Hotchkis 1966-1969 Mopar B-Body TVS System

[6spd68]

http://www.hotchkis.net/6669_mopar_bbody_tvs_system.html

^^^   Just wondering if anyone here has used this kit, and just how dramatic the results were?

[6spd68]

Side note, does anyone know of a Canadian distributor that would have one?  This way I'm not over 5000$ after shipping/duty/conversion 

[myk]

http://www.hotchkis.net/6669_mopar_bbody_tvs_system.html

^^^   Just wondering if anyone here has used this kit, and just how dramatic the results were?

Member White and Red 69 has the full TVS system and loves it.  Member 1974DodgeCharger and I are slowly installing Hotchkis parts as our money allows.  Currently, I have the shocks and front/rear sway bars; I will be installing torsion bars, upper control arms, strut and steering rods next.  The difference in the car's handling and road manners is night and day from what it was before and I'm sure '74DodgeCharger would agree.  Buy the system or some of its parts-I don't think you'll regret it...

[Calif240]

I have several Hotchkis items and love them. The difference was night and day for me. I have the following (in order of most drastic change in feel): Front Sway Bar, Rear Sway Bar, Torsion Bars, Rear Leaf Springs, front A Arms, front steering rods. If you decide to do the whole TVS, then great and you'll love it. If you go piecemeal, you might want to strategize accordingly.
Thanks,
Terry

[myk]

I have several Hotchkis items and love them. The difference was night and day for me. I have the following (in order of most drastic change in feel): Front Sway Bar, Rear Sway Bar, Torsion Bars, Rear Leaf Springs, front A Arms, front steering rods. If you decide to do the whole TVS, then great and you'll love it. If you go piecemeal, you might want to strategize accordingly.
Thanks,
Terry

Did you not get the strut rods?  Being a cheapskate I won't buy something unless I have to...

[6spd68]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback guys!  I've actually found a Canadian distributor through their site (The only Canadian one lol).  And they quoted me 3161$ for the complete system, and that's in Canadian $.  I'll probably be purchasing in the next month or so 

If anyone else has any input, it would be much appreciated. 

[krigel]

I'm waiting for delivery of my TVS for my 68 Charger (I'm in Calgary, so I feel your pain on duty and shipping). It should be here this week. Also doing torsion bars, shocks and a firm feel stage 3 box (which arrived yesterday). Keep me in the loop with what you decide to do. I'll let you know how mine turns out when the parts arrive.

Cheers,

KR

[myk]

I forgot to mention I'll be getting either a Firm Feel or Borgeson steering box with the last of my Hotchkis install.  I would recommend you do the same, as there's no point in tightening the front end up and then leaving the sloppy stock steering box in place...

[1974dodgecharger]

I have several Hotchkis items and love them. The difference was night and day for me. I have the following (in order of most drastic change in feel): Front Sway Bar, Rear Sway Bar, Torsion Bars, Rear Leaf Springs, front A Arms, front steering rods. If you decide to do the whole TVS, then great and you'll love it. If you go piecemeal, you might want to strategize accordingly.
Thanks,
Terry

Did you not get the strut rods?  Being a cheapskate I won't buy something unless I have to...

Be a cheepscape for those from what I understand anything with a heim joint is bad for daily driver.  Constant monitoring making sure its ok.  I'm gonna do the pst tie rod and beefer e body setup vs hotchkis steering rods plus save me 100 bucks,  well after i fix my tranny and asses more damage lol.

[myk]

I have several Hotchkis items and love them. The difference was night and day for me. I have the following (in order of most drastic change in feel): Front Sway Bar, Rear Sway Bar, Torsion Bars, Rear Leaf Springs, front A Arms, front steering rods. If you decide to do the whole TVS, then great and you'll love it. If you go piecemeal, you might want to strategize accordingly.
Thanks,
Terry

Did you not get the strut rods?  Being a cheapskate I won't buy something unless I have to...

Be a cheepscape for those from what I understand anything with a heim joint is bad for daily driver.  Constant monitoring making sure its ok.  I'm gonna do the pst tie rod and beefer e body setup vs hotchkis steering rods plus save me 100 bucks,  well after i fix my tranny and asses more damage lol.

