Re: A few questions about the Hotchkis suspension kit

From: Gary Pinkley (gapinkley@earthlink.net)
Date: Wed Jun 16 1999 - 01:24:04 EDT


> 1. Will the rear sway bar work with an aftermarket exhaust? Namely, the
> split-rear Gibson system?

Aftermarket exhausts are a tough problem. Many companies in their effort to
make an easy to make (i.e. cheaper) tailpipe will 'cheat' on the axle loop.
The rear bar design is loosely based on the factory's original design. The
bushings that Steve had hitting reside in the factory bar's location. It's
just when your dealing with a lowered truck, many times the exhaust routing
isn't optimized for the lowered height. Any competent exhaust shop should
be able to accomodate you.

> 2. The August issue of Sport Trucks, which features Gary's Dak, makes
> mention of "specially tuned Bilstein" shock absorbers. Are or will these
be
> available to us?

I am really close on my tuning of these custom shocks. They need a few more
small 'tweaks' before I'll approve them for production. The fronts are the
same length as stock, but the rears are shorter. The off-the-shelf
Bilsteins will run right to full compression travel when you run shorter
rear bump stops.

> 3. Will a front-end alignment be necessary after installing the front
> springs?

Whenever you change any suspension components, you should always realign
your truck, regardless of whose parts you use. Vehicles that run R/T-like
offset wheels will need to use some more aggressive alignment settings to
help keep the tires from hitting the fenders when you lower the truck

-Gary Pinkley



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