Alternative to Hotchkis Sway Bars

[brickyard69]

I need to order front and rear sway bars for my 69 Camaro.

I have used the Hotchkis ones in the past, but I feel they are over priced just for the name.

Anyone ever used Suspension Techniques? $250 for the set.

I don't like the coating (none) on the Addco brand.

Any ideas/recommendations?

Steve

[Travis B]

air ride tech has a 1 5/8 muscle bars you might contact them see what there prices are and if they would work on your app....they are very nice for the money!!

[baz67]

1 5/8 holy crap that is big I would guess that would cause some under/oversteer issues. I have to look into that. Thanks Tavis.

Steve, FWIW you do not need a rear bar for your first gen. It most likely will cause some oversteer.

[importkiller69ss]

i had the adco bar on my 69 and i liked it the only reason i went with the hotchkis is b/c i bought the tvs and a friend wanted my adco for the same price it was new...b/c it basically was the only thing i see is the hotchkis bars are slightly bigger and alot lighter but for a street car i dont think you need it but i love the look of it but that my mo

[brickyard69]

You don't really need a rear bar on a 69 Camaro?

I thought the car would handle like crap without one. The car is street only. If I don't need one. I'll save the extra $200.

[Steve1968LS2]

air ride tech has a 1 5/8 muscle bars you might contact them see what there prices are and if they would work on your app....they are very nice for the money!!

I "think" their bars are made by Hotchkis..

Have you thought of shopping around for the Hotchkis bars (from a dealer rather than from Hotchkis direct) for a better price?

[Travis B]

1 5/8 holy crap that is big I would guess that would cause some under/oversteer issues. I have to look into that. Thanks Tavis.

Steve, FWIW you do not need a rear bar for your first gen. It most likely will cause some oversteer.

they are hollow I forgot to mention that!

[baz67]

Nope, you do not need one especially if you upgraded your leafs. Give this a read https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=205 Remember the search function is your friend.

[Steve1968LS2]

generally if you have stiffer rear leafs (like aftermarket DSE, Global West, Hotchkis, etc) and stiffer bushings (poly, etc) then you really don't need, or want, a rear sway bar since your back end is stiff enough already.

Project g/28 actually got slower when we put on a rear swaybar.

The reason a stock '69 improved with a rear swaybar was that the stock leafs was that the stock suspension with it's rubber bushing had a lot of "give".. so if you have an upgraded set-up then you can skip the rear sway (i did on my '69)

[baz67]

(i did on my '69)

That is not fair because you never got to drive your 69.

[Steve1968LS2]

That is not fair because you never got to drive your 69.

Hey, I actully managed to put 500 miles on it before it became a garage queen..

[brickyard69]

I am doing Hotchkis rears.

You guys just saved me $300-$400 bucks.

Thanks!

(sorry no commission $)

[CarlC]

generally if you have stiffer rear leafs (like aftermarket DSE, Global West, Hotchkis, etc) and stiffer bushings (poly, etc) then you really don't need, or want, a rear sway bar since your back end is stiff enough already.

Agreed.

With a good tire, these springs may be too light. Mine have a similar rate and are too light when pushing the car on an open track day. Currently, I use the Hotchkis sway bar as a helper, but it's soon going to leave permanently.

[Rick Dorion]

Agreed.

With a good tire, these springs may be too light. Mine have a similar rate and are too light when pushing the car on an open track day. Currently, I use the Hotchkis sway bar as a helper, but it's soon going to leave permanently.

Are you going with a different rate spring, Carl?

[CarlC]

We've already guinea pig'ed a new setup on another car. Nothing new, the parts are out there, but we have not seen them combined. The rate is about 240#/in. None of the parts simply fit together. Lots of machining is needed to get it right.

When it's done, installed, and tested on mine I'll post pics and info.

[wendell]

Carl C,
You've got a great web site. I've used the alternator and the sfc sections.

#240 seems like a lot of spring. Are you going ot run a lateral locating device (p-bar/ watts) with that? the reason I ask is that I've seen good results w/ less spring when the rear RC is lowered and non binding bushings are used (mono balls or even stock rubber). Don't get me wrong, I believe it's working for you, I'm just interested.

[Rick Dorion]

I think David Pozzi ( and probably others) have said the Hotchkis is progressive so the 175# rating is under a certain amount of deflection. I don't know how that compares to GW or DSE for example. I feel my Hotchkis leafs , with GW del-a-lums, are a bit soft on street driving. I have a set of 250ish springs from a GP a while ago but will look forward to some more real-world feedback here.

[CarlC]

Nope, just the springs. It does have del-a-lum bushings and plastic pucks between each leaf.

JonB used to have some pics hosted that showed a side view of the car under max cornering load. It squats a lot. There's a pic here that does not show the full extent, it does squat more.https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/sh...highlight=JonB

As the car burns fuel it handles better. It also handles a bit better with the swaybar, but it won't fix the root cause.

Shocks make a huge difference for making the car street-friendly.

[Damn True]

Wow, great photo of your car. It corners pretty flat.