Ready to buy: Whiteline or Hotchkis Sway Bars?
 

After having my KW V3's installed, the car def handles better but still has some dreaded body roll. So I'm looking for a sway bar set that will help get rid of that. I was waiting for the whitelines to come out for a while & now I see that they have, but I have no idea wheather to go with the whitelines or the hotchkis which are alil cheaper. I don't plan on really taking my car to the track, but I want improved cornering on the street. I really am undecided on which one will be a better fit, as some people like/dislike the hotchkis set & since the whitelines are brand new. Any feedback would be most appreciated, thanks guys :tup:

Anyone?

Hey Zeto, I'm going to prob buy the hotchkis kit, but am taking a short break from modding. During the last month or 2, the mod bug bit hard, lol

Yea I can see that lol! I'm debating between the Hotchkis and Stillen right now, decisions decisions...

stillen!

But why Rich?

Stillen spends a lot of time on R&D imo..
Idk about hotchkis.

You have another option as well, the 3 piece Tanabe set. That said ive had Tanabe sway bars before and they worked great. I might add tho it depends on what you are using them for. The Hotchkis bars i believe are adjustable in the rear which is a nice added +

i believe the Hotchkis are hollow bars and the Whiteline is solid...i prefer Whiteline...Tanabes will most likely be hollow as well and not a one piece design (the ends welded on)...Whiteline>Hotchkis>Tanabe..

Whiteline used to be the Bee's Knees for 240SX's back in the day if I remember correctly. Control arms, bushings, everything. I'd definitely go for a 1-piece solid unit myself, but I'd like to be able to find a way to improve the rear more drastically than the front. Most kits will massively increase the front stiffness while only marginally increasing the rear.

I have had great results with Whiteline in the past (300ZXTT, Impreza STi, Ford Typhoon F6).

I have no prior experience with aftermarket Sways, I have the Hotchkis, and i'm pretty happy with the results. I did a Canyon run up Mulholland Canyon rd, and it handled great, my rear setting was set at the medium setting, The handling was greatly improved.

If you want an actual performance upgrade, I'd stay away from the Stillen sways. So like I said before whiteline & hotchkis are the only real options to go with. I don't know anyone with the whitelines on the forum to give their impressions, but so far alot of people with the hotchkis kit seem to really like it. And since my suspension is already upgraded, I should see even more of an upgrade.

I've got the whitelines

http://www.the370z.com/brakes-suspen...installed.html

They're great on the street on the medium settings, no problems with tripod-ing in driveways and it's taken a chunk off body roll in corners. Another big plus is they replace the endlinks in the rear with some stronger adjustable ones - although tbh I havent played with it yet.

Went to the track a coupla weeks ago (still medium setting) and it still had a bit too much body roll for my liking in the tighter corners, I've got a track day again in 2 weeks time, so I'll see how it goes this time in the stiffest settings.

I vote Hotchkis, I really like mine.

Looks like I'm going Hotckis, thanks guys! :tup:

hotchkis i see....so does everyone put the sway bars to the stiffest setting? or the middle hole?

For everyday driving the middle setting is just fine.

Alot of people seem to like the middle settings for DD

Anyone know if there are any deals going on for the hotchkis sway bars?

Lou, at Amplified Motorsport always has deals? :tiphat:

I put the Hotchkis on a couple weeks ago....love'em. I did an autoX last weekend and the car handles beautifully (stock suspension other than the sways). The car rotates nicely, has easily controllable oversteer with the rear on the middle setting, and corners much flatter now. I'd buy them again, no question. As for the hollow/solid question...who cares. I can tell you the Hotchkis bars weigh at least twice what the stock bars weigh, and they look twice as substantial. Unless they are CF, I want my sways to be beefy.

Despite saying i liked the Tanabe bars earlier in this thread i decided to go with whiteline lol. Ill not be able to install them until September when i get R&R but ill be putting them and a set of BC ERs with Swift Springs 12k/10k on at the same time. Should make a huge difference! When September rolls around ill have a journal go up and ill post pics of all my installs and then a review of the parts ive bought.

IMO stay away from hollow bars.

Although they are lightweight compared to solid bars, I've seen a few cars with snapped/broken sway bars, and all of them are hollow/tubular.

But YMMV.

^Did that happen at the track or on the street?

IIRC 2 that I've seen had them snapped on the track after some Auto-X.

The rest of them had them snapped on street. I remember one of them saying that they heard "clinking" noise after turning a corner, then when the car was jacked up, we saw the sway bar snapped in half.

What brand?

there's only a few brands that make hollow bars...tanabe, hotchkis, cobb..I stay away from hollow bars..they are light but can bend/snap under load...go with the Whitelines.

I don't plan on going to the track, so it's basically only for the street. With so many people that have the hotchkis kit you would think one would have broke by now. Are the Whiteline soild bars that much more reliable then the hotchkis hollow bars?

I have yet to hear about about Hotckis bars snapping on 370Z's.

i havent heard of anyone snapping hotchkis bars on their 370z myself...doesnt mean it cant happen..but why take a chance if theyre are alternatives?..just my 2cents

There's also a chance of getting hit by lighting...But what other adjustable alternatives are there?

whitelines are adjustable

What is the weight on these bars? and yes i always worry about the weight of everything!!lol

i would imagine the whitelines weight about the same as stock and hotchkis are lighter than stock...weight shouldn't be a determining factor when it comes to sways because they sit very low and centered on the car...

probably better to just eat less...i struggle with this everyday...haha.

I thought both hotchkis & whiteline were heavier then stock :confused:

As I said, YMMV. I'm not saying that everyone who installed a hollow/tubular bar will snap. I'm just saying that I've seen a couple snapped sway bars and all of them are hollow.

As for car getting hit by lighting, I've actually seen that happened lol.

I'm going with whitelines and that's that!..I'll leave hollow tubes to shot guns n baseball bats..haha.

I guess I'll go with whiteline as well and just set it to the middle setting. I was going to go with the hotchkis but I can't really afford for something to break or go wrong. I just wish the whitelines were the same price as the hotchkis.

can u weight them , both stock and whiteline when you get them, thanks:tup: