On the fence. Hotchkis fox adjustables or Bilstein RCD's.

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LovetheA's

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Well I've been reading through the postings and forums and I've narrowed it down to the Hotchkis adjustables by fox or the Bistein RCD's. My car is a 67 GTS 4 speed. Changes made so far: polyurethane bushings all around including mounting bushings for rear 6 leaf springs.
Boxed LCA, 1.03 torsion bars, 16:1 quick ratio firm feel manual box, I'm running the factory front BB sway bar. Should I but the hotchkis sway bar mounting brackets and have them welded to my LCA's because I bought some boxed ones at a good deal and they didn't have the brackets? Or should I buy the kind that mount differently for potential upgrade at some point to bigger front sway bar? Are these shocks worth the extra money over Bilsteins with what I have done?
Price $780.00 set of 4.

Description

Applications: 1963-1976 Dodge/Plymouth A Body (Dart Demon Barracuda Duster Scamp Valiant) 1970-1974 Dodge Challenger

Take your 1963-76 Dodge/Plymouth A Body or 1970-74 Dodge Challenger to the pinnacle of performance for autocross and track days. Hotchkis-Tuned Adjustable Performance Series Shocks are one of the fastest, easiest and most dramatic modifications you can make to a Mopar, dramatically improving grip, steering response and control. Adjustable Performance Series Shock Absorbers are manufactured by Fox and tuned by Hotchkis engineers to be the ultimate single adjustable shock for of your muscle car. Engineered using the most advanced development tools available, the valving of these shocks was fine-tuned to deliver a smooth, comfortable ride on the shock�s softest setting and a more aggressive, race-oriented ride on its stiffest setting. Developed as part of a balanced system, Hotchkis-Tuned APS Shocks give your vehicle more control and balanced handling, especially when installed in conjunction with a Hotchkis Total Vehicle System. These shocks are made in the USA and are built with heavy duty billet aluminum end caps, polyurethane bushings, and �� hard chrome plated, heat treated alloy shafts, ensuring years of trouble free operation.

Features and Benefits:

  • Lightweight, smooth-bore, Type III hard anodized, aluminum mono tube body.
  • Application-tuned, smooth riding, digressive disc technology
  • 45 levels of rebound adjustment
  • Large, non-slip anodized red adjustment knobs, prominent detents at each level
  • Black anodized 6061-T6 billet aluminum end caps
  • ½” hard chrome plated, heat treated alloy shafts, 100 hour salt spray testing.
  • Direct Bolt-In Replacement for OE Shocks
  • Made in the USA

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The Bilsteins work well on both the street and the track. If you want the best lap times get the Fox adjustables. Bigger sway bars are available that will fit the stock LCA mounts. Unless you plan on upgrading the K frame, stick with the stock locations.
 
Got the Hotchkis Fox shocks. Super sweet. Hotchkis swaybars are pretty beefy!
 
I’ve run both the Bilstein RCD’s and Hotchkis Fox shocks (non adjustable) on my Duster with 1.12” torsion bars. The Bilsteins work well, but the Hotchkis Fox shocks are a bit better. It’s kind of hard to describe, the Hotchkis shocks just feel a bit smoother, and seem to match the action of the 1.12” bars better.

Now, that being said, I still run Bilsteins on my Challenger and will have them on my Dart as well with 1.06” bars. The Challenger also has 1.12” bars, but the wheel rate is a bit lighter because of the length (270 vs 300 lb/in). And the Bilsteins seem better on that car. I think the Hotchkis shocks work a bit better as the bars get larger. With 1.03’s, I think you could use either one and be happy, especially on a car that’s mostly for street use.

For the sway bars, I have both Hellwig and Hotchkis bars. Hellwigs on my Duster and Hotchkis on my Challenger. The hotchkis sway bars are beautiful, and probably a little bit lighter (weight, not spring rate). I like the way the rear bar mounts to the frame a little better than how hellwig does it. But the Hellwig bars are very nice as well, and just as functional for quite a bit less money.

