Hotchkis or Bilstein shocks

Which shocks for a street car?

  • Hotchkis

    Votes: 19 28.4%

  • Bilstein

    Votes: 48 71.6%
  • Total voters
    67
  • Poll closed .
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tekslk

tekslk

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The hotchkis says for cars that are somewhat lowered. I have a stock 67 barracuda street driver what shock does everyone recommend. Or Bilstein
 
What Torsion bars do you have? Stockish ones, you're probably looking at the bilstein...Stiff ones like 1.03+ and the Hotchkis/Fox ones are more that speed.
 
there stock 340 bars Im thinking like 890 does that sound right? Whats good about the bilstein?
 
tekslk said:
The hotchkis says for cars that are somewhat lowered. I have a stock 67 barracuda street driver what shock does everyone recommend. Or Bilstein
Click to expand...

Dont worry about that note. They say for cars that are slightly lower than stock but they fit nice on my demon ill post the extended and collapsed lengths for the hotchkis shocks.
 
I would say the better comparison is the progressive improvement instead of a Brand X vs. Brand Y question. There are more people with experience of the Bilstiens, so when you ask this question, the results will reflect that.
That said, how many folks that have made the jump from Bilstiens to the Foxs and love the improvement? I'd dare to say all of them. I haven't seen too many folks complaining about their Fox shocks and looking for a set of Bilstiens to put back on the car.
It's like going from BFG Radial TA's to Falkens/Nittos/Dunlops, you can't tell the difference until you drive on them, but once you do, you'll never want to go back.

Look at what the fastest cars are running...
 
Stock 340 TB would be .870. Big block A body TB were .890. Bilstien RCD shocks are valved for performance use from stock up to about 1.00 TBs. If your going up in TB size over that I suggest the Hotchkis/Fox, which from my research, are valved for TBs in the 1.06 area. They have an adjustable version out now also. I'll be running the non adjustable Hot/Fox on my Duster with either 1.06 or 1.12 TB, decision not made yet. If your going to stay with a more stock setup there is nothing wrong with a lower priced replacement shock like the Monroe's mentioned above. The KYBs are valved harsh but a lot of people run them.
 
Hotchkis fox shocks

Front - collapsed 9.05" extended 14.3”
Rear - collapsed 14.15" extended 22.5”


Price: $550.00
Qty:1
SKU: 79020015
Application Guide:
73-76 Plymouth Valiant
67-72 Plymouth Valiant
71-72 Plymouth Scamp
73-76 Plymouth Scamp
73-76 Plymouth Duster
70-72 Plymouth Duster
67-69 Plymouth Barracuda
70-74 Dodge Challenger
71-72 Dodge Demon
73-76 Dodge Dart Sport
73-76 Dodge Dart
67-72 Dodge Dart
63-66 Dodge Dart
64-66 Plymouth Barracuda
63-66 Plymouth Valiant


If you want to compare your shocks to the hotchkis park you car on a level surface with all tires on the ground and the car sitting naturally. Measure the distance on rear shocks from center eyelet to center eyelet and on front from center of bottom bushing to bottom side of the bottom cup towards the top. That measurement is the distance of your shocks at ride height. Compare that to the above measurements to see how much travel of extension and compression that will be available. Next on rear measure from your frame to bump stop on axle. Take that measurement and subtract it from your previous measurement of the shock at ride height. That would be the most collapsed point or lowest point for your shocks. So if your shocks ride height measurement on the rear was 18 and you have a 3.5" distance from frame to rear axle bump stop, the lowest or most collapsed your shock would be when suspension is compressed and resting against the bump stop would be 14.5". Collapsed length on rear hotchkis shocks for the above applications is 14.15, so when rear suspension is bottomed out at lowest point you will still have .35" of shock travel left, in other words shock wouldnt hard bottom causing damage to the shocks. Now extention would play more of a role in 4wd but in a car application ext is somewhat irrelevant as long as you have 2-3" of extension travel from ride height length that should be plenty. Same procedure on front, measure ride height shock distance then measure from Lower bump stop to frame. Subtract the measurement from lower bump stop to frame from the measurement of the front shock at ride height. That is the lowest or most compressed length of your front shocks so if your front shock ride heigth measurement was 11.5 or 12" and your measurement from Lower bump stop to frame was 2" inches then the lowest your shocks would be when front suspension is fully compressed would be 9.5-10" and the hotchkis front shocks are 9.05 collapsed so you would have an extra .5" to 1" of shock compression length after front suspension was fully compressed. Or no chance for a hard bottom. Now same on extension up front as on rear, being that extension is moslty important for off road but you should have at least 2-3" of extension length from ride height on the front but a good rule of thumb is to have close to the same travel from ride height to fully compressed and from ride height to extended
So if using the measurements from above if you have 3.5-4 inches of travel before compressed on the rear you should have about 3.5-4 inches available for travel on extension and same on front. If you have 2" of travel on compression on the front you should have about 2 " of travel available on extension. But this procedure is more than adequate for street applications but other factors come into play if using car for autocross, drag racing or circuit racing hope this helps
 
