Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 22:45:26 -0500
Reply-To: Conrad Klahn <conradk@MAC.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Conrad Klahn <conradk@MAC.COM>
Subject: Re: Suspension Project
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
Hi,
I won an auction on a set of springs/shocks for a little under $100.
Shipping was a bit stiff though due to the weight. The springs are
stock replacement, and the shocks were Bilstein.
Putting in the "new" rear springs brought up the height about 1.5" and
I added a "spacer" using the cutting-board method - so I now have a
nearly level (a tad lower in back) ride. I want to tow a (very) small
trailer so I needed to get my butt of the ground. With the gear and
kids in the back, it should sit down a little more.
I'm reading a lot into this, but I do think that the stock height was a
bit lower in the back to begin with. Under hard braking, the nose will
dive, so having the rear lower to begin with probably helps. I used to
drive a jacked up '68 Cougar when I was a teenager, and the rear-end
would get super-squirrelly under heavy braking. I had another '68
Cougar with a typically saggy butt and it had no such problem. So,
that's a long way of saying not to try and over-compensate when you
put those spacers in the back.
I had to use a hydraulic floor jack to separate the trailing arm far
enough to get the spring out. No amount of standing on it could free up
enough space. The springs "unscrew" and then snap back into place going
the same counter-clockwise direction. (Not much on this in the Bentley
manual.) Don't forget to set the top rubber spacer in place before you
get everything tight. When you use the hydraulic jack (if you have to
go that way) put two 1x4 on either side of the rear brake line - for
obvious reasons.
I would not have bought Bilsteins if I had to buy them at retail - I
was planning on KYB. But the price I got them for was perfect.
Big brakes, big wheels, Anco anti-sway bars... are all on my list of
things to look forward to. However, my route is to get the 15" steel
wheels sold through GoWesty. I have had bad experiences with cars and
beautiful wheels - they usually end up being criminal bait. Steel
wheels with "missing hubcaps" gives it that urban-assault look that
nicely offsets the peace-love-harmony VW logo. ;-)
Conrad
