WS6_2000

I did a little searching on here and I didnt see anything about Hotchkis sway bars? Are they any good? What do you guys think?

Major_Lee_Slow

iTrader: (1)

Sam Strano probably has one of the best balanced Sway Bar packages.

35 mm hollow front
22 mm hollow rear.

It's what I run.

Fast_94_Z

iTrader: (12)

sam strano definately has the best stuff.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

The quality of the Hotchkis is good, however their diameters are a bit too big for my taste. I prefer the Sam Strano ones.

michaelg589

iTrader: (1)

The Hotchkis front bar is 1 mm larger. Rear is the same. however im not sure if the rear is hollow or not.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

http://www.hotchkis.net/p-413-sport-sway-bars.aspx

Front: 1 7/16" is approx. 36.5mm, therefore being larger than 35mm by 1.5mm.

Rear: 1" is approx. 25.4 mm, therefore being larger than 22mm by 3.4mm.

both are hollow, however I don't recall the wall thickness.

Just clarifying information.

To the OP, FWIW, Sam's combination is really hard to beat for most handling circumstances.

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

i wnt with a 24mm rear from a third gen and a 1LE in the front

vjo90rs8

iTrader: (9)

Bad combination for handling unless you are looking for a more drag oriented combination. 32/24 will definitely cause the car to be tail happy around turns. Im running a 35/21 solid combination and love the balance.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

I've been happy with mine! I've had a set on my Camaro since at least 2000. I've never had any handling problems what so ever with my Hotchkis sway bars, my car handles great!


On the other hand, Strano has some really good products, and his sway bars
would be a very good choice for your car! plus his sway bars are a little less exspensive.

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

im not to sure the thickness in the front but i think its a 34 or 35 because the guy put it b4 me, but i have the 24mm sitting in the garage. do u really think its going to be tail happy with a 24mm rear sway?

michaelg589

iTrader: (1)

Sams rear bar is 25mm hollow.

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

Sorry, that's incorrect. This is direct proof here:

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=0&ModelID=7

Read around this post and you will notice how Sam himself disapproves of a 25mm rear bar, which is usually one of several larger sizes offered. If it was fine, he wouldn't of gone to the trouble to have his own design made. BTW, I've owned both, then finally settling on the Strano bars.

Please verify your information.

vjo90rs8

iTrader: (9)

Probably a 35mm bar but you might want to check just to make sure. I had a 24mm rear bar from my old thirdgen but I never put it on the 4th gen because the consensus is that it will cause too much oversteer. A lot of people think a 35/21 solid combo is too much and go back to the rear 19mm bar. I found my 21mm bar on thirdgen.org for a very cheap price. If you want, try to pick one up then do a comparison between the 3. If you decide on the 21mm the 24mm bar should be very easy to sell.

When I owned my thirdgen I didn't know as much about suspensions so I simply thought bigger was better. I had a 36mm hollow front and a 24mm solid rear bar, had a bunch of oversteer but didn't necessary think it was a bad thing and learned to deal with it (didn't know any better). Having a nice balanced setup now makes my new car handle and feel much better with just a slight bit of oversteer, but I would personally want a bit more oversteer than understeer.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

For the record.... My bars are 35/22, both hollow. Hotchkis are 36/25, also both hollow. I can also sell a hollow 25mm rear bar for the rare cases it's needed.

Hotchkis bars are beautiful, and I sell those as well as my own (and ST, and Addco and Progress). However I do think the rear bar is too large in most cases. If I personally felt it was right, I'd have not have bothered doing my own bars. In fact when we work on 3rd gens we usually take the stock 24mm rear off and back down to a smaller rear too.

And to the guy who thinks he has a 34 or 35mm bar...... Measure it, don't assume. 32mm looks big and can be misinterpreted as a 35mm. Even then you need to understand that the 35/22 combo is about 30% stiffer at both ends than a 32/19 combo stock on all 1LE but 1993, SS's and WS6's. Those bars are well balanced, we just want more roll stiffness.

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

humm i see your point man, well the thing is i also bought a damm bushing kit as well for it, if i can sell the combo that would be real nice. i want to make sure how thick the front is and i guess i can find a 21 or 22 from the junkyard again. i just want to make sure b4 i really do this and set my mind to buying a 21 or 22 sway.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

21 and 22mm bars are not typically found in a junkyard. GM never made a 22, and 21's are very, very rare (not many cars had them).

We have 22's in stock (and they are hollow--i.e. about 6 pounds less than a solid one). And they come with new hardware and bushings too.

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

sam how much are the 22's u have? and dident some 3rd gens come with a 21? or i think is a 22? because i remember seeing some 24's and some 19's then i saw something in between that was a bit smaller then the 24 i think on a transam

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

sam i just measured my front sway with a caliper in the garage and it read 33mm . so 33/24 will that be a bad combo?

vjo90rs8

iTrader: (9)

it measured 33 but its probably 32 since I don't believe anyone makes a 33 for our cars. And yes, 32/24 is too much, since most people believe 35/24 is too much. If you only have a 32mm front bar, just keep the stock 19mm rear. Don't do what it is so easy to do, say "I want more performance so I will put on a bigger rear bar", remember, bigger is not always better. Kind of like headers, a 1 3/4" primary will probably give you better performance than a 2" primary on a stock engine, again, bigger is not always better.

michaelg589

iTrader: (1)

wow i couldve sworn that sams rear bar was 25. ive had them for about a year now and ive always said 25.