Hotchkis vs. Eibach vs. Pedders

[SnowgodCCR]

Which set of swaybars would you say are best?

I hear alot of great things about the hotchkis bars, but I also hear that they squeak. Has this issue been addressed with the new greasable bushes?

Anybody have any experience with the other two? Is the Pedders kit really $75 better than the Hotchkis and $150 better than the Eibach? I've settled on the Pedders Touring+ Package , but I'm looking to augment it with swaybars. I would like to keep things the same brand and shop (to avoid shipping fees :)), but $799 and then $475 for the matching sways is really starting to push the budget, unless someone can convince me that the pedders sways are really $75 better than the hotchkis ones.

Thanks guys!

[OLJustice]

You'll get 1001 answers. 999 of them will say Hotchkis but I believe Mopars are a close second if not equal to Hotchkis and you won't have to grease the sh*t out of them every time you wipe your ass to prevent them from squeaking neither!

Eibachs are a far 3rd or 4th IMHO. I have't heard of anyone who just bought Pedders without some of their other stuff so... you might have hard time finding a conclusive review of Pedders sways and sways alone.

[SnowgodCCR]

Just looked up the mopar sways and there's no way I'm paying $450 for them when for $25 more I can get the pedders package that includes rear sway bar links and fancy pedders bushes. I think I'm leaning towards the pedders bars and bushes, but without the links to keep the price down, that would in essence give me the same effect as the hotchkis bars but for $30 less and I'd save on installation costs by getting it all done at the same shop at the same time.

Thank you for pointing out the Mopar bars, I always completley forget that Mopar even makes aftermarket parts for the modern hemis. I'll be checking them out more often.

[metgo]

The pedders ones are pretty good but I wouldn't recommend them.

[richierevs]

I run Eibach sway bars with BWoody rear sway bar linkages. Without the BWoodys the Eibachs are just OK.

[Super T]

Not sure where all the squeak complaints come from... Grease 'em once a year and you're good to go. The rears have zerks, the fronts take 10 minutes to get to.

Hotchkis publishes stiffness data (as a percentage improvement over stock), nobody else does. That's enough to make up my mind (twice).

[SnowgodCCR]

The pedders ones are pretty good but I wouldn't recommend them.

Why not?

It seems that we've eliminated the Eibachs from the pool, now it's down to pedders or hotchkis.

I like what Super T said about stiffness data...that's a good selling point IMO.

[Gucci300C]

Well Ive driven a few SRT's with the hotchkis sways and the razors edge shock tower brace and what a difference i really like them and im going to be going hotch all the way

[drafter]

Grease 'em once a year and you're good to go. The rears have zerks, the fronts take 10 minutes to get to.

What are zerks?

[Leadfootluke]

What are zerks?

Where you pump the grease into.

Pedders are probably more expensive and if you click on his links in his sig relating to his personal experience you can see why he would say that.

[Rob@WretchedMS]

Hotchkis are not adjustable, and use plasticy (i made that up) bushings which tend to be noisy, and require re-lubing them on a regular basis

Pedders are adjustable, and use our urethane bushings that don't make noise, and require no maintenance.

I have them on my SRT and they handle very well.

Our Kit also comes with rear links, or you can get the bars separately for $345

[fireman2118]

I use the Eibach sways and they seem to work really well. Quiet too. I think they're all good. Going to come down to preference and cost.

[Popeye's Hemi]

Recently installed my Hotchkis sway bars, SPC Front Upper control arms and SPC Rear Camber bushings. The car has 98K miles. First I installed the control arms and rear bushing no difference in ride quality(well maybe a little) but when I put the sway bars on "what a difference that made. With the Eibach Suspension 1.7" drop springs and dampers for 18 months now and the sways the car is tight and handles Great. Took 2 hours to install the front and rear sways and make a few minor adjustments to the exhaust all using just a low profile hydraulic jack and jack stands. Not sure if I need new sway bar end links but the OEM links are very wimpy compared to the new sway bars.

[OLJustice]

Hotchkis are not adjustable, and use plasticy (i made that up) bushings which tend to be noisy, and require re-lubing them on a regular basis

Pedders are adjustable, and use our urethane bushings that don't make noise, and require no maintenance.

I have them on my SRT and they handle very well.

Our Kit also comes with rear links, or you can get the bars separately for $345

What are the measurements (millimeters please, no inches) of your sways? Any stiffness data over stock? And is that $345 for front and rear sways and bushes? If so then good for Pedders for finally making their prices competitive!

