Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 22:54:51 -0800
Reply-To: Fast Forward <sales@FASTFORWARD.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Fast Forward <sales@FASTFORWARD.CA>
Subject: Syncro Springs and the correct way of lifting your Syncro
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Volks,
I'm going to start another long thread here... so there should be some good
entertainment value in the days to come.
I was looking over Steve's fine "non-profit" web site and I could not help
to notice the write up on Syncro springs he had there. The "Schwenk"
spring, the "Seikel" springs and the "Fast Forward" springs. Hmmm... biased
don't you think Steve when my springs are basically the same as your springs
for technical specs? If you are going to write a full commentary and offer
your expert opinion shouldn't you at least TEST my springs first as opposed
to putting untrue and second hand statements about them? You state "The
goal with this kit is to lift the van ride height 2+"... Steve, I
understand that you are an American and may not understand the metric system
that the rest of the world uses, but my front springs lift 4 to 5 CM on the
average van - that's the maximum of 2 inches with 1.5" being the most common
amongst my customers. They have been installed on everything, Westfalias to
Transporter vans with more or less the same results and some pretty
satisfied customers. My springs are 7% stiffer than standard "transporter
syncro" spring. There is also about 7 cm of suspension travel left in the
front and rear - which is the same as your springs there Steve! Actually
when you look at your springs and compare them to mine they almost look the
same - strange eh! Yours are "less than 10%" stiffer and mine are 7% -
yours lift 1 to 1.5" and mine are 1.5" to up to 2" on the lighter vehicles.
Yours are wound by a company that has been in the business for a billion
years are so are mine. The purpose of my springs is to lift the Syncro in
order to get more ground clearance and more fender well clearance for larger
tires. The only reason why they are stiffer is to counter the effects of a
higher center of gravity on your van when cornering. If you are doing any
serious off-roading you will **kill your shocks** if you lift your van in
this manner due to the fact that the shocks are being "topped" out all the
time. The Boge and OME shocks offer the *same* amount of suspension travel
despite what OMEs advertising says - heck the front OMEs are really Monroe
shocks made in Europe somewhere (Belgium?), painted yellow and a sticker put
on them - basically the same shock they use in South Africa and in Europe -
nothing really special IMHO. The fact is you can't just lift the Syncro
without having at least the same amount of suspension travel as you did
before (or more) or things will just break. Not trying to pick on you here
Steve, just letting you know that your facts are incorrect. Before you get
all hot and bothered and become over opinionated here Steve and start saying
that I am killing your spring and shock orders I just want to let you know
that you do not have to worry. I have stopped selling my springs due to the
fact that after a lot of education on the subject from a lot of fine list
members it is really the wrong way to lift the Syncro. Steve, you seem to
be doing well with them so that fills that niche market quite well - just
come out of the closet and state that you are making a serious profit on
these springs and what you are doing is not non-profit.
My next generation lift kit features springs with the SAME ride height as
the stock Syncro on most vehicles and up to 2cm taller on Syncros that are
on a diet - or you can use the stock springs and save a few bucks. They
will be not as stiff for better articulation when crawling over rocks and
other items where it is important to keep all wheels on the ground - for
those of us who do not have differential locks on both ends this will help a
lot! The shocks that I am using have a threaded body that will allow for an
adjustable ride height from 0cm increase up to 6cm on my prototypes - I
might be able to get 7cm on the production models, but this will start
introduce alignment problems. The fact that you can adjust the height in
front will also assist in making the vehicle more balanced as you can lift
one corner more than the other for better weight distribution. The shocks
that I am using also have 5.5cm more travel than the Boge / Monroe / OME
shocks. The other added advantage is user adjustable valving from a little
soupier than new Boges to ultra control for the racetrack if you want them
that stiff. It all comes down to user adjustable to taste or lack there of.
Mine is set to +5 cm and I have as much suspension decompression as I did
when it was stock. The valving is set to 4/10 for off road to 7/10 for
highway cruising - usually they get left at 4 or 5/10. I can compress
everything as much as stock too! The rears are not quite as fancy, they
feature adjustable valving but no adjustable ride height due to the fact
that it is too complicated to make an adjustable spring perch for the rear
springs - I just using some excess 4cm shims that I had here. These have
been over 1 year in development and I must say that I am truly impression
with how much better a real lifted suspension is!
Just some food for thought here... comments and criticisms are welcome and
very expected! :)
David Marshall
Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning
4356 Quesnel Hixon Road
Quesnel BC Canada V2J 6Z3
mailto:info@fastforward.ca http://www.fastforward.ca
Phone: (250) 992 7775 FAX: (250) 992 1160
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