Hotchkis Called me yesterday - Torsion Bars

[mcmasad]

Just an FYI - Hotchkis called me yesterday and asked me how I liked the torsion bars.  I told them I hadn't really driven the car since putting them in, but the car sat unbelievably low.  Mike from Hotchkis said alot of people have complained about the ride height and they are offering full refunds for anyone who isn't happy with the ride height.  I told him I would take the car out this weekend and then call them back.  If you have them, and aren't happy, give them a call.

[MizzouRT]

I agree there is not much ground clearance with the Hotchkis torsion bars installed, see pic:

http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa408/mizzourt/?action=view&current=70sunny013v2.jpg

[ChallengerHK]

I take it that they're indexed differently than stock?

[_Russ_]

I agree there is not much ground clearance with the Hotchkis torsion bars installed, see pic:

http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa408/mizzourt/?action=view&current=70sunny013v2.jpg

What size wheel & tyre do you have under the front?

... and is there anything that can be down about the height with the Hotchkis bars?or are were they designed with the idea people would be going to a bigger wheel? (like the Hotchkis e-Max)

[mcmasad]

Mine is so low I can't even get my jack under the K frame.  I like the look of it, but if I can't load it on my trailer without scraping, then Hotchkiss is giving me a refund.  I don't believe they have any plans to change it.  The bars are indexed completely different than stock. I had to adjust my height adjustors all the way in or I couldnt' get the jack out from under the K frame.

[dodj]

I agree there is not much ground clearance with the Hotchkis torsion bars installed, see pic:

I like that ride height!  Think you will be buying another set of headers though.....they sure come down low.

[PlumCraZRT]

Mine is so low I can't even get my jack under the K frame.  I like the look of it, but if I can't load it on my trailer without scraping, then Hotchkiss is giving me a refund.  I don't believe they have any plans to change it.  The bars are indexed completely different than stock. I had to adjust my height adjustors all the way in or I couldnt' get the jack out from under the K frame.

Don't get me wrong, I love Hotchkis, but it's ridiculous that you have to adjust them all the way in to get the jack out.  Isn't that the point of an adjuster, that you don't need to use an extreme?

[brads70]

I agree there is not much ground clearance with the Hotchkis torsion bars installed, see pic:

http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa408/mizzourt/?action=view&current=70sunny013v2.jpg

Wow that is low. Not practical for street driving IMO? Hey what kind of seats are you using?
Nice to see Hotchkis standing behind there product though!  Nice to see a parts manufacturer "man up" when they make a mistake instead of screwing over the consumer! 

[PlumCraZRT]

Nice to see Hotchkis standing behind there product though!  Nice to see a parts manufacturer "man up" when they make a mistake instead of screwing over the consumer! 

   To this day, still the best customer service I've seen.  I think I've mentioned this before, but in order to provide me tech support, they had me wait on the phone while they measured their car.  Pretty cool stuff.  None of this "we'll call you back" and then never do BS.

[Road_Runner]

Still thinking about the Hotchkis TVS system for the Barracuda.  As far as I know the Torsion bars are not in that kit.  I've got .960 bars to go on anyway.  Their record of great customer support will be what tips the scales if I end up buying their system.

Later, Jim

[msbaugh]

I bought their front and rear sway bars and was 100% happy with the product. I agree though with street driving the t-bars seem to be very impracticle. Especially if you have a deep 8 qt oil pan like me I already have to avoid speed bumps and bad roads

[HP2]

That looks about as low as my Challenger. Of course the only miles mine is putting on rig  tnow is being pushed in and out of the garage, so I can't comment on how the ride height feels on the street. iI have had similarly  low mopars in the past and while they aren't awful to live with, you do have to be congnizant of bumps and dips.

Yes, Hotchkis bars are indexed differently than stock bars. So are PST bars. This means that when you unbolt the old and bolt in th new, you will need to crank up the adjusters to get height out of them. However, if you rebuilding from scratch, you could loosen the lower control arm bolt and rotate the hex to re-index them to sit a tad bit higher.

[Strawdawg]

That looks about as low as my Challenger. Of course the only miles mine is putting on rig  tnow is being pushed in and out of the garage, so I can't comment on how the ride height feels on the street. iI have had similarly  low mopars in the past and while they aren't awful to live with, you do have to be congnizant of bumps and dips.

Yes, Hotchkis bars are indexed differently than stock bars. So are PST bars. This means that when you unbolt the old and bolt in th new, you will need to crank up the adjusters to get height out of them. However, if you rebuilding from scratch, you could loosen the lower control arm bolt and rotate the hex to re-index them to sit a tad bit higher.

I did that on my PST bars...lifted the front end up like a moon shot...so I went back and put them in normally and cranked the adjusters up....Looks to me like the bars need about 20 degs of offset end to end.

[MizzouRT]

Russ, tires are BFG 235/60/15 front and 255/60/15 back.

Road_Runner, you are right the torsion bars are NOT part of the Hotchkis TVS kit.  Everything is included in TVS except the torsion bars, rear shackles and shocks.  Those items are seperate from the TVS.

msbaugh, I was concerned about oil pan clearance also, so went with the 6-quart E-body hemi pan instead of the 7 quart deep pan the engine builder suggested.  This way, if something drags it will be the headers or subframe connectors, not the oil pan.

I completely agree with all the positive comments on Hotchkis' customer support - excellent.

Hopefully not famous last words, but so far it goes over speed bumps.  Also drives on & off a trailer without dragging, see video:

440 with Street Hemi cam

[MizzouRT]

Brads70, seats are ProCar elite.  The original buckets in the car were the early 1970 version and needed new latches on both sides.  Since this is a replacement VIN / no fender tag car, switched to something with some mild bolsters.  Wanted something that looked as close to stock and did not draw big attention to themselves, and, to my eye anyway, think these do a good job of that.  Now that I've driven the car, glad the original seats had problems.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SCA-80-1100-51L/
http://www.jegs.com/i/Scat/942/80-1100-51L/10002/-1

Note the mounting brackets with sliders are separate items, and the drivers and passenger sides are different parts numbers, here is the driver side:

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/KeywordSearchCmd?storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&N=0&Ntk=all&Jnar=0&Ne=1%2B2%2B3%2B1147708&searchTerm=81760