Ned Buckmaster wrote:
> I did the Hotchkis sway bars and shocks when I first bought my truck and ran
> it like that for years. Early this year I installed the springs (and
> differently valved Bilstiens). The sway bars helped considerably over stock,
> but don't come close to the entire combination. However, it is much stiffer
> than the stock springs were. The Hotchkis springs come with 4 spacers on
> each side to adjust the ride height. Another plus is that the Hotchkis
> springs are much, much quieter than the stock springs were; I really had no
> idea how noisy the stocks were until I switched them.
I really liked that Hotchkis does an complete package. Always figured
the sway bars could be bigger too.
> Another thing that surprised me; It becomes very difficult to get the spare
> tire out with dual rear exhaust, tow hitch, and a lowered truck!
Just have to avoid getting a flat then :-) I guess you could jack the
rear of the truck before dropping the spare.
> An air compressor and a good, big floor jack will help a lot. I did both
> front and rear in my garage. I also replaced both upper ball joints at the
> same time - I noticed one was incredibly loose when I took the front end
> apart.
Got both of those. Haven't noticed any issues with ball joints, but I
haven't been under there in a while.
> I haven't scraped anything yet, but the front license plate holder clears
> the sidewalk at Walgreens by about 1/4 inch. It IS much easier to wash
> now...
Already tore mine off once (and got a ticket for forgetting to put it
back on) and mine's stock height.
> My wife didn't like the way it swayed in corners before; she likes the
> handling much better now but thinks it rides pretty hard over bumps. We take
> her lowered Integra on long trips now as before - besides, it gets twice the
> mileage.
Our long trips usually include a ton of gear, which should smooth out
the ride anyway. Even stock suspension improves when I put the cap on as
the weight settles it down a bit.
Looks like Hotchkis is the way to go - no one seems to have any bad
feelings about it.
Rob S.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 01 2004 - 00:15:16 EDT