Black Betty, I purchased them separately from Hotchkis, most likely unnecessary, just decided to do it anyway. They are advertised as a more durable / heavy duty machined type bushing PN: 22441-BB made for the 222441 Sway Set.

 

BB, I finally pulled the plug on these sways, and these instructions look fantastic. Well done.

A couple of quick questions, though. Which setting did you use in the rear? Is the handling significantly different for each one. Don't know if you're aware of the this, but the specs for the rear have changed as of 2010, and now the rear specs are 15, 40, and 85% stiffer as opposed to what you have listed. (Source here Hotchkis Sport Suspension)

You may have mentioned this, but have you experienced any end link issues since installing? Are you using any aftermarket solution for that component? Thanks again.

 

I've tried each setting. Currently in the end hole (loosest). Yes each setting a significantly different. Both of my rear end links broke. I replaced them with Whiteline.

 

Is there a specific reason you went for that rear setting? Is it because the loosest setting is easier on the endlinks? How many users actually experience failure of the endlinks? Is it a fairly common occurrence with this mod? I just think it's a little silly to spend almost $400 on sways and then have to upgrade the endlinks for another $300+ if they're just going to snap off.

In the event of an endlink failure, what is the actual fallout, does it deposit the sway bar onto the road and scratch it up or do the bushings prevent that?

Sorry for all the questions, you are kind of the resident Hotchkis sway expert, haha.

 

Damn.

The setting I have gives the car more of a tendency toward oversteer. The middle setting is more neutral, the inboard setting is more toward understeer. Personal preference, has nothing to do with the links. No idea how many people have broken the end links, there's a number of things regarding suspension and driving that probably contributed. Many choose not to upgrade the end links
and don't suffer failures. The sway bar doesn't come off of the car when the links break, it's attached to the chassis in 2 places. It's disconnected from each side iof the suspension so the car behaves as if it has no rear sway bar. Oversteer city. Squirrelly rear end.

 

I had the driver rear end link pop on me a few months after I had installed my Hotchkis sways. The sway didn't fall or anything. The car just drove weird, like a little loose in the rear. I had just drove the car slowly home. Bought an oem endlink for like $45 bucks from Infiniti and replaced it. Hadn't had any issues since then, but I had bought upgraded endlinks but have yet to install them.

 

I want to get the sway bars and do it myself. I have a nice mechanics tool set but one thing I realized is I need a torque wrench.

what brand/size/lbs of torque due you suggest for this job or an all around wrench?

 

I've hand tightened my bolts when I installed them but I have a Harbor Freight torque wrench that has done the job of torquing my lug nuts and that only costed me $10 bucks.

 

Thank you!

Is there a specific poundage or size I should get? Like 3/8 or 1/2 or 20-200lbs?

I'm real new to this & haven't even looked at a torque wrench other than online.

Thanks bud!

 

I got the 1/2" cause most of my sockets are 1/2". As far as lbs. I think anything 100-150 is fine cause I usually torque my lugs at 85.

 

I've done a number of sway installs over my 40+ years as a car nut and I've experienced very similar problems with them all. Something always gets loose over time. It's always a good idea to torque them correctly of course but since this is a moving part and when used it has a good deal of vibration and stress on the unit. Since I can easily find high quality metric "nyloc" nuts at any decent Ace Hardware store, I replace all my fastening hardware with these. You torque them the same way but they will not vibrate loose or fall off. The bolt on the chassis or end link may break, (unlikely) but it should never come loose on you in normal use. There's a reason why the aircraft industry use these. Also I found that the "nuts" on the tail pipe to muffler connection are fairly small in size. I decided to replace these as well with new stainless steel units from Ace which had a larger metric size for the shape of the nut given the stock thread size/pitch of the bolt. The reason for that is that when and if I have to remove these in the future, and since they have probably heated and cooled and had to deal with all the elements from the road over time, they can easily be removed. Hopefully a helpful factoid.

Al

 

BB,

I've been lurking for awhile and I'm making the rounds and giving thanks to the people that have helped me. Thanks for this DIY! This site is an incredible resource for modding (and spending money)! Though, I'm spending less due to the people such as yourself that are sharing their knowledge.

 

You're welcome. That's the good thing about forums like this, sharing knowledge. It makes it worthwhile to share when people show gratitude. There's tons of other good info an DIYs, remember to click the thanks button on those too if you find them useful. Everyone likes being appreciated.

 

OK, stiffer sway bars a great modification on our cars which already handle relatively well from the factory. But yesterday I just installed a rear sway bar on my new F150. Oh. My. Gawd! It turned it from an ill mannered beast that handles like an aircraft carrier into a fast attack boat. It's a truck, and it still handles like a boat. Just a more maneuverable boat with a lot less body roll and understeer. It was a bigger improvement than on the G.

 

J, a SC will do wonders for it too. Had a buddy with a dodge 1500 with a sc. That thing was lighter on its wheels than the G. Tap the throttle and it WENT.