hotchkis sway bar, end link issure
 

wussup fellas, sorry, but i got some bad news.

i have an 04 coupe and just took it for 30 k service. the took a look and saw i broke my driver side end link and end link bracket. I have hotchkis sways without the collars. as soon as i heard this i ordered the collars, but i dont know wut to do about the end links. i heard alot of you have replaced yours with 05s, should i do the same? well if you could give me any input it would be greatly appreciated.

besides the fact taht my end links are broken the sway bars are an incredible mod. and i dont have springs, im definately gonna put those on now.

if i get 05 end links do i need 05 brackets?

CUSCO Sway bars!

I have crossed sources that say they are
20% and 37% stiffer than stock, NOT 120% and 137% (on the front)

This is a HUGE difference. Which is it? Please Please help!!

Thanks

Adrian

have you ever taken a math class? "20% more" is the same as "120% of".

/edit and about the post below: GROW UP.

You know what? You don't have to be a d*ck. Mind you, I am in dental school, thank you very much. I have passed enough math classes to understand numbers.

I am looking for a reliable source that states whether it is 20-37% greater or 120-137% greater than stock (front bar). That's all. I have searched a lot on google and metacrawler and I have crossed multiple websites that vary in the stated numbers by 100%. I had even called a retailer today and they couldn't confirm if it was a comparison percentage or a percentage of improvement. If I was 100% sure, I wouldn't ask - so back off, there is no need for a response like yours. Grow up.

You would be wondering the same question that I am if you had stillen bars (70% stiffer than stock) installed on your G and you felt that you would improve by putting on Cuscos rated at 120-137% stiffer than stock. You wouldn't want to make the mistake of buying Cusco's that were 20-37% stiffer than stock and actually soften up your ride and waste your money, now would you?

Intelligent people, please respond.

Adrian

also, did anyone with an 05 change out their bushings? I bought the ENERGY bushings that were listed on the first post of this topic and they didn't fit snugly in the stock bracket on the front sway bar.

The rear bushings fit like a glove.

Thanks again!

Adrian

Question, How's the oversteer...any, too stiff? Do you still have stock coil overs? I've been seriously considering Cusco for a while.
-Thanx

It should not be a delema for you if it fits use it. You can always return the part if it doens't fit on your car.

Not to familiar with Cusco but the Hotchkis sway I have came with all the hardware including th bushings. I have my setting at med/med right now any stiffer and the car will push (understeer) on corners.

Here are some numbers for the HS.

Hotchkis:
Construction: Front 1 3/8" (35MM) Hollow (Bar Weight 13.5lbs), Rear 15/16"(24mm) Hollow (bar weight 5.5lbs)
Bushings: rubber?
Stiffness settings for the front/rear sways: Front - Rate Increase over stock +9%,+32%,+63%
Rear - Increase over stock +54%,+92%,+146%
Approximate Price: ~$260
Pros/Cons/Experiences/Settings: some people complain about squeaking w/ Hotchkis (but I've read that you should just put more grease on them)
The bars do not incorporate bushing “stops” to locate the bar. Some people have noticed the bar shift to one side or another. The fix is to purchase a pair of “collars” from McMaster Carr (part Number?)

Is it true the stillen sways and the stock 05 coupe with sports package sways are the same size? Could not find much info on that. Thank you.

today i was getting new wheels put on, and i asked the mechanic to look at my Hotchkis sways - they shifted to the right in the rear and i thought they were knocking. so, he lifts the car up, adjusts the rear sway bar just fine. looks at the front sway, and gasp! - it's completely disconnected from the right wheel... just hanging loose. he put it back on, but now i'm even more apprehensive about Hotchkis sways - again, wishing i went with Stillen...

Still looking for OEM specs. What if any is the diffrence between years and models? For example: I assume a performance package 05 sedan has stiffer bars then the standard sedan model of the same year. But are those the same as coupe/Z regular ones?
I thought someone had this info but I could not find it. A new list would be great. A link to an existing thread would also work.

The important thing is to actually measure the real roll stiffness, as the motion ratios of the angle and coupling point of springs and bars to hubs and the sidewall stiffness [acts like a spring in series] makes individual isolated components effects some what difficult to envision.

For example say 300 lb/in spings actually provide 140 to hub and a 320 lb/in rear bar yields 80 lb/in at the hub...........summing to 220 lb/in, then a tire at 40 psi inflation [is 1500 lb/in in series] reduces the at road roll stiffness to ~~210 lb/in. The springs provide ~~64% at a 2.0" rear roll rate [400 lbs of turning induced weight shift]. Rough guess.

Usually a rear bar is less than 50% [a third might be closer to ideal] of the spring stiffness at the hub, so a 50% increase in rear bar stiffness might only yield a 16% [less loses via tire spring factor] say 14% increase at the tire road interface.

Since the front has more than 50% [say 63% and it increases as bushing compress] of the total roll stiffness [F+R], a +50% rear bar CHANGES the RATIO by something like 6-5%...........which is significant!

The ratio of front to rear at tire/road interface roll stiffness is what creates the over/under steer ratio.

What works in dry with 0.9 g tire friction coefficient obviously will be problematic when the rear tires drop to 0.35g in cold rain.

Top of line BMW uses an active rear sway bar system tied to rain sensing wipers to decrease rear bar stiffness progressively with temperature and water and acceleration [since rear tire friction must be shared].

same size, yeah, they looked just about the same size, but the stillen is much stiffer on the mid settings. I never tried the stillens at the soft setting. I assume that the stillen bars are made of a different metallic composition to make them stiffer... maybe, or maybe not - I don't know.

The 05 coupe sports package sways (I presume the same with the sedan sports package - not sure though) are the same as the '03 350Z sports package sways. How do I know this? I made the mistake of buying the '03 Z sways and they were identical. Exact same measured sizes and everything from what I could tell. I couldn't test the metal composition though to tell you if they were any different.

Adrian

I have the sports package on my 05 sedan. When I swapped them out for the Stillens, the Stillen rear bar was thicker than the stock bar.

The front bar was similar is size, but since it was adjustable, it can be made to be stiffer than stock.