[OLJustice]

Recently installed my Hotchkis sway bars, SPC Front Upper control arms and SPC Rear Camber bushings. The car has 98K miles. First I installed the control arms and rear bushing no difference in ride quality(well maybe a little) but when I put the sway bars on "what a difference that made. With the Eibach Suspension 1.7" drop springs and dampers for 18 months now and the sways the car is tight and handles Great. Took 2 hours to install the front and rear sways and make a few minor adjustments to the exhaust all using just a low profile hydraulic jack and jack stands. Not sure if I need new sway bar end links but the OEM links are very wimpy compared to the new sway bars.

Really? Just 2 hours for front and rear sways? Did you drop the cradle? I hear those cradle bolts require gorilla strength to loosen.

[fireman2118]

Really? Just 2 hours for front and rear sways? Did you drop the cradle? I hear those cradle bolts require gorilla strength to loosen.


It doesn't take very long to swap the sways once you've done a few. The cradles that I've dropped and seen dropped have been fairly easy using an impact gun.
30 min. for front sway install and 90 min. for rear sway install.....very do-able.

[OLJustice]

It doesn't take very long to swap the sways once you've done a few. The cradles that I've dropped and seen dropped have been fairly easy using an impact gun.
30 min. for front sway install and 90 min. for rear sway install.....very do-able.

Oh well there ya go ;). I'd just be using a wrench/ratchet and LOTS of muscle. I've heard they are nearly impossible to do this way.

[carchitect]

Oh well there ya go ;). I'd just be using a wrench/ratchet and LOTS of muscle. I've heard they are nearly impossible to do this way.

Why not substitute LOTS of muscle for a long cheater bar and just a little bit of muscle? :mrgreen:

What are those bolts torqued to anyway? I can see getting them back on tight enough a being a pain if you don't have a TQ wrench that goes high enough.

To the OP, ask yourself this... Do you need/want/plan to use the adjustable features in the Pedder's sways? That could be a deciding factor right there.

Then again depending on what shock/spring combo you go with the other question to ask would be "do I want a system that was engineered to work together?"

[NYC_SRT8]

Really? Just 2 hours for front and rear sways? Did you drop the cradle? I hear those cradle bolts require gorilla strength to loosen.

170+ ft/lbs

I busted mine loose with a normal craftsman 1/2 rachet. ~hercules~... lol

[Popeye's Hemi]

Really? Just 2 hours for front and rear sways? Did you drop the cradle? I hear those cradle bolts require gorilla strength to loosen.


I sprayed the rear cradle bolts down with PB Blast the night before, and eat my spinach. But that is why they call me Popeye. Really the job was very easy just used hand tools, no pneumatics. My exhaust I took the rear clamps off where they slip over the last joint at the differential and dropped the rear cradle down 5".

[formerice]

You don't have to completely drop the cradle, leave the bolts threaded in a 1/2 inch or so. I bought a zerk fitting and a tap and the correct size drill bit and drilled the front Hotchkis bushings for zerks. I wonder if the Pedders bushings would fit the Hotchkis bars? If I had not bought the Hotchkis bars a long time ago, I would buy the Pedders ones, providing the price is close. No doubt the Pedders bushings kick ass.

[Popeye's Hemi]

You don't have to completely drop the cradle, leave the bolts threaded in a 1/2 inch or so. I bought a zerk fitting and a tap and the correct size drill bit and drilled the front Hotchkis bushings for zerks. I wonder if the Pedders bushings would fit the Hotchkis bars? If I had not bought the Hotchkis bars a long time ago, I would buy the Pedders ones, providing the price is close. No doubt the Pedders bushings kick ass.


What type of grease are you using?

[srt8_hmi]

What type of grease are you using?


X2!!

I was thinking white lithium, Penzoil makes a good product as well.

[Dzhezkov]

I just installed Hotchkis swaybars by myself this past weekend. Though I've got a lot of wrenching experience, and I didn't use any power tools and I'm pretty sure any average shadetree mechanic can do the job. The front is easy and self explanatory, the rear was actually easier than I anticipated after reading this forum. I used 6 jackstands, 4 for the car and 2 for the cradle. Remove wheels, shocks, two 10mm bolts holding the brake lines to the frame just under the plastic inner fender, then I used a 1/2 breaker bar to break the cradle bolts free. After unbolting the rear sway I dropped the cradle 5-6 inches or so and twisted the swaybar 180degrees and fished it out between the cradle, frame, and brake lines. Easy peasy, installation is reverse making sure zerk fittings are facing out.

[typicalmarine]

I'm running a complete Eibach suspension and the improvement over OEM is night and day. Eibach is my only experience with an aftermarket suspension. So that brings me to my next thought, woudlnt someone have to use two or more brands on the same car to be able to give an accurate opinion on whats better? Mine is bigger than yours............ lol