1968 Camaro w/ Hotchkis 1.5 Street Performance Shocks - Lateral-g Forums

Surfman423 · #1 12-03-2012, 09:11 PM

Before I start cutting or grinding can someone fill me in a bit? I ordered a set of the 1.5 Street Performance for my Camaro. I am still running factory A-Arms and the bottom of the front shock will not fit through the hole in the bottom of the A-Arm. The base of the shock just above the bolt holes is too big to fit through. There were no instructions included with the shocks so I'm not sure if it is common to have to remove a little metal from the inside of the hole to clearance them or if something is just not right. Thoughts???

camsdad · #2 12-04-2012, 12:01 AM

Don't know what these shocks look like but,
Are the lower shock mounting hardware (Clip nuts?) installed?
If they are, remove them, then try to slide the shock in.
I had a similar problem when I installed my Bilstein's.
Removed the nuts, and slid the shock right in. re-clipped the nuts to the A arm and tightened err up. Vola!

Surfman423 · #3 12-04-2012, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camsdad

Don't know what these shock look like but,
Are the lower shock mounting hardware (Clip nuts?) installed?
If they are, remove them, then try to slide the shock in.
I had a similar problem when I installed my Bilstein's.
Removed the nuts, and slid the shock right in. re-clipped the nuts to the A arm and tightened err up. Vola!

I'll give it a look see tomorrow and find out. Thank you for the idea.

Hotchkis · #4 12-04-2012, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surfman423

Before I start cutting or grinding can someone fill me in a bit? I ordered a set of the 1.5 Street Performance for my Camaro. I am still running factory A-Arms and the bottom of the front shock will not fit through the hole in the bottom of the A-Arm. The base of the shock just above the bolt holes is too big to fit through. There were no instructions included with the shocks so I'm not sure if it is common to have to remove a little metal from the inside of the hole to clearance them or if something is just not right. Thoughts???

Surfman423,
I just got off the phone with our Engineer and he confirms that on the 1st Gen F-Body, the stock lower A-Arm does need to be clearanced slightly to allow for the shock to fit, but it is just a little bit of material that needs to be removed. If you have any questions about this please give us a call and we'd be happy to answer any more questions you have.

pavell · #5 12-04-2012, 06:39 PM

so is this only on the new FOX brand shocks that the A-arm has to be clearanced?

Hotchkis · #6 12-04-2012, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pavell

so is this only on the new FOX brand shocks that the A-arm has to be clearanced?

Correct. They are just a hair bigger than the Bilsteins. But this is only an issue with the factory a-arms, our upgraded a-arms do not have any clearance issues. We will be making a reference illustration this weekend showing where to clearance the factory a-arms.

Surfman423 · #7 12-04-2012, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotchkis

Surfman423,
I just got off the phone with our Engineer and he confirms that on the 1st Gen F-Body, the stock lower A-Arm does need to be clearanced slightly to allow for the shock to fit, but it is just a little bit of material that needs to be removed. If you have any questions about this please give us a call and we'd be happy to answer any more questions you have.

Thank You for the help Michael, I appreciate it. I clearances them just a bit this evening and they slide right in afterwards. They seem like very nice shocks. I'll be calling you again soon for your upper and lower A-Arms, front and rear sway bars and subframe connectors.

Joe

Hotchkis · #8 12-05-2012, 10:27 AM

No problem Joe. We appreciate all feedback on a new product like this. Thanks to you, the shocks will now have instructions on how to clearance the stock A-Arms to make them fit. Let us know what you think of the new shocks too.

pavell · #9 12-05-2012, 10:19 PM

Maybe it's just me....I can't believe hotchkis would design a shock that won't even fit a factory car?? Trim lower control arm for fitment? No thanks. My assumption is fox shocks are usually offload applications with little to no clearance issues.

Surfman423 · #10 12-06-2012, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pavell

Maybe it's just me....I can't believe hotchkis would design a shock that won't even fit a factory car?? Trim lower control arm for fitment? No thanks. My assumption is fox shocks are usually offload applications with little to no clearance issues.

It truly is a minimal amount of clear dancing to do and they really do seem to be a nice shock, especially compared to the Bilsteins.