Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 14:03:21 -0700
Reply-To: "Buettner, Peter" <PGB@DOLBY.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Buettner, Peter" <PGB@DOLBY.COM>
Subject: Betts rear spring testing at Hollister
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
At the Hollister Syncro meeting we had a chance to test the rear prototype
springs for the Syncro from Betts. The rear springs are designed to work
with the front springs from Betts that we got at the end of last year. The
prototype springs differ in three ways from the stock springs:
1: they don't have the tapered wire at the ends (no progressive spring rate)
2: they're designed to raise the van by 1"
3: the spring rate is increased by about 10%
The rear springs looked just as sharp as the front springs did. Nice black
finish (powder coated, I guess). One set went into Mark's Syncro (home made
Westy conversion) that's equipped with a set of Bilstein shocks and the 2.2l
5 cylinder Quantum engine. Tom Lengyel put the second pair into his Syncro
together with a pair of OME rear shock that Mark had brought for show and
tell.
Mark and I took turns driving his Syncro on the trails in Hollister and got
a pretty good impression of the before-after effect. We could tell right
away that the rear axle had more travel. The rear axle felt more 'springy'.
Mark liked that a lot. I felt it was a bit too 'bouncy'. In any case the
new springs handled the terrain very well and gave the rear good traction.
Next we added the air suspension (more info on this coming soon in a
separate post) to the Betts springs. We tested the air suspension at 25 PSI
(max. rated pressure), 15 PSI and 0 PSI. Initially we were quite skeptical
about the air suspension. We were not sure if this would have any effect on
the suspension at all. But it did, in a very positive way! At 25 PSI the
rear became very stiff. I was almost thrown out of the rear seat at big
bumps. At 15 PSI the rear was perfect. It now had the right damping. The
bounciness was gone and traction was much improved. Joe Ernest also had a
chance to test this setup. He was very impressed with the ease the
suspension was handling the trails. Joe had been on the trail with his
Syncro Westy (stock suspension) and his Land Rover and neither of them had
handled that well.
Tom found the Betts/OME combination great on big bumps but too jumpy on the
little stuff. Overall I guess he really liked it because at the end of the
day he didn't want to take that springs and shocks out of his Syncro. At
10:30 p.m. Mark and I were finally able to convince him to return the
springs so I could go home (Mark wanted to leave early the next morning) and
we swapped them out by the light of a lantern.
I talked to Mark this morning. He drove the 400 miles back to Oceanside
with the springs. He likes the way they behaved on the road and is happy
with the design parameters.
Conclusion (so far): The Betts springs are great. They give you additional
clearance (1") and increase the stability and tracking of the Syncro. In
combination with the air suspension they're near perfect and the damping of
the suspension can be adjusted for road and load conditions.
I'm not sure where we're standing as far as a group purchase of these
springs is concerned. Mark doesn't have time to organize the order until
June. Steve Schwenck might be able to get something going sooner than that.
But might change the spring design. He wants to install them on his van and
test them on an off-road trip to Death Valley end of April. Stay tuned...
Best,
Peter
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