Hotchkis or Hellwig Front Sway Bar?

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Mike69cuda

Mike69cuda

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I have been researching sway bars for my 69 Cuda. It does not have one now or mounting tabs.

The two sway bars in the title seem to be the best choices so far.

The Hellwig 5906 is about $100 more than Hotchkis and is 1 1/8 diameter Solid.

The Hotchkis equivalent is 1 1/2 hollow and looks to require some welding which is not an issue for me.

I am not a real aggressive driver, but I would like it to handle better.

Which one of these is the choice? Pros, Cons? I have looked through a lot of threads and haven’t found much in the way of comparisons.


I would also like to do shocks, Steer & Gear type power steering upgrade and adjustable upper control arms, Suggestions on these are also welcome. I am not a “got to have the last 10%” guy. I want good value for my money
 
I like the Hotchkis stuff, they have always been quality items plus a hollow bar is lighter. KYB Gas-A-Just shocks are very good for the money also. As far as the P/S upgrade goes, I've only heard of stiffening-up the idler arm brackets on older Mopars (Mid 60s & back?) & going to a roller bearing set-up. The adjustable upper arms I have no real experience with, but I am going to try them out, I just don't know who's I will try.
 
Go with the $100 less Hotchkis. They both have good attachment hardware. Hotchkis is a little fancier.

As for the rest…. What size tires are you running. That will dictate where’s the last 10% at. Then you can work backwards from that.
 
Mike69cuda said:
I have been researching sway bars for my 69 Cuda. It does not have one now or mounting tabs.

The two sway bars in the title seem to be the best choices so far.

The Hellwig 5906 is about $100 more than Hotchkis and is 1 1/8 diameter Solid.

The Hotchkis equivalent is 1 1/2 hollow and looks to require some welding which is not an issue for me.

I am not a real aggressive driver, but I would like it to handle better.

Which one of these is the choice? Pros, Cons? I have looked through a lot of threads and haven’t found much in the way of comparisons.


I would also like to do shocks, Steer & Gear type power steering upgrade and adjustable upper control arms, Suggestions on these are also welcome. I am not a “got to have the last 10%” guy. I want good value for my money
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I put a Helwig bar onto my 70 Duster after I replaced the lower control arms with QA1's. Was not happy with how the mounted sway bar was so low. The OE bar on the other hand tucked up nicely. Ended up taking the bar off because it did not give me much ground clearance. Don't know how the Hotchkis would mount.
 
the hellwig mounts to the shock bolt and may not clear forward mounted calipers, but otherwise installs easy and has nice hardware.

the hotchkis bar is hollow, so it'll be lighter but the rate might be lower.

have you considered firm feel? i've installed a bunch of theirs and the fit is great and they're mopar people so they design the bars to just flat out work. the price is very competitive as well.

i've run the stage 2 and stage 3 firm feel as well as the "modern" and "sport" from steer and gear. i really like the stage 2 box the best for general application.

t-bars will dictate your shocks and you can get away with KYB's up to .920's but really, that's old tech and they make the car ride like trash. drop the dough on some bilstein's or splash the pot with some QA1's, fox, ridetech or hotchkis. you'll be glad you did.

if you're not looking to go all out, just do the upper control arm "problem solver" bushings. you'll have plenty of caster adjustment for a street car. spend that dough on shocks instead.
 
autoxcuda said:
Go with the $100 less Hotchkis. They both have good attachment hardware. Hotchkis is a little fancier.

As for the rest…. What size tires are you running. That will dictate where’s the last 10% at. Then you can work backwards from that.
Click to expand...
Front tires are 195 R60 15. Rear are 235 R60 15
 
Does anybody make a heavier sway that mount in factory brackets or they all need modifications?
 
GY3 WEDGE said:
Does anybody make a heavier sway that mount in factory brackets or they all need modifications?
Click to expand...

Most all need “modifications” which is would be an adapter plate. Those always lower the sway bar.

The Hotchkis is morph between a 67-72 and the 73-76 style. I think they mount low, but check pictures
 
Mike69cuda said:
Front tires are 195 R60 15. Rear are 235 R60 15
Click to expand...

You’ll never feel the adjustable tubular upper control arms, custom strut rods, with those tires.

The power steering you will feel.

Just do the sway bar, shocks, and offset upper control arm bushings installed for more caster. Moog 7103 offset bushings. Thinking bilstien RCD shocks.
 