Yeah the heim joints give me pause.  I hear there are rubber booties to use?  Also, are you going to swap out your strut rods also?  If not, why?  Lastly, do beefier steering/tie rods really make that much of a difference?

[1974dodgecharger]

Strut rods are hem joints from hotchkis....unless your car is a track car or a off roading chargeri would forgo them.  Daily driver cars are fine without heim joints.

[2Luke2]

We have the hemi jointed strut rods and tie rods on our daily driver. We haven't gotten to put any miles on it, but we will be sure to let you know how it goes haha... We mostly went with those parts because we liked the clean look under the car without spending 5k on a complete coilover conversion. Though after everything was said and done we got pretty close with individual parts.

[myk]

Strut rods are hem joints from hotchkis....unless your car is a track car or a off roading chargeri would forgo them.  Daily driver cars are fine without heim joints.

Aren't the Hotchkis UCA's made with heim joints also?

We have the hemi jointed strut rods and tie rods on our daily driver. We haven't gotten to put any miles on it, but we will be sure to let you know how it goes haha... We mostly went with those parts because we liked the clean look under the car without spending 5k on a complete coilover conversion. Though after everything was said and done we got pretty close with individual parts.

Yeah I'll be pushing $3K when this suspension/chassis stuff is done, but it's money well spent IMO...

[familymopar]

Aren't the Hotchkis UCA's made with heim joints also?

I believe that they are. 

I will be starting a complete suspension overall soon and have purchased most of the parts so far.   I combined Hotchkis and FirmFeel in an effort to cut down on cost and avoid heim joints.  Here is what I got:

FirmFeel UCA's, HD strut rods, 11/16 tie rods, stage 3 box

Hotchkis SFC's, torsion bars, shocks (fox), sway bars (thanks to myk and others for getting me past the frame drilling issue!)

I am unsure if I need to do leafs.  Am currently running 15 year old Mopar Performance 1" drops.

As soon as I can after the suspension is complete I will be swapping out my 15" magnums for something in the 17"-18" range and some fatter rubber.

I believe this system should go together just fine and will achieve my goals.  I hope anyway.

[1974dodgecharger]

Yup, but for those there is no other choice that will eliminate the bump steer and that they are at a higher point than tie rods and strut rods where dirt can mess with them.

Strut rods are hem joints from hotchkis....unless your car is a track car or a off roading chargeri would forgo them.  Daily driver cars are fine without heim joints.

Aren't the Hotchkis UCA's made with heim joints also?

We have the hemi jointed strut rods and tie rods on our daily driver. We haven't gotten to put any miles on it, but we will be sure to let you know how it goes haha... We mostly went with those parts because we liked the clean look under the car without spending 5k on a complete coilover conversion. Though after everything was said and done we got pretty close with individual parts.

Yeah I'll be pushing $3K when this suspension/chassis stuff is done, but it's money well spent IMO...

[myk]

I have to contact Hotchkis and ask them about the dust/dirt covers that I can't remember where I heard about them.

Aren't the Hotchkis UCA's made with heim joints also?

I believe that they are. 

I will be starting a complete suspension overall soon and have purchased most of the parts so far.   I combined Hotchkis and FirmFeel in an effort to cut down on cost and avoid heim joints.  Here is what I got:

FirmFeel UCA's, HD strut rods, 11/16 tie rods, stage 3 box

Hotchkis SFC's, torsion bars, shocks (fox), sway bars (thanks to myk and others for getting me past the frame drilling issue!)

I am unsure if I need to do leafs.  Am currently running 15 year old Mopar Performance 1" drops.

As soon as I can after the suspension is complete I will be swapping out my 15" magnums for something in the 17"-18" range and some fatter rubber.

I believe this system should go together just fine and will achieve my goals.  I hope anyway.

You may have convinced me to take a look at Firm Feel's UCA's; I don't imagine I would need the adjustability of the Hotchkis pieces, and if the Firm Feel units are designed to have more caster, just like the Hotchkis ones and without the heim joints and twice the price, I just may have to jump ship...

[familymopar]

I have to contact Hotchkis and ask them about the dust/dirt covers that I can't remember where I heard about them...

