Need advice - major problems with Hotchkis kit

[CSG Mike]

Couldn't your development driver friend just have gotten the part for you, and you can pay him?

This has always been an option for all of the aftermarket brands/companies I drive for.

[Aaron@Hotchkis]

Originally Posted by GSX-R35

Hello all. I'm having issues with the suspension on my 2013 FR-S and would like to hear some opinions on what to do. It's a bit of a long story so please bear with me.

I've had my FR-S since new and a couple of years ago I decided to have a full Hotchkis suspension kit installed - sway bars, springs, camber plates, strut bar, and front end links - on the advice of a friend who's a Hotchkis development driver. It never gave me issues even with several trackdays and thousands of miles of daily driving until a few months ago when I started hearing this loud squeaking from my front end. Took it to my local Toyota dealer where a friend of mine was a service adviser and they traced it to a seized bearing in the driver side camber plate. The bearing was absolutely seized solid and still sits on my kitchen table now 'cause I couldn't believe how badly seized it was.

I called Hotchkis to try and get a replacement and they told me initially I'd have to buy an entirely new camber plate kit at $454 plus shipping instead of being able to just buy a replacement bearing. Before you ask I didn't bother trying to make a warranty claim because I'd had the part for over 2 years and their warranty has a disclaimer saying they won't warranty a part installed on a vehicle used for "racing-type activities" so I was sure they'd just deny it based on my trackday use. After some whining and begging they finally sold me the bearing and clip I needed for around 70 bucks and the dealer installed it. Noise fixed, car drove fine, but they charged me an arm and a leg on labor despite what my friend tried to do to soften the blow.

Last month my car gets in a sidewipe accident on the front passenger side. My insurance covered it and the car's all repaired except that when they took it in for an alignment before giving it back to me the shop said my front driver side shock mount was loose and it looked like I needed a new camber plate - the same side that had failed once before and just recently got fixed supposedly.

Took it back to the Toyota dealer and they said that yes I needed a new camber plate and no they have no idea how it broke so soon after they "fixed" it...of course. Okay, the impact was on the passenger side so the accident was unlikely to have caused it but hey, can't entirely rule it out so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt - but I certainly didn't want them to assrape me on labor again so I took it to another shop I trust more that confirmed I do need a new camber plate.

Of course Hotchkis says they can't sell me just that one side. Same story as before - $454 for the whole kit. Namedropping my development driver friend hasn't seemed to help and I'm getting the cold shoulder from their sales team.

So, I'm stuck with having to buy that kit to fix my car a second time unless I look at other options. I've got other expenses right now and want to keep the spend to a minimum but at the same time I'm thinking to myself how it makes any sense that I should pay that much for a part that's failed me once already.

Cheapest option is to suck it up and buy the Hotchkis plates again and hope they don't fail again. Since they've failed on me already though someone suggested I just torch the f*cking things and get a full coilover kit. I'd rather not spend the extra money but at the same time I've lost faith in Hotchkis's products and customer service.

Opinions? Any other options I haven't thought of? I'm no suspension expert so I was hoping for some good advice.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hey GSX-R35,

Sorry to hear about all of the issues you've been experiencing. I'm surprised that you initially had issues purchasing a new bearing from us. Those are considered a wearable item in the assembly and are meant to be replaced when need be. Whoever you spoke with should have sold the new bearing to you without hesitation. We apologize for it being a hassle for you to replace.

With that said, when it comes to the camber plate itself, we produce those in pairs. A "Driver" and "Passenger" side. They are also the majority of the cost of the kit itself. In addition, the camber plate kit is a discontinued item and we only have a few kits left. Because of these factors, that particular component cannot be sold separately. I hope you understand where we are coming from on this.

We will happily continue to offer replacement bearings and clips for current customers who are running our camber plates. We will keep those in stock for purchase well after this kit is discontinued.

Again, sorry you had to go through all of this.

Sincerely,
-Aaron