I think the bottom line on both parts is that Hotchkis has a slightly better product, but charges A LOT more money. If you’ve got the money, you will not be disappointed with the Hotchkis stuff, they make great products. But if you’re on a budget, the Bilstein RCD shocks and Hellwig bars perform very well. So well that some folks probably wouldn’t notice the difference, because depending on how the rest of the car is set up the difference could be pretty minimal.
 
72bluNblu said:
I’ve run both the Bilstein RCD’s and Hotchkis Fox shocks (non adjustable) on my Duster with 1.12” torsion bars. The Bilsteins work well, but the Hotchkis Fox shocks are a bit better. It’s kind of hard to describe, the Hotchkis shocks just feel a bit smoother, and seem to match the action of the 1.12” bars better.

Now, that being said, I still run Bilsteins on my Challenger and will have them on my Dart as well with 1.06” bars. The Challenger also has 1.12” bars, but the wheel rate is a bit lighter because of the length (270 vs 300 lb/in). And the Bilsteins seem better on that car. I think the Hotchkis shocks work a bit better as the bars get larger. With 1.03’s, I think you could use either one and be happy, especially on a car that’s mostly for street use.

For the sway bars, I have both Hellwig and Hotchkis bars. Hellwigs on my Duster and Hotchkis on my Challenger. The hotchkis sway bars are beautiful, and probably a little bit lighter (weight, not spring rate). I like the way the rear bar mounts to the frame a little better than how hellwig does it. But the Hellwig bars are very nice as well, and just as functional for quite a bit less money.

I think the bottom line on both parts is that Hotchkis has a slightly better product, but charges A LOT more money. If you’ve got the money, you will not be disappointed with the Hotchkis stuff, they make great products. But if you’re on a budget, the Bilstein RCD shocks and Hellwig bars perform very well. So well that some folks probably wouldn’t notice the difference, because depending on how the rest of the car is set up the difference could be pretty minimal.
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If you're not rumning in a lot of auto crosses and track days. I don't there is bang for the buck to justify the adjustables.

Are you running max effort tires? Around 200 treadwear, wide as possible, etc?

That would be another indication not to bother with the adjustables.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice. Are the hotchkis fox shocks a direct bolt in like the Bilstein's RCD's? So for my purposes just buy the hotchkis LCA sway bar mounting brackets and just have them welded onto the factory location on my boxed LCA's?
 
LovetheA's said:
Thanks everyone for the advice. Are the hotchkis fox shocks a direct bolt in like the Bilstein's RCD's? So for my purposes just buy the hotchkis LCA sway bar mounting brackets and just have them welded onto the factory location on my boxed LCA's?
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Yup, the Hotchkis shocks bolt in just like the Bilsteins, stock locations and mounts.

For the sway bar yes, if you’ve already got a set of boxed LCA’s buying the mounting brackets and welding them on is probably the most cost effective way to do it. If you’ve got a ‘67 K member and don’t plan on changing it the stock 67-72 mounting location would make the most sense.
 
LovetheA's said:
Thanks everyone for the advice. Are the hotchkis fox shocks a direct bolt in like the Bilstein's RCD's? So for my purposes just buy the hotchkis LCA sway bar mounting brackets and just have them welded onto the factory location on my boxed LCA's?
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Is this car a factory 67 383 GTS 4 speed?

If so it should have factory sway bar tabbed LCAs.

I think the hotchkis front sway bar requires a sway bar mount welded inward.

What tire sizes and rim width/dia are you going to run on your dart?
 
autoxcuda said:
Is this car a factory 67 383 GTS 4 speed?

If so it should have factory sway bar tabbed LCAs.

I think the hotchkis front sway bar requires a sway bar mount welded inward.

What tire sizes and rim width/dia are you going to run on your dart?
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Oohhh that’s a good point. The 67-72 original sway bar design limits tire width so there’s two styles, they’ve got a “pro-touring” set up that changes the ends of the bars for tire clearance. And you’re probably right about those not mounting to the same bracket location on the LCA. Gotta look into that for sure.
 