I was reading a thread on another forum and Hotchkis was commenting on the thread.  People there were complaining about the heim joints getting gummed up on regular drivers and whoever was representing Hotchkis (Dan I think) said they did offer the dust boots but that they did not advertise them as the system was already expensive due to R&D but that when you called to order the parts they did tell you about them then.  That being said, I have not been able to find the boots on Summit, Classic Industries, etc. as I was price comparing.  I was not going to buy the parts direct from Hotchkis as the prices are dramatically higher.  Maybe you can just order the boots direct from them?

I will continue looking for that thread, haven't found it in my 3 minute search so far.

[familymopar]

Here is the thread.  Pretty close to what I remembered.  Read the posts by Dan@Hotchkis.  It seems from this thread that universal boots work fine too.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=Corners&Number=8000515&Searchpage=1&Main=7998389&Words=+Dan%40Hotchkis&topic=&Search=true

[WHITE AND RED 69]

There are tons of street cars out there running heim joints with no issues. Yes, they do require more maintenance but if you are looking for the most out your suspension then its a fair trade off.

I have been running my Hotchkis setup for over 3 years now and have had zero problems. I run the dust cover boots on the steering rods only right now cause they have the most debris thrown at them. If I had the boots at the time of install I would have put them on the control arms and strut rods just for piece of mind but I didn't. They will be added in the future, but they are usually pretty clean every time I check them. Just don't spray them with anything like wd-40 that will make dust or dirt stick.        

Here are links to the dust boots I have. They also have fully enclosed boots which I will swap to eventually.  

http://www.sealsit.com/rodend.asp

http://www.sealsit.com/rodendboots.asp

[myk]

There are tons of street cars out there running heim joints with no issues. Yes, they do require more maintenance but if you are looking for the most out your suspension then its a fair trade off.

I have been running my Hotchkis setup for over 3 years now and have had zero problems. I run the dust cover boots on the steering rods only right now cause they have the most debris thrown at them. If I had the boots at the time of install I would have put them on the control arms and strut rods just for piece of mind but I didn't. They will be added in the future, but they are usually pretty clean every time I check them. Just don't spray them with anything like wd-40 that will make dust or dirt stick.        

Here are links to the dust boots I have. They also have fully enclosed boots which I will swap to eventually.  

http://www.sealsit.com/rodend.asp

http://www.sealsit.com/rodendboots.asp

Thank you very much for those links; those boots will be priceless to those of us who decide to use heim-jointed products.  So, what is it about the heim joint that so many people are critical of?  Is it less structurally sound than an OEM design?  Is it because of the greater vulnerability to dirt/debris?  Cost?

[familymopar]

You may have convinced me to take a look at Firm Feel's UCA's; I don't imagine I would need the adjustability of the Hotchkis pieces, and if the Firm Feel units are designed to have more caster, just like the Hotchkis ones and without the heim joints and twice the price, I just may have to jump ship...

There are tons of street cars out there running heim joints with no issues. Yes, they do require more maintenance but if you are looking for the most out your suspension then its a fair trade off.

I have been running my Hotchkis setup for over 3 years now and have had zero problems. I run the dust cover boots on the steering rods only right now cause they have the most debris thrown at them. If I had the boots at the time of install I would have put them on the control arms and strut rods just for piece of mind but I didn't. They will be added in the future, but they are usually pretty clean every time I check them. Just don't spray them with anything like wd-40 that will make dust or dirt stick.       

Here are links to the dust boots I have. They also have fully enclosed boots which I will swap to eventually.   

http://www.sealsit.com/rodend.asp

http://www.sealsit.com/rodendboots.asp

In all of my research I have seen a number of people saying that the heim joints should be avoided for regular street use.  But I have yet to see someone who is actually using the Hotchkis TVS say that they have had any actual problem.  I have no doubt, as White and Red 69 said, that they will likely be just fine, as in his experience.  Especially with the boots.  I also have considerable faith in the Hotchkis R&D process.  I myself was looking for a combination of easier maintenance/longevity/easy emergency replacement and trying to keep cost low.  That is why I put together the system that I did.  For my purposes (no real race, only heavy street use) I thought the FirmFeel made sense.  And they were considerably cheaper.  Where the FirmFeels were not cheaper, I went with some Hotchkis parts that are "tuned" to work together, i.e. sway bars and torsion bars.  I think Hotchkis and FirmFeel are both putting out very respectable parts and I think in many ways they can work together to suit my wallet.