Hotchkis TVS vs XV Motorsports Level I B-Body Suspension?

[1974dodgecharger]

I already scrape everything in my '97 Z28 and '99 F-bird, so I'm used to doing the "speed bump crawl."  Do you have the Hotchkis springs?  Have you had a chance to test out your new UCA's?

yeah the UCA are the BEST it was scary with all the bump steer on the higway and the hotchkis eliminited of the 90% of play it feels great and tracks great.  I got the alignment done based on what they recommened for street and its awesome.  I have a low oil pan a 7 qter and my headers (hooker competition) hang just as low as my oil pan so I need to be careful or I can take out the oil pan and collector region of my car how low it sits.  If I was to decrease the diamter of my wheel setup to stock she would be a low rider and hit all the rocks in general....

[myk]

Wow, cool.  I can't wait to get the Hotchkis UCA's; if I didn't have to re-align the car after putting in the Hotchkis strut rods, steering rods, t-bars and the UCA's I'd get the UCA's done NOW.  As it is, I'm doing everything as a package so I only have to align the car once...

[krigel]

Update....After waiting 10 weeks to get the Hotchkis TVS delivered, rear springs are in, subframes are welded in, lower arms are being re-bushed and the install starts on Monday. Should be back on the road by Thursday....cannot wait. I have to say I am extremely impressed with the quality of the pieces from Hotchkis. Great stuff for the money.

[bill440rt]

I'm curious to see how the ride height turns out with the Hotchkis torsion bars. Says on their 'site they are designed for cars that sit lower than stock.  
Also, if you don't mind me asking what supplier did you purchase them from where you were able to get them at wholesale?

[myk]

Ditto on the wholesale question.  Also, I'm wondering about the leaf springs; low is nice but I'm under the impression they drop the car too much...

[bill440rt]

I'm seriously contemplating swapping out the following:
KYB shocks --> Hotchkis shocks
Stock 383 torsion bars --> Hotchkis torsion bars
Stock upper control arms w/poly bushings --> Hotchkis upper arms

Hotchkis now only offers a 1.1" torsion bar, hexes are indexed so the ride is lower than stock. Speaking with someone at Hotchkis, I was told that a very close to stock ride height can be retained since the bars are beefier less tension on the adjusting bolt is necessary to bring the front end back up. The tech guy said most improvements using their components is up front. I should be very OK out back with the new MP leafs that are in the car, the Hotchkis sway bar, & upgrading to their shocks. Up front I already have beefier aluminum strut rods & tie rod sleeves with the bigger C-body rod ends so I should be good to go there. Steering box is upgraded to a Steer-n-Gear Stage 2. Lower control arms have poly bushings but never used the stiffening plates, not sure how much of an improvement that is though.

I'm still very curious how your torsion bars work out, krigel.  

[myk]

I just ditched my KYB shocks for the hotchkis ones and I dare say they're better; firm response without the harshness of the KYB's.

[1974dodgecharger]

They do drop the car a bit, but I have a low oil pan and I go slow over speed humps or I do scrape.

[bill440rt]

74, thanks for the pic.
I found some others of your car on here, your front end ride height really isn't all that much different than the way I have mine set up now. Did you have to turn in the adjusters quite a bit?

[1974dodgecharger]

bill,
I start at halfway and I cranked them maybe 3 or 4 more times after that drove around for a hundred miles and redid the measurements and I was happy where they are.  I then went to alignment shop and got my alignment in spec based on what hotchkis recommended the guy was telling me how simple my alignment was because the car had upgraded suspension and it was easy to work on to get to what I wanted.

[bill440rt]

Thanks! 

[krigel]

Ok, all installed...here's the list:

18x8 and 18x9.5 Boss 338 Rims with Nitto NT555 255/50/18's and 285/45/18's
Hotchkis TVS (Subframes, upper control arms, strut rods, leaf springs, steering rods, front and rear sway bars).
Firm Feel Stage III box
Hotchkis Fast ratio Idler and pitman
Hotchkis Torsion Bars
Hotchkis Shocks
Re-bushed lower control arms
Front Disc Brake Conversion

Feels so good now compared to the wandering fool it was before... It's a little low in the front and rubs a bit, so I'm taking it back to the alignment shop to get it set up again.

[krigel]

That was before...this is after..

[myk]

Freaking awesome!  Hopefully you'll get a chance to really throw that thing into some curves and see how it responds.  Also, your parts list is exactly what I'm buying and hopefully installing in November so I want to hear your feedback!

BTW do you know if you can run headers with the Hotchkis fast ratio idler and pitman?
Car looks great too!

[krigel]

It handles so different...a little play in the wheel still, but it's a 68 for gods sake...The pitman is close to the exhaust. It's as low as it can go without hitting. There are only a couple header manufacturers that will clear the pitman. They are listed on the Hotchkis site. The heim joints do make noise, but man is it a lot tighter. I've been driving it as a daily for the past week, and it is awesome. Haven't really beat on it...I have a modest cam in a 383 so the power isn't huge, but it's a blast to drive.

[1974dodgecharger]

you can tighten up that play in steering by adjusting the bolt on (im losing my mind don't know whats it called) where the steering column goes into in the engine bay you tighten that nut up its an adjustment that's what I did to get rid of the slop.  Don't tighten it too tight or the gears will wear out fast.

Car looks great 

Did you do the recommendations on torsion bar setup for proper height? Halfway in and rive it around for a while to settle in and then you should be perfect within 3 to 5 turns from there.

[krigel]

It has just settled in, so I'm taking it back for adjustment tomorrow. Put about 50 miles on it this week....it does settle quite a bit.

[bill440rt]

Very cool!
Do you still have a ways to go with the adjustment bolts for the torsion bars? You can get more turns out of them still?

[krigel]

Absolutely. We had it at least 1.5 inches higher before the alignment. Some people have complained about that, but there is lots of room to raise it up. it's on the bottom half of adjustment right now for sure.

[bill440rt]

 

[krigel]

Gonna take the rake out of it, and level it off...not the look I love, but will make it really drivable.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Looking real good   

[krigel]

Thank you! I'm thrilled with how it drives. I've had stock e-bodies etc. that weren't nearly as fun to drive. I also have sport truck I've spent way too much money on that is not as fun as the Charger. I love it as it is. Not going to mess with the patina after the suspension.....

[myk]

Thank you! I'm thrilled with how it drives. I've had stock e-bodies etc. that weren't nearly as fun to drive. I also have sport truck I've spent way too much money on that is not as fun as the Charger. I love it as it is. Not going to mess with the patina after the suspension.....

Let's see that sport truck!

[krigel]

The truck fresh out of the paint shop last summer