After a lot of thought and me already autocrossing, I'm going for the Hotchkis both hotchkis sway bars. I'm running the TRD Springs and struts so my question to you guys who are running them: how is the softer settings. I want something better than TRD but not to the extreme. I'm assuming any setup with the Hotchkis is going to be better than the TRD rear bar on the race setting. I still don't know about getting the TRD rear Sway bar. I have a nice TRD theme but that's not everthing. Also can you give me some info on the rubbing issue with the front sway bar. Thanks

 

i'm running hotchkis sways in STX with trd springs/shocks, upgraded from a rear TRD bar, DEFINITE improvement, but DO NOT put it on the stiff settings if you're going to track it, you'll have noticeably worse times from traction loss.

I've found the best settings for auto-X and TRD springs (to stop too much wheel lift) is medium rear, soft front on the hotchkis, which is still stiffer than the TRD bar in the rear, and balances out the car nicely.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES install the rear hotchkis bar without installing the front, even on the soft settings, you'll have dangerous snap oversteer in bad weather or when your tires are at their limit. I tried it that way first because the front sway is a PITA to install, and will warn people of the dangers, and those that don't think it's a problem, are the same that don't push their car and drive like a granny in the rain. Imagine if you are driving home, dodge an animal in the road, and the rear of the car slides instantaneously for some unknown reason and you crash your car because of it. It's a safety issue.

 

Yeah, don't do the rear without the front. it felt like my car was gonna snap in half.
When I had the TRD springs, I had both on the stiffest setting and loved it, but I'm not at the track.
With the stiffer Hothckis springs, I had to move the rear to the middle setting to compensate for the increased understeer.

 

I couldn't agree more on this. I have TRD suspension installed, a hotchkis strut bar up front. I have crummy tires on the car right now (Ventus HR II's), and literally spun the car out and into a ditch after being cut off while merging.

I got off lucky, with no real damage to my car or harm to my person. But it could have been much worse, especially if I had spun the other direction into oncoming traffic.

I have a thread up on it, I was not racing or doing anything illegal at the time it happened. I just wanted to confirm that it is, in fact, a safety issue.

In fact, I'm wondering if I ought to change my suspension around in addition to getting better tires to avoid a similar situation in the future.

 

front strut bar? or do you mean sway bar. if it's a strut bar, that shouldn't do much if anything at all...they're just to look pretty under the hood.

 

I auto x with the stiff settints on my TRD/hotchkis combo. Then again I do have a quaife LSD.

 

I know. I only have a front strut tower bar. I need an actual front sway bar.

 

wats the difference between a strut bar and a sway bar???.....how much does a sway bar run for???? and is it easy to DIY???....srry im new to this modding thing....but im trying to learn

 

strut bar goes in the engine bay, sway bar goes on under the car. strut bars don't do much.

 

is it easy to install a sway bar????.......i might get me one of those but how much do they run for???...ohh and thank you!!

 

The rear sway is cake. Front sway bar you need to take the subframe off etc. Not very fun.

 

get a rear sway bar, it's extreme easy to install and make a world of difference. front sway is more of a pain...

 

yeah but people are sayin the back shouldnt be done without the front....guess ill do the back myself and take my car to the shop to get the front put in....where can i purchase it????....how much????....and wat difference does it make in the way the car rides????...do u have more control??

 

if you get a rear only, then the rear is fine.
If you get a front/rear set, like the hotchkis, then you have to do both.
Rear is cake, front is a pita, but doable.
Shop was gonna charge me about the same to do the front as i paid for the whole set, about $300!