They forgot the grease in mine as well. I had some extra prothane grease from my mustang sways. I just put mine on today. I had to remove the whole rear section of the exhaust because I have the Borla system. After that, it was a snap. The ride is incredible. I have it on med/med, but I am going to change the front to the stiffest setting to reduce roll a little further. I can definitely feel the oversteer in the current setup. I also have new wheels due in about 2 weeks. I will have 255's on the rear, so I may crank the rear up to the stiffest setting as well. I will have to see how it runs first. BTW, no squeaking and I love the grease fittings on the rear! Great quality/fit/finish.

'03.5 Silver AT Sedan, Premium, Aero Kit/Package, Sport, Winter, Stillen Air Box, Z pipe, Polk Tweeters, Clifford RSX 3.5, Gram Light 57F Pro's (on the way), Hotchkis sways, Borla

 

She handles like a dream now. Just came from a Temecula to Idlywild run and I had a blast going up and down some twisties. I chose the stiff setup in front for better cornering and medium in the rear. I thought this setup would be better for cornering? She handles fine right now was I wrong in my setup? Clint, dammit now you have me thinking....hmmmm? If the soft setting is up front and stiff in the rear that would make the front lean towards the apex and fishtail the rear. You know it makes sense if you think about it. Well if I should join any kind of drifting event....(LOL!!! goodluck on that idea I have a wife).....I will surely change my setup.



<font color=blue>04 CB COUPE / WILLOW / PREM PACK</font color=blue>

 

Yes mine had everything in it. You can buy the silicon grease at any auto parts store.



<font color=blue>04 CB COUPE / WILLOW / PREM PACK</font color=blue>

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

thought this setup would be better for cornering? She handles fine right now was I wrong in my setup? Clint, dammit now you have me thinking....hmmmm?

<hr></blockquote>
Heheh. That's what I'm here for ... to confuse the heck out of you. j/k.

No really, in all seriousness, since you have a coupe which comes standard with a slight staggered tire setup (225/235) that naturally wants to understeer a little, I'd figure you could lighten up the rear end a little.

It would have been tough for you to tell if the bar settings are ideal unless you have pushed the car to 90% and well beyond through the twisties; preferably with VDC off as well. This is not the most prudent thing to do unless you know the path extremely well.

It's tough to resist the temptation to crank up the sway settings to full stiff in benefiting the reduced body roll that leads to increased driver confidence and handling response. In reality, the harder you set it, the lesser traction you have at that particular end due to lateral weight transfer (away from the wheel being loaded). It'll take a bit of trial and error to find a good balance between optimal roll stiffness and cornering traction.

I just checked and the Hotchkis sway bars have the following settings:

F: +9%, +32%, +63%
R: +54%, +92%, +146%

the rear figures are very interesting; that is one 'buff' rear bar!!! If indeed the source of these specs is correct, then I guess you may be ok. You are running +63% stiffer to the front and +92% to the rear, so overall you are still biased towards the front. That's not nearly as bad as I thought. I like to be able to rotate the car at will therefore I’d bias towards the front even more, but more importantly I start the front on the softest setting and tweak with the rear, only touching the front if absolutely needed. You need not necessary follow this setup philosophy, however, as everyone has their own handling preference.

Also, you can actually get more than 3 settings out of 3 holes. I’m not sure why most manufactures do not bother w. this information. Example: If you feel you want to dial in a little more oversteer to your current setting of F: +32% and R: +92%, but felt setting the rear to the next hole to +146% is too much oversteer, you can simply move only one side of the endlinks (leaving the other side in the 2nd hole). You end up w. somewhere between +92% and +146%. The same will work with fronts.




Clint (THX723)

 

OK mister guru did you take into account that I have a dropped car and I have a negative camber in the rear. So load tranfer while cornering might not be as bad as far as traction is concerned. But hey these things are thoughts to ponder as I learn more about my setup. I know you're not just getting me all hyped up about this Willow Springs event so I can push my car to the limit......hmmmm??!! LOL! It's all good I know you're just giving me facts and figures I guess the engineer in you is talking. The biggest gripe I have about the sways is the crawling underneath the car. It is a major pain almost no room to manuver even with the smallest of tools are difficult to handle. If you see the front sways you would think that is the buff part compared to the back. You can see a big difference from stock to the Hotchkis.



<font color=blue>04 CB COUPE / WILLOW / PREM PACK</font color=blue>

 

Heh heh. Yes, I acutally did take those points in consideration (lowered and camber). Remember I got to drive your coupe a while back? You have those Tein springs. The rear negative camber would make you understeer more, so I would of definitely made the rear a lot stiffer than the front. But again you're driving style may be totaly differnet than mine. You can figure it out for yourself when you rip through Willow Springs. JUST DO IT !!!

My refering to 'buff' rear bar was comparing the Hotchkis to the other brands and that's a good thing for you. Most rear bars are well under +100% at the stiffest setting compare to Hotchkis' whopping +146%. Good stuff!



Clint (THX723)

 

I wouldn't doubt if that +146% stems from Hotchkiss' extensive work with Mustangs, which plow like crazy.