I bought the hotchkis fox shock. It wont be the first time I threw 300 away.
 
dont know whats exactly available for Abodies
but best shocks available would be made by FOX
which leads to the following

Ridetech Q-series
Hotchkis 1.5 SPS

if planning to go coil overs,
Ridetech or Viking(hybrid coil)

if active suspension
JRI J-Ride(adjustable ride height)
Viking Berserkers ASM(non ride height adjustable)
 
heres a good comparison against the old hotchkis valved Bilstein HP1000s up against the new SPS 1.5 fox valved shocks
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3q5RCsWwYw"]Development of the New Hotchkis Tuned APS Adjustable Monotube Shocks - YouTube[/ame]
at about 1.25 mark
at one point I was tempted to buy a set of Q-series and a set of SPS 1.5s and send to ridetech for shock dyno comparsion as Bret offered when I raised question to which may be better

A possible pro on Ridetech vs Hotchkis would be their shock warrenty

warranty-label.jpg


for any future buyers heres my advise
for fixed valved shocks Id think the Hotchkis SPS1.5s would handle slightly better then the Ridetech RQ Q-series shocks

for Adjustable valving version I think the SPS 1.5s would be nearly identical compared to the Ridetech HQ Q-series, so just go with the cheapest
 
I went with Hotchkis 1.5 SPS
I will let everyone no next weekend how they worked. 9/27/2014 9/28/2014
 
http://www.pro-touring.com/threads/99254-Hotchkis-Fox-Shocks?



"If you are looking for a bolt-in shock for both street use and autocross then you are right on the money with the Hotchkis-Tuned shocks. We have spent countless hours tuning these shocks to each of their applications both on the track and on the street to allow them to bridge the gap between comfort and performance. What allows these shocks to work so well for both street and performance driving is its digressive piston design. This technology allows the shock to be firm during low-speed compression (normal cornering forces) and continue increasing the resistance rate of the shock up to a certain shaft speed (like when you hit a bump or pothole) at which point the resistance remains constant. What this produces is a shock that will be firm enough for cornering yet still absorb bumps without upsetting the overall balance of the car."
 
That video rally makes em' shine, their going on my ride in prep for the next season! Let me know how they do.
 
So Hotchkiss is the way to go.
Man, I already wasted my money with KYB, and almost wasted it again on Bilstein.

Fox shocks FTW!!
 
Got them on today, drove car about 4 miles tonigh and wow what a diffence. I think I will enjoy the hell out of them this weekend. Ill check back later.
 
cudaracer said:
So Hotchkiss is the way to go.
Man, I already wasted my money with KYB, and almost wasted it again on Bilstein.

Fox shocks FTW!!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that the Bilsteins are wasted money. On anything less than a 1.06" torsion bar I think they'd be absolutely great. The Hotchkis shocks just do a better job with the larger torsion bars. Even with the Bilsteins on my Duster with 1.12" bars they ride wasn't bad, it was still light years ahead of just about anything else. But the Hotchkis shocks are better for my 1.12" bars, that's also for sure.
 
I hate to be a nut swinger for a company when all I did was give them money for their product. But these shocks are firm and controlled but yet the ride is smooth like a car 35yrs newer. But I have always been an advocate for spending money on a monotube custom valves shock for any vehicle. I used to have 2.5" Kings front and 2.5" King double bypasses on my old Diesel, you want to talk about a shocking transformation! That truck could pound 3' deep whoops at 80mph and still rode 200% better than stock on the street.
 
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