Hotchkis TVS worth it?

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KramerSwinger70

KramerSwinger70

70 Dart Swinger360
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so ive seen articles in my mopar magazines an saw a video advertising Hotchkis Total Vehicle System (TVS). has anyone here used the system? i dont know very much about suspension upgrades and what it should cost but this kit for my 70 dartwould run me around $2,300. is that alot for a full vehicle suspension upgrade? i would lovge for my car to handle better and this system seems promising. just curious
 
What wheels and tires are you running? It's about 95% pointless to do a huge upgrade like that if you are still running 14" or 15" wheels and some craptastic white letter tire.

So that $2300 will be $5000 once you get wheels and tires that can take advantage of it.


I think anything with the Hotchkis name on it is over priced.
 
I have no experience with it myself, though everything I've read says it helps (this is obvious from what they publish and their videos) but it's a band-aid because it doesn't fix problems with geometry inherent in the oem designs. Others I've heard from that have it are happy over stock.
 
73charger said:
so ive seen articles in my mopar magazines an saw a video advertising Hotchkis Total Vehicle System (TVS). has anyone here used the system? i dont know very much about suspension upgrades and what it should cost but this kit for my 70 dartwould run me around $2,300. is that alot for a full vehicle suspension upgrade? i would lovge for my car to handle better and this system seems promising. just curious
Click to expand...

$2300 and it doesn't even come with torsion bars or shocks?? that seems crazy to me.. you can piece together a suspension for cheaper i'm sure. i have to agree. anything hotchkis seems to be way over priced.


this the kit your talking about? http://www.hotchkis.net/6772_dodge_abody_total_vehicle_system.html


.



what exactly do you want out of the car when its done?? is the front suspension in good shape? has it been converted to big bolt or is it still small bolt?




.
 
swisswill said:
... but it's a band-aid because it doesn't fix problems with geometry inherent in the oem designs. .....
Click to expand...

And what are those specific problems with stock geometry?

They found there was an anti dive and bump steer issue with the E and B bodies and they made a revised geometry UCA to fix that. But they said that issue was not present with the A-bodies. :dontknow:
 
we have a t-type regal at work with it on it /all china stuff but it looks nice. not sure if it does anything to make it handel beter?
 
I'm interested in what the kit includes.
Could you give reference to the kits Part#?
If nothing else I'm sure it would be a good
reference tool.
In the link Joe found I see no frame ties/shocks.
AutoXcuda has written some very good advice on
getting the most bang for your buck.
Also you might call Performance Suspension Technology
they are a sponsor here and get thier advice.
 
abodyjoe said:
$2300 and it doesn't even come with torsion bars or shocks?? that seems crazy to me.. you can piece together a suspension for cheaper i'm sure. i have to agree. anything hotchkis seems to be way over priced.


this the kit your talking about? http://www.hotchkis.net/6772_dodge_abody_total_vehicle_system.html


.



what exactly do you want out of the car when its done?? is the front suspension in good shape? has it been converted to big bolt or is it still small bolt?




.
Click to expand...

i just want to eliminate body roll as best i can. and the videos and pics ive seen, they murder body roll
 
how hard you going to drive it.



really don't need the tube upper arms. can just put the offset bushings in your stock ones.

1" bars from just suspension go for a good price

maybe new 6 leaf rear springs

front and rear sway bars

good shocks

and maybe 17-18" wheels and tires


that will get ya what you want too. can probably do it minus the wheels and tires for a lot cheaper then the kit your looking at.
 
abodyjoe said:
how hard you going to drive it.



really don't need the tube upper arms. can just put the offset bushings in your stock ones.

1" bars from just suspension go for a good price

maybe new 6 leaf rear springs

front and rear sway bars

good shocks

and maybe 17-18" wheels and tires


that will get ya what you want too. can probably do it minus the wheels and tires for a lot cheaper then the kit your looking at.
Click to expand...

Good advise! Im unsure why so many folks are going to tubular A arms..Moog offers offset camber ucs bolts/washers for far less than the $350 of a new uca's.

I remember my 74 Duster had handling issues whenI got it. Would wander in and out of lanes and had severe body roll. I installed the Moog bolts/washers along with KYB shocks up front.It was enough to resolve both issues and cost me lass than $100 at the time.Later on I installed a pair of overload coil over style shocks in the rear and it handled quite well!

My point to you is there are cheaper ways than the Hotchkiss system which are just as effective.

Myself Im waiting to see how XV's suspension system pans out before I make myself totally commit to a drag setup..Im sure it will be very pricey...
 
My suggestion is to go through the information you can find here on FABO from any number of members before you make a big purchase such as this. The members here have a vast amount of real world experience and will readily offer great information.
'Autoxcuda' is an avid autocrosser with a wealth of information.
You've already seen several comments stating that Hotchkiss is very proud of their parts pricewise. I attended an open house they had last year and their products do look very nice and they are seem to know what they're talking about. They raised a bit of a 'red flag' with me when I was talking to them about their new A-body frame connectors - they used a Duster for development of the A-body frame connectors and didn't know that later-year A-body Darts/Scamps/Valiants have a 111" wheelbase rather than the 108" wb of their Duster. Make sure whatever you buy from whoever you buy it from is made specifically for your car.
 
abodyjoe said:
how hard you going to drive it.



really don't need the tube upper arms. can just put the offset bushings in your stock ones.

1" bars from just suspension go for a good price

maybe new 6 leaf rear springs

front and rear sway bars

good shocks

and maybe 17-18" wheels and tires


that will get ya what you want too. can probably do it minus the wheels and tires for a lot cheaper then the kit your looking at.
Click to expand...

I agree. Sounds like a plan. Hellwig has great value and far better mounting than the $99 Addco stuff you see on Ebay. Especially inportant on a 66-72 A-body with original K-member and the wide sway bar. The Hellwig and Hotckiss rear sway bars are adjustable and have a smooth articulating dogbone type endlink instead of the traditional donut type endlink bushings.
 
73charger said:
so ive seen articles in my mopar magazines an saw a video advertising Hotchkis Total Vehicle System (TVS). has anyone here used the system? i dont know very much about suspension upgrades and what it should cost but this kit for my 70 dartwould run me around $2,300. is that alot for a full vehicle suspension upgrade? i would lovge for my car to handle better and this system seems promising. just curious
Click to expand...

We spent the last year working on the TVS for the A-body. We used several different R&D cars and numerous track test days to make sure that the parts we were manufacturing will noticeably improve the handling and road feel of your car.

25299_364810190072_188171375072_3802888_365655_n.jpg


You'll notice dramatic improvements even with stock wheels, tires and brakes. Our second test Challenger picked up 2 seconds on the road course after the suspension upgrade, and that was with junkyard discs, 15 inch rallys and BFGs.

16953_262355970072_188171375072_3458960_6552978_n.jpg


The best thing about our install is that you can bolt the parts in, many of the competitors require cutting or drilling to install their parts. Even if you choose to start with sway bars only, you'll notice an improvement in handling.

Will you be at the Spring Fling this weekend? We'd be happy to walk you through the parts and how they work.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnsEIGgBdsI"]Hotchkis Car Video[/ame]
 
Welcome aboard! Glad to see you guys chime in. Thanks!
 
I have installed Hotchkis stuff on some GM cars and it was always top quality stuff, fit and worked well. I dont have any experience with their mopar stuff but would expect the same. You should be able to do it cheaper but you will be surprised how fast it all adds up when you replace everything.
 
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