Hotchkis Sway Bar problems

2031 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by superchargedscion, Sep 7, 2005

Tak Fujiwara

Discussion Starter · Aug 27, 2005

So heres the thing i installed them today at my dad's friends shop and for some reason they seem to have a wierd grinding or rubbing sound on any slow movement expecially when entering parking lots and its not scraping i hear. its more of a rubbing and friction sound. Im confused is it the bushings? Do they just have to get used to the feel or is it my engine moving around from the cradle being dropped. but that doesnt make sense either because i hear the same sounds coming from the rear. Its driving me crazy cause i think something is going to fall out or somethings going to be out of alignment or its gonna be just out of whack all together. The weird thing is when i push the car it does what its supposed to do it keep the car flat and nearly neutral and i dont hear any sounds at all. What is wrong?

Save

1 - 6 of 6 Posts

TRDsparks2

· #2 · Aug 28, 2005

How closely did your installers follow the directions? I've heard of a couple of problems and both times the install wasn't done right and had to be redone. After the resinstall, both of them were fine. Not trying to slam anyone, just trying to help.

Ken

Save

lo bux racer

· #3 · Aug 28, 2005

The install instructions should include a statement about checking clearance. Sadly, they don't. When I checked mine (because I'm anal that way) I saw it would have rubbed had I not done a little tweaking to the postion. After making sure the bushing mounts were all the way toward the rear of the car, I had clearance through the entire range of travel.

This is not a kit to be installed by a lazy mechanic. It's a lot of work, but when it's done right, it really is awesome.

Save

dink10

· #4 · Sep 6, 2005

Did my own install of both sway bars and TRD shocks with the rear control arms. that assembly lube is real sticky. everything went in like it should and the car handles great. just have to get an alignment.
Greased the heck out of everything. No problems. Have to make sure the bars have the same clearence on both ends or something will rub. And the adjustable rear control arm has to have 1/16th clearence with the car jacked up. Not easy.

Save

lo bux racer

· #5 · Sep 6, 2005

There's a thread on Scionlife about Hotchkis front sways rubbing. I checked mine, it is seriously scratched. I'm going back over the install today to figure out what went wrong and fix it. One thing I did find that seems to be important, the slotted mount goes on the rear sway, not the front, according to the online PDF. It would be really nice if Hotchkis put a picture of the mount for the front in the front install directions. They just call out the mount by part number. Bad idea. There's no part number marked on the mount that I could find.

Save

superchargedscion

· #6 · Sep 7, 2005

join us pissed off hotchkis sway bar owners...

hotchis sway problems this might help you out alittle

See less See more

Save

1 - 6 of 6 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month