Settling in with Hotchkis...

[Jaysick]

yeah seems that way.  looking at my old mounts, there is spacing differences it seems but when I was putting on those hotchkis, i remember reading about someone who put them on upside down so this stuck with me.  I was almost thinking about doing it to lift it up a little till I redo my front so it doesnt look all tugboat until I get some drop spindles.

[myk]

Are you going to put in the Hotchkis torsion bars?  I think that's the drop you're looking for...

[Kern Dog]

It was my understanding that the front mounts for the springs can only go in one way?  I will check it out...

The 4 bolt pattern is such that it can not be installed two ways. The top pair of bolts is spaced apart slightly closer than the bottom two.

[myk]

Yeah I just crawled under and verified that. 

In any case, does anyone know if my front end will have to be completely realigned with the installation of the longer fast ratio pitman and idler arms?  To do so would mean disassembling the UCA's and all that mess; I'll just stick with stock arms and buy a Borgeson box later...

[garner7555]

The toe will need to be reset but that should be all after installing fast ratio arms.   

[myk]

That's what I figured.  Thanks for the reply.

Edit:  the idler arm isn't clearing my stock exhaust, so the fast ratio stuff won't work for me.
What a disappointment...

[garner7555]

That's what I figured.  Thanks for the reply.

Edit:  the idler arm isn't clearing my stock exhaust, so the fast ratio stuff won't work for me.
What a disappointment...

I'll give you a dollar for it!!        just kidding 

I hate to hear that it doesn't fit.

[myk]

I thought that stuff was guaranteed to clear the stock exhaust.  Do you guys know of any other cars that wouldn't take the fast ratio stuff with the stock exhaust?  Well, I might as well get those headers now...

[Jaysick]

Are you going to put in the Hotchkis torsion bars?  I think that's the drop you're looking for...

I already have some Mopar .960 bars so I guess im gonna put those on for now.  Eventually coil overs is the plan.
Is that what you have, the Hotchkis 1.100?  Hows the ride feel?  im worried about lowering mine without really stiffening it up because my oil pan is pretty low and u know how these sd roads are..

[myk]

Ugh tell me about it.  I have to admit that with the Hotchkis pieces and the SFC's the Charger feels EVERY imperfection in these crappy San Diego roads.  Everything is so much tighter than stock that sometimes I wonder if I've traded away too much for the sake of being able to take a turn. 

Do you ever hit the local car shows?  On a whim I just tried Carlsbad Cars & Coffee last Saturday morning and got to see my first Ferrari ever.  It'd be great to see another Charger in a sea of Ferds and Chebbies!

[Kern Dog]

B I L S T E I N shocks!
They really do make the car ride better while improving the handling!
Sorry to learn of the FR arms not clearing the exhaust. They are a great asset to a good handling car. They increase the steering ratio from approx 15.7 to 1 to around 12 to 1 while increasing the effort required to steer.

Oh, and .96 T bars?  STEP up to 1.0 or bigger, everyone! These cars are all seriously UNDERsprung if you are running a 383/440 and T bars smaller than 1.0. I run the Bergman Auto Craft 1.15 bars in my 70 Charger and the car rides no firmer than my wifes 2015 Challenger R/T.

[Charger-Bodie]

B I L S T E I N shocks!
They really do make the car ride better while improving the handling!
Sorry to learn of the FR arms not clearing the exhaust. They are a great asset to a good handling car. They increase the steering ratio from approx 15.7 to 1 to around 12 to 1 while increasing the effort required to steer.

I agree about the Bilstiens. I put Hotchkis bars in my 68 and it ride fine,and our streets are absolute garbage.

[Jaysick]

Psssh yeah im really regretting these 0.96 bars....  Ive had a 72 mustang for years and once I got this charger this torsion bar thing was totally alien to me.  At the time my thinking was that the 0.96 was good enough for street use but for another 80 bucks I shoulda got the Hotchkis bars... 
@Myk
No I havent gone to any shows since I got my Charger in 2011.  Ive spent pretty much all my free time working on this thing since I got it.  I drive it every day so I need quick turn around and whatever Im working on I need to make sure I can have it moving again by monday morning so I can go to work   Im getting too old for this s!#t!!  I need to win the lottery, I think then Ill finally be able to finish this car lol

[myk]

C'mon man let's hit the cruises!  I don't have much free time either but I go as much as I can...

[myk]

Hey guys, I have a few more questions.

