am thinking about getting coilovers. They are adjustable right? That's what all the fuss is about? You can drop it in an instant?

I will NOT be going back to that corner even when I put my new rubbers on...haha. I've learned my lesson the hard way.

yeah, it's just a matter of removing the wheel to adjust the ride hight. also adjusting the stiffness is nice too. the only thing though, is once you drop it technically you need an alignment to fix the negative camber. and when you go back up you need another alignment.

pyro · Post by **pyro** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:46 pm

"Sports car and competition driving" by Paul Frere. It is a little RWD biased, and is very old(my dad had a copy I read years ago!) but has good info about all cars. Nightime is good, watch for reflections on guardrails and telephone lines that give away oncoming traffic early.

Weight transfer is a major key to 'spirited' driving.
On the gas hard at low speed unloads the front and will cause massive understeer, and even FWD wheelspin without LSD.
On the brakes hard into a turn at speed unloads the rear and, whoop, it tries to beat the front around the corner.

Sways and stiffer springs keep the car more level to reduce these tendencies, but it still has to be taken into account. You can do a lot to your cars handling for free by staggering tire pressures front-back by a few PSI. Lowering PSI in the back makes it more compliant, and will come around quicker, without actually breaking loose.

I try to do the major portion of braking before entering a corner at higher speeds to prevent losing the back end, but at lower speeds the weight thrown to the front during entry can be helpful to get more bite with the front, to change direction.
I'm glad you don't take me too seriously & realize I'm just giving you shit above. I've done some things I am way too embarrased to put in print.

Here's one from the archive, but wasn't me: My parents bought a '89 probe GT brand new, the good kind with the turbo mazda motor. My dad was screwing around (after only a week) on a backroad and got scared halfway through a fairly tight LH downhill corner and lifted off the gas. Weight transfer and compression braking brought the back end around quicker than we could say OH$HIT! Stayed on the pavement, barely, but used both lanes during the spin, I would have been killed by an oncoming car. Had to promise not to tell mom.

Have fun, but stay safe.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:51 pm

After having installed my new tires and gotten an alignment and balance.

HOLY SHIT these bars rock. I don't break the end loose anymore and the car handles like it's on rails...but i'm still scared to let her really rip. I might one of these days and see what happens.

BTW running 215-50-17 I feel a little more performance loss...

OB · Post by OB » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:14 am

gilly02le wrote:hole closest to engine is street, hole closest to back bumper, is race.

bingo

gilly02le · Post by **gilly02le** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:03 am

once i drill out my front sway bar bolts, that snapped off in the k-member.. ill be getting some new sways too.. Poor engineering ftl! lol

TN.Frank · Post by **TN.Frank** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:57 am

So will these also work on an SXT? That's a pretty good price, might have to sell a few things to pick a set up. It also sounds like you need to get the car re-alined after you put them on, is that about right.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:39 pm

Yeah they will work on any neon. The only thing that might hold you back is rear strut tabs that hold the rear sway bar in. Other than that it's 100% bolt on.

I got my car re-aligned with new tires and everything yesterday but it still feels kinda shaky at high speeds...must be the UDP affecting the power steering?

TN.Frank · Post by **TN.Frank** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:28 pm

If anything wouldn't the UDP affect the power steering at low speed?? Did you make sure they high speed spun ballanced the tires? Sometimes if they just static ballance em' they'll still be a little out of ballance at high speed.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:24 pm

I have no idea how they did it. I'm thinking the UDP is doing the steering problem in general.

BTW I am running a 5mm spacer on the driver side to clear the tire.

Would the suspension be better balance if I put another 5mm on the passenger side despite clearance?

TN.Frank · Post by **TN.Frank** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:43 pm

I don't know, it doesn't seem like 5mm would make that much of a difference.
I have a question. Since I've got an SXT I've got anti-sway bars both front and rear. I'm getting some body sway in corners when I push it just a bit and would like to get rid of as much of it as I can. Would I be better off getting the heavier ainti-sway bar kit you're talking about here or would it help a lot just to get the front and rear upper strut bar supports.
These things:
http://www.modernperformance.com/produc ... 6e5d67b139

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:54 pm

With just stiff lowering springs, strut tower braces and stock sways, body roll is almost nonexistent on the srt.

Frank, have you looked under the rear of your car? Neons stopped having rear sways in '01 or '02, I believe. I know my '05 sxt didn't have one.

If you go with strut tower bars, I'd suggest dc sports brand from www.titanmotorsports.com, the same place Adionik got his sways. On the few parts they have, most of the prices can't be beat for brand new products.