Hotchkis Shock question? Are they Discontinued?

No mention of any shocks for E-Body Mopars through Hotchkis- What happened?

Did you call?

https://www.hotchkis.net/search-by-...mp;md=374&sm=20&category1=Shocks,

I should have looked further! I still don't see anything for E-body. Haven't called yet.

Most shock applications listed for the 66-72 B and the 70-74 E are listed as being the same. Not sure why Hotchkis doesn't list them that way too.

The simple answer is because nobody that works at Hotchkis knows anything about Mopars. I've contacted them several times offering to help them improve their website but they don't even bother to reply to my emails. They have never figured out that early b body cars can use the same torsion bars even though I've told them that several times. They could sell more Mopar stuff if they fixed the information on their website.

If you want to talk to someone who knows Mopars then call Firm Feel. They have Bilstein shocks for Mopar cars.

I bought Bilstein from them.

Have you sen the video that tested OEM vs Bilstiens vs Hotchkis Shocks? HUGE difference

Link?

The thing is that I've seen guys obsess over a cam choice for that last ounce of power vs driveability, and be willing to pay a premium for it. Shocks should be looked at the same way as they control everything the suspension does and will be a huge factor in how well it performs. This is not the place to cheap out in the suspension equation, but unfortuantely, is often treated that way.

I switched over to Koni shocks on my car. I like the fact that the Koni shocks are adjustable. I looked at the higher dollar shocks that Hotchkis sells but I'm not going to buy anything from a vendor who didn't know which of their products were correct for my car. The Koni shocks made a huge difference on my car and that was just with the shocks all set in the middle of the adjustment range. I haven't even tried different settings yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3q5RCsWwYw

Interesting!

The Koni shocks have been available for Mopar applications many years, long before Bilstein. When doing my RoadRunner suspension 20 years back I wanted Bilstein but not available so I bought the Konis' I think from Summit. Previously I had Bilsteins on other vehicles and was impressed with their quality and ride, especially their damping when being extended. I do recall for the rear Konis I had to mill out a few 000s' for their mounting bushing for some reason it was slightly smaller than the mounting stud on my 70RR. The Konis have performed well along with my larger torsion bars, I did set the front end down slightly to get the California racing stance.... But still these old B bodies don't handle like the later cars in the twistees on the beach canyon runs to Malibu...

Just my $0.02...

why don't you get a set of Bilstein's. They are a great product.

Does Hotchkiss actually build shocks or just rebox somebody elses? If they rebox, then a little detective work should reveal the supplier.

Kevin

I believe Fox builds them to Hotchkis' proprietary specifications.

Close but no. Blanks are shipped to Hotchkis from Fox; they are valved, assembled and shipped in house.

Honestly, if you are building something to handle Bilstein's are the way to go, if you want to look cool at a car show, it doesn't matter what you use.

Except that we've unequivocally proven on numerous occasions that The Hotchkis equipped cars are faster around road courses and autocrosses on countless occasions; but yeah sure...Blistiens.

The Fox shocks very well could be better than Bilsteins, especially the adjustable ones. But the Koni shocks are adjustable too so that might be a better comparison. I think it is great that someone in the past at Hotchkis developed the Fox shocks for Mopar applications. I'm not going to buy them for my car though since they are expensive and because nobody currently at Hotchkis seems to be able to provide accurate technical information for Mopar cars.

we run in 3 endurance series and I don't think I've seen any Hotchkis shocks, but I do see lots of yellow ones.
Maybe the drivers were just better.

Are you referring to Mopar specific offerings or are we now talking about across the board racing? I was specifically referring to classic Mopars. However; if I were building a vehicle that Hotchkis did not have a tuned application for; my first go to would be Bilstien as well, as the Widebody Challenger I drove at NASA Nationals last year was Bilstien equipped and we had factory support at the track. They make a fantastic product and are a great bunch of folks to spend the weekend at the track with, but teh bilstien shocks tuned by RCD leave a bit to be desired as was proved on the shaker rig.

As to classic mopars; we took our cars around the country and no one could come close unless they were running Hotchkis products. Other suspension manufactures went to the trouble of fielding ringer cars with ringer drivers...to no avail.

Andy,
I'm not sure what you specifically are expecting from Hotchkis, but if you've got a concern or complaint I'd be happy to open a dialog with John about it.

Speed Safe guys!

My point was made earlier in the thread. If Hotchkis was serious about the Mopar market they would at least correct the information on their website. That is what started this thread. Hotchkis doesn't seem to understand which parts fit which vehicles. If they don't know what fits then why would people buy from them?

I agree with what Andy said and would like to ad FirmFeel Caters to the Mopar community and their products in house as well as parts branded from another vendor have been tested on a track on customers cars. Phone call is cheap.

all makes and models...

I can't answer that. But your best bet is to make a couple calls.
Many of posts that followed your question include some broad generalities, but none of us know what shocks will be best for your specific application.
Damping needs vary with vehicle weight, wheel weight (including brakes etc), spring rate and input. Input depends on use and traction.
Drag racing is a special situation. So again traction and use(s) are important.
Finally, any changes to the suspension that effect the extended and compressed length of the shock must be addressed.

Most shocks will cover a fairly wide range of uses decently for a fairly stock setup and uses.
If you are looking at competition or track use, and willing and able to put the time in, an adjustable shock might be for you.
In any case make some calls.
Avoid KYBs because their high frequency damping is terrible. Better off with something from your local parts store.
The shock has many jobs - not just the one that marketing video shows.


Fixed.
Nicely done marketing video.
Doesn't prove anything about your or 'the other guys' shocks on an A, B, or E body with x weight, z torsion bars, and u leafs.
All it means you guys have access to cool equipment to do some pretty good development of your products.


That's certainly was implied in the video and by the fact everyone calls them Fox shocks. And I have no doubt they may be assembled by Hotchkis.

I know Tim Werner assembled his own Bilsteins for Project Valiant. He had the access and did the measurements etc to make what he wanted.

Faster than what? Than what you started with? Yea. I'd hope so. You had some good development and a first class driver.
But if you are comparing with other mopars, in the same category, on the same track on the same day - lets see those lap times or qualifying times and speeds.
And as far as autocrosses go, maybe I missed it. My recollection was the autocross runs were exhibitions, but had been intending to run in CAM-T or SM. Would love to see you guys run in a National Tour or Pro-solo event. And CAM is made for you guys.

Uh yea. Bilsteins were what Werner was using. But his car was slow. OK. If you say so

Exactly.


Instead of putting down the other guys or arguing with Andy, just apoloize that its not on the website and point out which shocks you recommend for a typical e-body, or for an e-body with other Hotchkis components. Or that its custom and the OP needs to call.

To put a bow on all of this; The shocks are NOT discontinued and are available.

Jones Racing Products is like this. They make Mopar items that don't list in any of their magazines and when I stumbled upon the part numbers and spoke to someone, they were sorta surprised I requested they get added to the annual posting. I'm in the wrong business, noone begs to give me $.