I was inspecting my Hotchkis upper control arms and noticed that the ball joint seals looked flat and well, empty.  So I plugged in my grease gun and squeezed once, twice, three, four and a few more times before the ball joint seal started to even move.  After a bit the seals took on a rounded, full-looking shape.  My questions are:

*How much grease are you supposed to inject?  I've been told that you're supposed to fill the seal with grease until it starts to come out of the edges.  I've also been told that some seals take a certain amount until they pop off and ruin the entire seal.  So which is it?

*Is there any possibility that the ball joints in my uber-expensive Hotchkis UCA's are damaged?  Will they need to be replaced?  Could these UCA's now represent a safety issue?  I'd say that I've been driving these ball joints dry for about 500 miles or so. 

I can't believe these things were empty-I've definitely got a bone to pick with the people who installed them.  Also, if any of you are considering these Hotchkis parts I strongly recommend buying the optional rubber boots to protect all of the heim joints.  Every single heim joint was covered in grit, gravel, dirt, you name it.

[myk]

Wow has it really been a year?  Anyways I'm pleased to report that the car has held up well with its Hotchkis parts; I'm looking forward to the Borgeson box, torque boxes and stickier tires that will take the car even farther.  

HOWEVER, the car has developed a creaking/groaning sound from the front end, which is loudest whenever I turn the wheel to the left.  I hear a little bit of the creaking/groaning as the front suspension travels while I'm driving over San Diego's awful roads.  I've gone under the car to see if anything is visibly loose and it doesn't seem that way.  Nothing seems broken either.  I'm thinking chassis lubrication so I hit as many zerk fittings as I could with the grease gun this morning;  I haven't had a chance to see if it made a difference, yet.  I wasn't able to hit the zerk fittings on the center link because those fat header tubes are in the way.  

Do you guys have any suggestions as to what could be causing the creaking/groaning?  Loose power steering box?  Other ball joints/fittings that need grease?  Worn components other than the Hotchkis pieces that I installed?  I accidentally pushed grease past the seal on the left UCA ball joint.  Could that be a problem?  I also noticed that the right UCA ball joint needed to be filled with grease again.  This noise was not present when all I had done was Hotchkis shocks and sway bars on a stock suspension.  As always, any ideas and input are welcome.  Thanks in advance...

[Back N Black]

I had the creaking noise over bumps too, I sprayed a little WD-40 on the upper and lower control arm bushings and creaking gone. 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

How many miles are on the lower ball joints, lower control arm bushings, pitman, & idler arm?

Don't spray the WD-40 on the heim joints, that will make them dirt magnets. Use a "dry spray" lubricant for all of those.

[71charger_fan]

I've got Hotchkis UCAs and have a groan from the driver's side. I've only got at most a few hundred miles on them, but am considering switching them out for some QA1s with a more conventional bushing. However, the Hotchkis do not give as harsh a ride as I feared they would but the shop trying to align the car had it for over a week. The first technician got everything screwed up. They have a Mopar-knowledgeable tech who came back from some time off and took it over and got it sorted.

[myk]

How many miles are on the lower ball joints, lower control arm bushings, pitman, & idler arm?

Don't spray the WD-40 on the heim joints, that will make them dirt magnets. Use a "dry spray" lubricant for all of those.

Guy's thanks for the input.  The pitman and the idler are new, the lower ball joints were changed out during my disc conversion back in 2005; they can't have more than 10K miles on them. The center link is original AFAIK.  The lower control arms had their pivot shafts changed with the Hotchkis changeover.  I will try a dry lube on the bushings and joints.  I just became concerned because the creaking and groaning is getting louder.  Thanks again...

[Charger-Bodie]

Double check all the bolts too.

[myk]

Double check all the bolts too.

Yes.  Hotchkis told me that these parts "have to be especially tightened" because normal torque specs aren't enough.  I need to buy bigger tools.

Also is there a way to check ball joints like the lowers? 

[Kern Dog]

I had the creaking noise over bumps too, I sprayed a little WD-40 on the upper and lower control arm bushings and creaking gone. 

NOT good. Oil and grease accelerates the failure of a rubber bushing!

Myk, I'd take a look at the lower control arm bushings. I had a set actually start to come apart at less than 9000 miles of use!

[myk]

So did you start getting noises too?   Looks like I'm going to have to take a hard look at the lower ball joints and the lower arms/bushings.  Thanks again guys...

[1974dodgecharger]

No noises on my myk one bit......so hard to say.