I have a 2009 G37 Journey with 17" wheels and I recently installed Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires. While the ride has gotten smoother, the stability at turns on highway speeds is compromised, compared to the Eagle GTs. Upon research, I decided to get Hotckis sway bars installed.

My Questions:

Are there any known issues of excessive tread wear with hotchkis?
Is this a bad idea on 17" wheels?
How is the ride compared to G37S after install?
Any good shops to get this installed in Houston? How much should I pay for the install?

I am very new to modding and I am not planning on doing this myself. Any help is much appreciated.

 

I don't wish to sound too critical but if you are concerned about handling to the point where you are considering installing stiffer sways then I think you may have put the wrong tires on your car. Those are a very good touring tire, just not meant for a heavy sports sedan and they don't have the correct speed rating.

I think if you put stiffer sways on it will quickly have an impact on those tires. Not sure how well the side walls will support the extra lateral force. My guess is not very well at all.

True the S comes with stiffer sway than the Base/Journey but the Hotchkis are still a big step up even for the S.
I don't know if anyone has installed Hotchkis (or other) sways and kept 17" wheels. I'm sure if there is they will chime in soon.

 

No, it will help handling no matter what tires you have.
Ride quality is compromised a little, handling in turns improves a lot.
I live in Baytown and can install them cheaper than most any shop. See the DIY I wrote in the stickies of the suspension forum. PM me for details. If you'd rather pay a shop, let me know what part of Houston you're in for a recommendation.

 

BB I wish you live close to me. I am having my dealer install the sway bar this Friday and they charge me over 100/hr and it's two hour job.

 

you'll love the upgraded sways. i just installed eibach F&R sways on mine and notice a big difference - even against my stock S sways. as mentioned, cornering is much improved. little to no difference in a straight line. tread wear should not be affected at all. you don't touch the alignment members.

i followed BB's DIY, it was dead easy. rear bar took 45 mins, including lowering my custom rear exhaust section. front bar took 20 mins. most time consuming part on the front was removing that damn splash pan under the engine. if you can remove tires on your car, you can DIY the sways.

 

Thank you so much for your suggestion BB. I have little to no tools to do this project. I would rather pay a shop to install it. I live in woodlands (North Houston). I talked to Woodlands Performance and Suspension, but they won't let me bring my parts and they have to analyze my car before ordering the parts, currently they have a week's wait to even look at my car. Please suggest.....

 

You could always DIY for free. Or take it to an independent shop, they typically charge as little as half what a dealership does. Here the dealerships are $125/hr for labor, reputable shops charger $65 to $80 or so depending on the work.

 

Just let BB install it. I'm sure he'd take better care of your car then a shop would. And it'd be cheaper

 

Thanks, Yes I know these are good touring tires but the speed rating is still "V". I burned through 3 sets of tires(1 set of stock and 2 sets of Eagle GTs) and I only have 50K on the car, so bought these less aggressive ones. The only reason for keeping 17s are to keep my tire expenses down :-D. I wish I could install these sway bars and get "S" type handling...

 

Just had Stillen sways installed. Feels good so far, but haven't driven enough to get a real feel. I'm on stock suspension and OEM 19s. I had them install by an independent shop for $50. Easiest thing to do in the world, but I just don't have the ramps or the space to DIY. Anyone charging over $80 for this is just plain ripping you off. It took them about 45 min to install front and rear.

 

Try giving Sal's Autosport a call. They are located on 290 and Fairbanks N. Houston. I had my alignment done there and those guys really take care of your car.

 

Sal's or JTran on the north side.

 

This is a very valid point, IMHO. Your suspension, engine and braking mods are not complete without a good set of tires to put all that potential down to the ground.

A poor analogy, but what you plan to do is like dabbing on more cologne to cover up the fact that one hasn't taken a bath for days. It temporarily makes things "better" but doesn't solve the problem.

Speed rating just tells you the maximum speed it's rated to handle. It says nothing about grip, cornering stability, less lean and feedback -- which i understand is what you're trying to gain, considering you're looking into getting upgraded sway bars.

Have you had your alignment checked lately? 3 sets of tires in 50k seems a little high. I occasionally track my car and can squeeze just over 30k over a set of Hankook V12s (square set-up, religious rotations.)

Another vote for Sals, as well as JTran.

By the way, join us over at Strictlygs.com, we're all local.

 

I took an Irish shower just last week. Don't knock it.

 

I've heard the term puerto rican shower....but not an Irish shower.

Is there a difference?




On another note, while realizing that upgraded sways wil help with body roll, but the op is driving on marshmallows with those 17" rims. I'm sure the ride is smoothe as a baby's bottom, I'm sure that would have to do a little with handeling versus a larger rim with a thinner tire that wouldn't flex as much.