wow.. good deal. i'm surprised the ride quality wasn't comprimised too much by dropping the car more than 1.5 inches and leaving the stock shocks on. awesome!!

 

First off I want to say sorry to Smash for letting her down on the pictures, I've been super duper busy working 72 hours a week at a new job and I just spent the weekend in Fl. Moving on, I love the Hotchkis springs! They car corners great now and I haven't been able to lose traction on a dry surface yet, and I only have the springs.

That said, The only times I can tell that my car is lowered are when
a. I have 4 or more people in my car, the stock shocks really can't control the rebound in this situation and the back bounces up and down and some times bottoms out on the bump stops when going over speed bumps.
b. going over speed bumps the back bounces almost all the way down then back up and down one more time

Both of these situations can be cured with some stiffer shocks, like the TRDs or whatever comes out in the future, which I plan to get when mine wear out.

Also you will definately have to get an alignment after the drop, especially in the back, there is some negative camber and it seems like the rear wheels also have some toe-in.

Get these springs, I love em!

 

i haven't experienced the bottoming out that English has--I haven't had four people in the car. But, I did get an alignment when I was done. I didn't have any camber issue, but the toe-in was adjusted.

 

First off, GREAT POST!!

How did you "fix" the toe-in? did you buy a camber kit?

 

It is my understanding that toe (in or out) is a different adjustment than camber, which controls how perpendicular the tire is with the ground and not where it is pointed. So, no camber kit was needed. The car was aligned well within spec (a bit better than when it was delivered) after installation of the springs and without the need of any camber kit.

 

I've had them for a while and i love them.....

Before:


After:

 

wow.. another great shot of the Hotchkis. those rock my world, and look perfect with 18's!!! PS English its all good I understand the busy life and whatnot, if you get a chance to post pics please do; the more the merrier!


And along the lines of the toe out/in situation.. is that something a shop will know how to adjust, like say I have these springs installed and then the car aligned at the same time- they'll fix all that, right? again, sorry don't know a thing about installing suspension parts.

 

Some shops can do both--install and alignment--and some can't. It's just a matter of whether they have the necessary equipment.

After my install, I simply took my RS to the best independent tire/suspension shop around and paid for as four-wheel alignment.

 

 

bump




English-- any pics yet? pretty please?

 

Great pics!! I just ordered my Hotchkis!!

 

wow...sorry i'll post/type properly from now on..lol...Anyways i finally installed my Hotchkis springs on my tC like a couple of weeks ago. I mixed them with TRD shocks & in my opinion they run pretty smooth, minor bobble-head action when you drive over a bumpy pothole filled roads but thats expected if you change your stock-suspenion. The only other dropped tC i been in was lowered with Teins S-Techs (&TRD Shocks). If i had to compare the two i would have to say that the ride in the Hotchkis lowered tC is a little more smoother compared to the Teins lowered tC. Also the Hotchkis's drop isn't as low Teins drop so you don't have to do all those extreme manevouring to get over speedbumps.

 

thanks for the input.. could you post pictures please?

 

Mine come in on Monday should be installed the same day or on Tuesday. Can't wait...

 

cool.. you should post pics too!!

 

Well, I won the crossword puzzle contest... so hopefully my springs will be soon on their way.

Now I just have to do the install...

I'm fairly mechanical and should be able to figure it out. Depend on when they arrive, I'll probably go to my mom's - they have a huge garage with any tool I could need. Except maybe a spring compressor or something (will I need one for sure?). I could probably borrow one from AutoZone or something though. Any other special tools I should prepare to have? I'm going to start checking over install how-to's and stuff, but if anyone has any suggestions or tips - please do share.

EDIT: Ok... so I read through the Hotchkis PDF instructions from their website. And I read through the Spring Install in the Tech section here (though it was for an xB). Are there any similarities? The one here in the Tech section seems a bit easier... without having to use a spring compressor and just dropping the bottom parts. Anyone have any suggestions on this part?

 

hey can anyone post pics with these things on if you have teh stock 17" rims?

 

bump for more pics.. (those of you who said you were getting them installed shortly!!)


thanks!

 

That reminds me... let me PM Troy and see where my springs are. If I get them this week, I'll install this weekend.

 

Mine are installed, but I need to wash my car before I post pics.