I installed the Hotchkis on my 69 Barracuda about 12 years ago. It was an easy one day installation. I had to weld on a few brackets, but the instructions were very good. I am VERY impressed with the Hotchkis sway bar. I noticed a marked difference in handling.
 
GY3 WEDGE said:
Does anybody make a heavier sway that mount in factory brackets or they all need modifications?
Click to expand...
for 73~76 stuff yes. the biggest problem is that anything much bigger than 1" starts to have interference problems with the suspension components-- mainly the K, and ground clearance.

but if you need more than a 1.25 bar, likely you're already into highly modified front suspension anyway, so no big whoop.

anything beyond a stock size though, there is some type of compromise on mounting.
 
Mike69cuda said:
I have been researching sway bars for my 69 Cuda. It does not have one now or mounting tabs.

The two sway bars in the title seem to be the best choices so far.

The Hellwig 5906 is about $100 more than Hotchkis and is 1 1/8 diameter Solid.

The Hotchkis equivalent is 1 1/2 hollow and looks to require some welding which is not an issue for me.

I am not a real aggressive driver, but I would like it to handle better.

Which one of these is the choice? Pros, Cons? I have looked through a lot of threads and haven’t found much in the way of comparisons.


I would also like to do shocks, Steer & Gear type power steering upgrade and adjustable upper control arms, Suggestions on these are also welcome. I am not a “got to have the last 10%” guy. I want good value for my money
Click to expand...

i went with the hellwig. i had a hotchkis i had bought at carlisle one year cheap and still in the box. i just couln't justify putting that ugly *** thing on the front of our dart. the thing looks like a cattle chute on there, so i sold the hotchkiss and went hellwig which mounts and looks like the stock bar. when i did the front end years ago i rear mounted the calipers know i was going to put a sway bars on it sooner. i also wasn't cutting the sway bar tabs off my control arms just to weld the hotchkis ones on. when i did the car originally i put the tabbed lower 69-72 style lower arms on the car. the hellwig bar bolted right on.

the hotchkiss is supposed to be the best one out there biut it just didn't look right with the theme of our dart..


hotchkis bar: anyone use this front sway bar on their 67-72 abody?

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hellwig bar: fits just like the stock bar. even a gray color (i will be painting that damn thing black) it isn't all snow plow looking under there. sits quite a bit higher. goes with the theme of the car much better too.

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I used the 55906 on my Dart. It is TUBULAR not solid as posted above.
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I used to run the Hotchkis bar (HDK suspension now). It is a very nice part and the brackets are heavy duty. As others have pointed out, it is big! It sounds like you have a relatively stock suspension, so why not just get a stock bar? The wheel/tire combo you have certainly isn't lending itself to any performance handling. Also note, the Helwig bar you pointed out won't allow for larger offset wheels like the Hotchkis bar. You would have to use the Helwig 55917, which is designed for high offset wheels and won't interfere with the tire at full lock.
 
racerjoe said:
I used to run the Hotchkis bar (HDK suspension now). It is a very nice part and the brackets are heavy duty. As others have pointed out, it is big! It sounds like you have a relatively stock suspension, so why not just get a stock bar? The wheel/tire combo you have certainly isn't lending itself to any performance handling. Also note, the Helwig bar you pointed out won't allow for larger offset wheels like the Hotchkis bar. You would have to use the Helwig 55917, which is designed for high offset wheels and won't interfere with the tire at full lock.
Click to expand...
I have thought about getting a stock bar, but shipping is so high for a used one, it doesn’t seem to make sense. Do you know a source? Since my control arms are not tabbed, are there brackets that are known to fit that I could install to use a stock bar if I found one local?
 
Mike69cuda said:
I have thought about getting a stock bar, but shipping is so high for a used one, it doesn’t seem to make sense. Do you know a source? Since my control arms are not tabbed, are there brackets that are known to fit that I could install to use a stock bar if I found one local
Click to expand...


I'm willing to bet Peter @BergmanAutoCraft can get you setup with anything you need. Great products backed by a great guy.
 
Mike69cuda said:
Since my control arms are not tabbed, are there brackets that are known to fit that I could install to use a stock bar if I found one local?
Click to expand...
that's the kicker there. with out the tabbed LCA's your only good choices are aftermarket kits that supply the mouts and tabs (either weld on or bolts to the shock mount).

you *could* buy a OE bar and figure out the rest, either fabbing up some tabs and welding them on or some kind of bracket that bolts to the shock mount but that's honestly just gonna be way more trouble than it's worth for a less than satisfactory result.

also, the price on stock 67~72 swaybars puts you damn near at the price of a new aftermarket.
 
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