Installation is complete, here are my thoughts:
Packaging: the kit came nicely packed in a large box. Each bar was in plastic bag and all parts and hardware came in nicely labeled bags. Plenty of foam cushion in the box to prevent scratches. Nice instructions and a cool Hotchkis sticker pack.
Installation: installation was straight forward. Instructions were easy to follow and everything fit perfectly. Took me roughly 1 hour for the front and 1/2 hour for the rear. I did not have the truck on a lift or it would have went faster.
Materials: it's a nice kit. The bars are extremely beefy and the powdercoating is really nice. The kit came with front end links which are very similar to the energy suspension links/bushings. The swaybar bushings have divots on the inside of them to maintain grease longer which is a nice touch. Additionally, the brackets have zirc fittings built in to make re greasing easy. Compared to stock, the front bar is just slightly bigger diameter. The rear bar is larger than the stock bar by quite a bit. (Did not measure)
Price: I paid just shy of $500 shipped. Not the cheapest set of bars out there, but not the most expensive either.
Performance: this category is tough to measure. Simply put, the truck feels more planted. The understeer is almost completely gone. Corners that I normally have to start breaking around, I do not anymore;the truck glides effortlessly around them and i am able to accelerate. It by no means turned my truck into a race car, but it rides so much flatter now. It's more fun to drive and feels safer. The front end doesn't dip down quite as much going into turns. On the negative side, uneven terrain/bumps are felt a little more now.
Overall: honestly we all want to believe that the parts we put on our vehicles are worth the money we spent. I'll not sit here and say these bars are the best thing ever. What I will say is that next to my BB tune, it's the best money I've spent on this truck yet. For those of you that are really into performance/ handling of a vehicle, I'd say this is a great investment and definitely a good "bang for your buck" mod. Hotchkis claims 30% stiffer in the front and 80% stiffer in the rear for the Tahoe and Yukon. I drove it after only the front and could tell a very slight difference in stiffness. After I added the rear and drove it, I could instantly feel the difference. I am glad I went with the kit that I did. It would of driven me crazy if I only swapped the rear and didn't match the front. If that kind of thing doesn't bother you then I recommend going with the rear.
***one odd thing I noticed is the Hotchkis end links are shorter than the stock end links. Not sure why. I installed them and everything seems to work just fine.
