Hotchkiss or Helwig rear sway bar?

Which sway bar?

  • Hotchkiss

    Votes: 7 24.1%

  • Helwig

    Votes: 22 75.9%
  • Total voters
    29
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wjaholic

wjaholic

My car stole my wallet!
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I have a '74 Duster with a full exhaust (3" tail pipes) and would like to fit a rear sway bar some where back there.

I would love to have the firm feel T/A bar but... from what I have read it wont fit with larger tail pipes in our A-bodies. So, I have narrowed it down to just the two, Hotchkiss and Helwig.

Does anyone have any experience with the Hotchkiss sway bars? I cant find any pictures of one installed in an A-body.

What do you guys think?
 
Here's a picture of ours

375899158.jpg
 
I did the front a few months ago, the rear is going to be a hellwig too. I am really impressed with the front, it is very Heavy Duty, and a good fit.

JOE
 
I think we did this thread last month or so. I think what came out of it was that Hotchkiss is much more expensive but doesn't preform any better than the lower cost alternatives.
 
As far as I know, Hotchkis makes their own sway bars. We don't make anything for them. One difference between our bars and theirs is that ours are made from heat treated chrome moly steel.
 
Dave@Hellwig said:
As far as I know, Hotchkis makes their own sway bars. We don't make anything for them. One difference between our bars and theirs is that ours are made from heat treated chrome moly steel.
Click to expand...

So would you agree that your bars cost less and work at least as well?

Thats what it is all about. :)
 
I believe that Hotchkis copied Hellwig.....


If you folks read my earlier threads you'll know which way I am leaning...;)

HELLWIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Sounds good guys, once it warms up here I will probably track down a Hellwig bar for the rear of my car.

Thanks for the advice! (And the picture! It really helps!)
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
So would you agree that your bars cost less and work at least as well?

Thats what it is all about. :)
Click to expand...


We put a lot of effort into making these bars perform well. Our adjustable bars were tested and developed to work with today's suspension upgrades and nothing can match heat treated chrome moly steel for strength.
 
As long as the leaves are not moved inboard of the inner subframe wall, the sway bar will work. However, for best handling, you want the springs as far outboard as possible. Moving the springs in will allow a larger tire but will degrade handling more than can be compensated by the larger tire.
 
What is the price difference between the two kits and how much do they coast????
 
O.K one thing you didnt mention is what sway bar is up front. Sway bars always work as a matched pair,so putting in a beefy rear bar while having a stock front bar may not be the best plan. I have a stock front sway bar and am planning on using an addco 3/4" solid bar out back. No point in going larger,it will make the handling worse,not better.
 
Sorry I don't have an answer for your question , but I have another sway bar question,I have a 69 Dart, with a 74 k member that did not have a factory sway bar, who makes one that will install on non factory set up like mine?
 
I have a Addco performance front swaybar I got from summit. Not sure about the rest but it work with or without original equipped cars. I have yet to install it so I can't comment on the quality or performance yet. But Im sure it will be a great improvement over what my non-equipped car is now.

I will be picking up a matching rear as soon as I can. Through Summit Addco is cheaper than Hellwig by about $60-$100 than the Hotchkiss is even another $80 on top of that.

Just something to think about.

frontsway bars
http://www.summitracing.com/search/...rt-Type/Sway-Bars/Position/Front/?Ns=Rank|Asc

rear swarbars
http://www.summitracing.com/search/...art-Type/Sway-Bars/Position/Rear/?Ns=Rank|Asc
 
wjaholic said:
I cant find any pictures of one installed in an A-body.
Click to expand...

Here is a link to Hotchkiss's instructions for front and rear swaybars. It has a few pictures to give you an idea, but unfortunately i does not have a full rear picture like Hellwig has offered up above

[ame]http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/hss-22385r.pdf[/ame]
 
The Hotchkis rear sway bar is tubular (hollow), so larger diameter but lighter. It's also adjustable, with 3 different levels of stiffness. The Hellwig bars are solid and non-adjustable.

Not saying that you need either of those features, but the Hotchkis bars do offer them. They've done a ton of research on what works on these cars as a package. You can usually get them much cheaper than the MSRP listed on their site as well. Folks have had luck in the past calling Hotchkis and having them beat other listed prices (like Summit), which are usually much lower.
 
Damn, Hellwig is in my backyard, might just have to go for a visit and see what they got for a 64 b body.
 
caw440 said:
Sorry I don't have an answer for your question , but I have another sway bar question,I have a 69 Dart, with a 74 k member that did not have a factory sway bar, who makes one that will install on non factory set up like mine?
Click to expand...

Hellwig fits, if you have the car up on ramps, it will take about 2 hrs to install with basic hand tools and a drill.

I bought front and rears off Amazon for around 300 bucks shipped, alot cheaper than Summit.
 
Sold parts on the left coast for years.Sold several Hellwig kits,not a problem with one.So Hellwig.
 
My experience with Addco bars on a few cars now has been that while the bars themselves are decent, the hardware leaves a little to be desired. Generally Addco just ships a bunch of miscellaneous universal brackets and hardware. It works, but you end up with something that looks like an Erector set, flexes and loosens up over time. A few well placed tack welds help, but it's a PITA. It looks like Helwig, Firm Feel and Hotchkiss use better thought out OEM style mounting brackets, which is probably the best way to go.

I bought my Addco early-A bars before Helwig and Hotchkis had theirs on the market. They're still new in the boxes. Anybody wanna trade?
 
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