'03.5 Silver AT Sedan, Premium, Aero Kit/Package, Sport, Winter, Stillen Air Box, Z pipe, Polk Tweeters, Clifford RSX 3.5, Gram Light 57F Pro's (on the way), Hotchkis sways, Borla

 

I finally installed my Hotchkis today on my sedan. I did Medium front, Soft rear. Holy sh** what a difference compared to the stock sport setup.

The body still rolls a little on turns, but just enough for me. It's a good feeling to not be sliding around on the non-bucket seats in my sedan. The back end is also much less eager to slide out, in fact, my VDC only came on when I truly started to lose it taking a turn at like 55mph. I know some people complained and said the Hotchkis squeak, but mine were silent. We'll see how those poly-eurethane bussings hold up.

For any sedan owner who doesn't want to change the springs, this a huge bang for the buck mod. Hotchkis rock.

Drew
2003 G35 Sedan 6MT / Black / Graphite / Prem / Aero

 

Hey Clint I took the car out for a quick ride had to gas it up. And since the wife was not home I was alone in the car. So after I gas up went the back way going to my house. Traffic was none existant or very little due to the easter holiday. This time I drove the car like there was no tomorrow. I felt the front tire loose traction a few times my "slip" light came on and the VDC kicked in. That VDC is a trouble maker specially when your expecting the car to do one thing and all it does is cut engine power. So instead of taking a corner a certain way all it did was go straight. That was not a fun experience so I just had to turn it off. You are right about the push or understeer I have to adjust the front to a lower setting and stiffen the back a bit. I had to jerk the steering wheel to get traction back otherwise I would have gone straight into a ditch. Now I have to find time to crawl back underneath the car and adjust the damn thing. I think I would go soft in front and medium in the back. Actually the back felt ok it was the front that was loosing a lot of traction. In anycase, I will start to dial in my setup as I go. I will keep you posted on progress of the setup. Come Willowspring day I will be ready for it.



<font color=blue>04 CB COUPE / WILLOW / PREM PACK</font color=blue>

 

yah ... had senor protocav set up my sways ... and now my ride corners so much better ... did stiffest in front and softest in rear ... makes a world of a difference.

Tho, my kit did NOT come with the grease. Used some other grease handy. So far, no squeaks.

BTW - you DO NOT have to remove the stock exhaust to install the rear sways. protocav managed to finagle the rears off and on with a min or two of jingling. Kinda reminded me of one of those bent nail puzzles that don't look like they can be taken apart, but slide off with ease if you have it in just the right position.

Anyways. money well spent.

DP G35 coupe/ AT / Prem graphite / Sport / Titanium 19 tint / 5 wire hyper-ground kit / clear corners / hyper white clearance/ i-Pod mini silver
San Diego, CA

 

Glenn, I'm glad my assesment was spot on. Yes, it'll take some trial and error before you find your ideal setting. Also, don't forget about the 'in betweener' trick I've mentioned earlier. That'll allow you slightly finer adjustments. Let me know how it goes!


Clint (THX723)

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

yah ... had senor protocav set up my sways ... and now my ride corners so much better ... did stiffest in front and softest in rear ... makes a world of a difference.

<hr></blockquote>crashTestDummy,

Yikes!!! I hope you meant softest front and stiffest rear. Otherwise, that coupe's sure to be one 'understeering' wonder when driven at 8/10 and beyond. Again, you'd never suspect it driving leisurely or even at a some what elevated pace. All it takes is that one 'surprise' turn or dog on the street for you to say, "crap ... ain't gonna make it!". That's what the earlier discussions were about. Your setting's a heck of a lot worse than what Glenn has and he's already confirmed understeering behavior at (my guess) above 9/10 pace.

btw, I didn't have to remove my exhaust either. Somehow, I routed the rear bar out of there with some extended fiddling. ... just like a puzzle you said



Clint (THX723)

 

On the instructions, Hotchkis actually recommends stiffest in the front and softest in the rear. Probably so no one goes out and throws the car into a talspin right after they put the bars on. With my medium/medium setting I have very slight oversteer. I think it is a good setup. After I put on my new wheels, it will be another story. BTW, my exhaust was Borla, so that is why I had to remove it. The extra pipe makes it so you can't coax the bar out.

'03.5 Silver AT Sedan, Premium, Aero Kit/Package, Sport, Winter, Stillen Air Box, Z pipe, Polk Tweeters, Clifford RSX 3.5, Gram Light 57F Pro's (on the way), Hotchkis sways, Borla

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Probably so no one goes out and throws the car into a talspin right after they put the bars on.

<hr></blockquote>Yeah, that's what I'd figure too.

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

With my medium/medium setting I have very slight oversteer. I think it is a good setup.

<hr></blockquote>Yes medium/medium sounds about right for Non-Staggered Sedans.

Are you going with 245/275 for your new tire setup?



Clint (THX723)

 

Unfortunately, no. I am going with 225/255. I was only able to fit an 8.5" wheel with these wheels (no available offsets that would work safely). So, I will really have to see what kind of handling difference there is before I switch the bars. Most likely I will bump up the rear to the stiffest, and play with the front accordingly.

'03.5 Silver AT Sedan, Premium, Aero Kit/Package, Sport, Winter, Stillen Air Box, Z pipe, Polk Tweeters, Clifford RSX 3.5, Gram Light 57F Pro's (on the way), Hotchkis sways, Borla