Re: Wow hotchkis/fox
[Re: BigBlockMopar]
#2956937
08/24/21 01:19 PM
08/24/21 01:19 PM
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 270 Mountain View, CA
68rrunner
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 270
Mountain View, CA
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I've had these on my '73 Dart with 1" Torsionbars. Over the course of some 4 years of daily driving I found I had to increase the rebound-setting every now and then to keep the shock in it's performance range. After that time the shocks were maxed out and started to decline in performance.
I upgraded to a 1.08" torsion bar and double adjustable Viking shocks at the front now. I like the seperate adjustability of the compression and rebound on these.
I still have a pair of single adj. QA1 shocks on the rearaxle w/ 7 blades per leafspring pack per side. Installed these in the same year as the Hotchkis/Fox shocks. But I can't help but to think the QA1 shocks are holding their setting way way longer than the Hotchkis/Fox did....
Can you confirm that with shock dyno testing or was this just "seat of the pants"?
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Re: Wow hotchkis/fox
[Re: BigBlockMopar]
#2957258
08/25/21 12:41 PM
08/25/21 12:41 PM
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 270 Mountain View, CA
68rrunner
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 270
Mountain View, CA
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When one daily drives and have a feel for the car, one knows fairly quickly when something seems to wear. Especially when you need to turn the adjuster every couple of months to bring the shock back in range. Upon removal I noticed one of the shocks is worn enough that I can pull it out by hand relatively easy.
The QA1 shocks on the rear axle were installed in the same year as the fronts, but I've only had to 'up' them one or two clicks over time.
The design of the QA1 shock, and also the Viking dual adjustables seem quite a bit beefier than the thin Hotchkis/Fox shock. Sounds like you had a dead shock. I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I've got the same Foxes on both of my race cars from when we first were developing them 10 years ago. one set has 25000 miles on them, still dyno'd perfect. The materials and construction of the QA1's and Vikings are of a significantly lesser quality than the Fox units. QA1 and Viking are the same(ish) company. The daughter of QA-1 and her husband stole the proprietary information and suppliers from QA-1 and formed their own company, Viking. The bodies and internals are built off of their coil over line which is the same valve pack for any/every vehicle. Doesn't matter if its a C-10, a mustang or a Mopar, same pack, same SUPER wide range of adjustment. The Fox units from Hotchkis are custom tuned to the application at a given weight and spring rate, with fine adjustment in a specific range.
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Re: Wow hotchkis/fox
[Re: migsBIG]
#2959399
08/31/21 11:25 AM
08/31/21 11:25 AM
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 270 Mountain View, CA
68rrunner
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 270
Mountain View, CA
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I have the early Hotchkis Blistein shocks, Torsion bars & leaf springs on my 1970 CUDA. 440, auto and 295 Cooper tires and loved how much better they were than the dated KYB shocks and rock hard 305 BF's that were on it. These were the ones they had adjusted right for mopars. They even got me pair of their demo's they had right out of the showroom because I was in a pinch to make a weekend trip! I would buy from them again. I have recently decided to build up the same Cuda, so the shocks are going into my 1972 Charger project and when the MFR suspension goes in, will be upgrading to VIking shocks for the same reason as stated. When you're done with the Magnum Farce install on your charger you and I can head up to Alices some day. You'll wish you'd stuck with Hotchkis.
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Re: Wow hotchkis/fox
[Re: 68rrunner]
#2960280
09/02/21 12:13 PM
09/02/21 12:13 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,639 San Jose,CA
migsBIG
YouTube is my go-to news source
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YouTube is my go-to news source
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,639
San Jose,CA
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I have the early Hotchkis Blistein shocks, Torsion bars & leaf springs on my 1970 CUDA. 440, auto and 295 Cooper tires and loved how much better they were than the dated KYB shocks and rock hard 305 BF's that were on it. These were the ones they had adjusted right for mopars. They even got me pair of their demo's they had right out of the showroom because I was in a pinch to make a weekend trip! I would buy from them again. I have recently decided to build up the same Cuda, so the shocks are going into my 1972 Charger project and when the MFR suspension goes in, will be upgrading to VIking shocks for the same reason as stated. When you're done with the Magnum Farce install on your charger you and I can head up to Alices some day. You'll wish you'd stuck with Hotchkis. Nope. I've had magnum Force Transformer suspension before and have been in several cars with it. Night and day difference. I have two More kits ordered and stored there til I'm ready to have them delivered. Hotchkis is great for improved street, aggressive driving (which I do enjoy doing), but the track use car will have MF in front and will See if Hotchkis leaf in the rear will work with it. Only Problem I have with the Hotchkis leafs in my cuda is that were way to soft. I really prefer a much more stif backend as it helps to keep the car from moving too much. I look forward to the runs with you up to Alices. Hope to have a little time free next year after my medical and financial situations improve a bit.
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Re: Wow hotchkis/fox
[Re: migsBIG]
#2976304
10/19/21 10:06 PM
10/19/21 10:06 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,491 Lethbridge, AB, Canada
dangina
pro stock
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pro stock
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,491
Lethbridge, AB, Canada
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I have the early Hotchkis Blistein shocks, Torsion bars & leaf springs on my 1970 CUDA. 440, auto and 295 Cooper tires and loved how much better they were than the dated KYB shocks and rock hard 305 BF's that were on it. These were the ones they had adjusted right for mopars. They even got me pair of their demo's they had right out of the showroom because I was in a pinch to make a weekend trip! I would buy from them again. I have recently decided to build up the same Cuda, so the shocks are going into my 1972 Charger project and when the MFR suspension goes in, will be upgrading to VIking shocks for the same reason as stated. When you're done with the Magnum Farce install on your charger you and I can head up to Alices some day. You'll wish you'd stuck with Hotchkis. Nope. I've had magnum Force Transformer suspension before and have been in several cars with it. Night and day difference. I have two More kits ordered and stored there til I'm ready to have them delivered. Hotchkis is great for improved street, aggressive driving (which I do enjoy doing), but the track use car will have MF in front and will See if Hotchkis leaf in the rear will work with it. Only Problem I have with the Hotchkis leafs in my cuda is that were way to soft. I really prefer a much more stif backend as it helps to keep the car from moving too much. I look forward to the runs with you up to Alices. Hope to have a little time free next year after my medical and financial situations improve a bit. glad to hear you like the transformer from magnum force, ordered mine a month back - so looking forward to a rack and pinion setup on these cars, plus I already had the drop spindles and big brake kit so I saved some money there...
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Re: Wow hotchkis/fox
[Re: BigBlockMopar]
#2992363
12/05/21 06:59 PM
12/05/21 06:59 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,482 Lake Orion, MI
goldduster318
pro stock
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pro stock
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,482
Lake Orion, MI
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The Hotchkis-shocks are really due for a rebuild, that's for sure.
Thanks for the background info. If you send them to Hotchkis, they will send you new ones. Not sure how that works outside the US but I had two replaced. Lifetime Warranty. Just be prepared to wait a while.
'70 Duster 470hp 340/T56 Magnum/8 3/4 3.23 Sure-Grip
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