72bluNblu said:
Oohhh that’s a good point. The 67-72 original sway bar design limits tire width so there’s two styles, they’ve got a “pro-touring” set up that changes the ends of the bars for tire clearance. And you’re probably right about those not mounting to the same bracket location on the LCA. Gotta look into that for sure.
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Thanks everyone for chiming in. I really appreciate all the knowledge from this website. Yes the car is a factory 67 383 4 speed and does have factory sway bar mounts on the original LCA's but I am swapping in some similar year LCA's that were boxed and I got a good deal on. These don't have the factory sway bar brackets. So I'm weighing my options. If the factory sway bar mounting locations would prevent a wider wheel from being used wouldn't the knuckle arm be more of an obstacle to a wider wheel or is it tucked in too far to affect the wider wheel? If I want to upgrade to a thicker better sway bar will I no longer be able to use the factory mounting location on the LCA? Would a beefier sway bar make a significant improvement to the factory BB a body bar in the car? What sway bar would be a good upgrade that I could use the stock mounting locations?
 
Bigger sway bars will be a significant improvement over factory.

As autoXcuda pointed out it depends on what you plan on running for tire widths. Although I think I can go one further, if you’re not planning on using 17” or 18” rims you could use the factory 67-72 LCA bracket locations, because only 17+ inch diameter rims can run enough backspace to cause issues.

The hotchkis bar does not use the stock 67-72 LCA sway bar bracket locations, they provide their own brackets that weld on. Hellwig 5906 and 5907 do use the factory LCA bracket locations, although they also come with hardware to attach them if you don’t have the factory LCA brackets. Hellwig 55917 is the “pro-touring” Hellwig bar, and like the Hotchkis it has different LCA brackets than stock. But it and the Hotchkis also allow much wider front tires, like you can fit with 17” or 18” rims.
 
72bluNblu said:
Bigger sway bars will be a significant improvement over factory.

As autoXcuda pointed out it depends on what you plan on running for tire widths. Although I think I can go one further, if you’re not planning on using 17” or 18” rims you could use the factory 67-72 LCA bracket locations, because only 17+ inch diameter rims can run enough backspace to cause issues.

The hotchkis bar does not use the stock 67-72 LCA sway bar bracket locations, they provide their own brackets that weld on. Hellwig 5906 and 5907 do use the factory LCA bracket locations, although they also come with hardware to attach them if you don’t have the factory LCA brackets. Hellwig 55917 is the “pro-touring” Hellwig bar, and like the Hotchkis it has different LCA brackets than stock. But it and the Hotchkis also allow much wider front tires, like you can fit with 17” or 18” rims.
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72bluNblu
Thank you for the advise. It really helps. I plan on staying with a 14 or 15" rim. Also I don't want to cut/alter the wheel wells at all being a real 67 GTS. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it drives after all my changes.
 
LovetheA's said:
72bluNblu
Thank you for the advise. It really helps. I plan on staying with a 14 or 15" rim. Also I don't want to cut/alter the wheel wells at all being a real 67 GTS. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it drives after all my changes.
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Ok. I was trying to get an overall idea of the complete suspension system.

Don't buy the adjustable shocks. Not going to feel or need them with what you are trying to achieve and your other parts.

The high end adjustable becomes more necessary to control really stiff springs, make adjustments for track/racing situations, fine tuning with high grip wide low profile tire, etc... I just don't see that as a match for you.
 
Does anyone know which LCA sway bar mounting brackets made by Hotchkis will work for my 67 Dart? I need to weld sway bar attaching brackets to my new boxed in LCA's. Hotchkis has part # 23366 which says for 66-69 b body mopar, part # 23367 says for 70-74 e body 70-72 b body. I don't want to order something that won't work. Has anyone used these as a weld on for my a body? If these won't work then is their any other source?
 
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