4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Oh that's right. I couldn't remember if all the Conti tire talk earlier was about these tires you just got or your rears. On the street it is going to be pretty tough to tell a difference. If you are truly driving that hard on the street you're doing it wrong.

gumi4680

Very clean ride. I love 6MT sedans!

r2dmax

What size are you running up front?

Rochester

iTrader: (8)

On the Vossens, in the summer, fronts: 245/40ZR19, rears: 275/35ZR19

On the duckfeet, in the winter, OEM sizes... fronts: 225/50-18, rears: 245/45-18

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

Very nice, John. Hopefully your Winter ends early so you can get these on the car!


FYI... I've had these same tires on my Porsche since last Summer and have been VERY happy with them.

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

The sway bar definitely moves within its bushings as the suspension moves. If both sides move a the same rate then the sway bar will just rotate evenly in its bushings, but if one side is compressed more than the other then the sway bar twists in its bushings.


If the noise is squeaking then it's most like a bushing and not the end links. Bad end links will typically make a clicking of knocking noise. I would just try relubing the sway bar bushings before you check anything else, since those are a known source of trouble on our cars. If fact I just had to replace my front sway bar bushings on my Hotchkiss front sway bar for the second time in 8 or 9 years.

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

Here's a pic of my new front Hotchkiss bushings that I just installed in December. I tries re-lubing them first and the noise came back within a week. But no noise since replacing them about a month ago.


Incidentally, I think the problem was that the grooves inside the old bushings had worn almost completely smooth, so there wasn't any place for the lube to get held inside the bushings and it was all just getting pushed out almost immediately after I re-lubed them. This is the second time I've had to replace the front sway bar bushings since getting the Hotchkiss bars and I've replaced the rear bushings once... If history is any indicator then I'm guessing the rear bushings are gonna need replacing again soon too.

Rochester

iTrader: (8)

Thanks, 2G. Do you happen to know whether or not the Hotchkis brackets fit around Eibach swaybars? New brackets and/or bushings aside, first step is to re-grease the rears and see what's up.

It's seriously dead of winter right now. The reality is probably two months out before I address this. My garage can be unpleasant in the winter. No heat, and an ancient concrete floor. Although it is nicely lit with plenty of LED. Anyway, it can wait.

I've been doing a lot of planning for 2018 - 2020 lately, trying to keep each year in the ballpark of $3000 for mods, maintenance and repairs, while still doing something each month.

For some reason, I'm pretty jazzed up about these new Z1 subframe collars, and I don't know why.

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

Attached below is a handy little chart that lists most of the various sway bar options for our cars. My first instinct would be to say no that the Hotchkis brackets/bushings won't fit your Eibach sways. However, based on the below chart the rear Eibach and Hotchkis bars have almost identical outer diameters, so I guess it would be possible to use the Hotchkis Brackets and Bushings in the rear (only 0.50 mm difference between them). The front would be a bit more of a stretch since there is a 3mm difference between them... Also, If I recall correctly the Eibach sways come with new bushings that are designed to be used with the OEM sway bar brackets. The Hotchkis bars come with aftermarket brackets designed to be used with their bushings so you would need both the brackets and bushings to start using the Hotchkiss bushings.

Trust me, I understand what your going through. I've been working on cars as a hobby since I was 13 and I'm from the East Coast and Mid West originally and always hated having to wait for Spring to arrive before I could work on my car and install all of my Christmas goodies that I gave myself. LOL. Although our Winter weather hear in SoCal is not always perfect, but I definitely don't need to worry about heating my garage. Tell me, what kind of LED lights did you put in your garage? I vaguely remember you mentioning it on here but would probably never be able to find that post again. I have absolutely terrible lighting in my current garage, but my wife and I close on our new house next week so I will be moving into a new garage which is 900 sq-ft with 10ft+ ceilings so I'll need lots of new lighting!


I truly respect your planning and commitment to your car modification hobby. You've done a lot of really nice things with your car in a relatively short period of time including some modifications that may not be mainstream but really seem to have improved your overall driving experience (i.e. your re-gear). That sort of planning takes a lot of thought and effort to pull off, so cudos to you!


And regarding those Z1 Sub-frame Collars. For the price I don't really think you can go wrong with those. I would expect that they would take some of the flex out of the entire chassis without adding to much unwanted noise and vibration to transmit through. And even if they don't make any noticeable difference in chassis feel they will most certainly look very cool once installed, especially if you go with a color like red. Although you don't really have to completely remove the sub-frame to install these, the only real drawback I really see with these is that they might not be an easy DIY job for everyone. But I do plan to pull my rear sub-frame sometime over the next 12 months to have it either powder coated candy red or chrome plated, so my plan is to install these at the same time. I'm also still running the OEM differential bushing and plan to install the SPL or Z1 bushing while I have everything pulled from the car. Even though the costs for these parts are all relatively low, this is all a big time consuming job so I have to plan ahead for it.


Incidentally if you haven't seen it here is a pretty cool YouTube video regarding the sub-frame collars. If you look at about 1:30 into this video it really shows how much the rear sub-frame moves without the collars installed. This video also shows what an improvement their differential bushing makes.

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

Rochester

iTrader: (8)

I've got three of these here that I've hung above the collar-ties. The light is so-o-o much better that the old four-foot, double florescent shop lights they replaced. And they work same in freezing temps, unlike those old flickering tubes... which is a thing here, but perhaps not so much where you live.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerci...4141/206028863

They have a pull cord, but I just have them wired to a wall switch. At $30 each, it was a nice little upgrade. I'd like to get a couple of them for the attic, now that I think about it.

Rochester

iTrader: (8)

I appreciate you finding that chart. That's perfect.

The fronts are clearly different OD. And although the difference in the rears is only 0.5mm between the Eibach and the Hotchkis, it differs in the wrong direction, which would make things 0.5mm tighter. I think the prudent move here is to stick with the OEM brackets and Eibach's (Energy Suspension) bushings.

This helped me put the whole Hotchkis bracket thing to bed. Been thinking about it for a while, and now I won't be anymore. Thanks!

Lego_Maniac

iTrader: (3)

Doesn't it just mean the G37 Application of the Hotchkis wont work?

If the Eibach front OD is 32mm, wouldn't a 32mm Hotchkis bushing and bracket work? Like these:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/h...SABEgKRFvD_BwE

Another interesting point 2G made.....my front bushings are almost worn smooth inside too......


I'll also chime in with a recommendation here since I recently upgraded my old florescent shop lights with LEDs. See if you can find something with a mirrored back to help throw the light even more. I have 2 of these in the 2 bay side of a 3 car L shaped garage and they throw tons of light:

Rochester

iTrader: (8)

Well derp... you're right about the front brackets & bushings, Lego.

hexotic

Interesting! how long did it take for the bushings to wear down? Im starting to show some similar symptoms, and assuming its the same problem. Had the sways on the car for like 25k km already.