Date:         Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:47:17 -0700
Reply-To:     Keith Hughes <keithahughes@QWEST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Keith Hughes <keithahughes@QWEST.NET>
Subject:      Re: ride height adjustment? (long post)
In-Reply-To:  <20070819001934.137D56F0CA6@mpls-mf-11.inet.qwest.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

>
> Date:    Sat, 18 Aug 2007 12:52:42 -0700
> From:    Reinhard Vehring <rvehring@YAHOO.COM>
> Subject: Re: ride height adjustment? (long post)
>
>
>> If you are trying to corner-balance your van, you
>> could always buy a
>> set of coil-overs for it. (I'm not sure offhand who
>> makes them, but
>> Google always has answers.)
>>
>>
>
> I'm pretty sure no such things exists. Let me know if
> you find something. That would be really interesting.
> Reinhard
>
Having researched this at length a couple years ago, I could find no
shock manufacturers that could/would produce coilovers.  You can get the
rather cheezy 'generic' coils from JC Whitney and the like, for the rear
shocks, but not the front.  You can, however, install air shocks on the
rear (as I did). With separate hose kits, they can be adjusted
independently.  I used them, although not independently, to raise the
rear due to sagging springs.  Since then, I replaced all the springs
with the lift springs from Van-Cafe, and am very happy with the result.
Much more stabile, especially in turns, with much less roll.  Less roll,
more traction.

The reality is, though that unlike a racecar, the Westy will always be
way off balance (couple hundred pounds of cabinet on one side, plus
water tank), and no amount of ride height adjustment is going to offset
that from a sprung weight perspective.  I think you'd be better off
getting the ride height back to stock, and making sure the springs are
in spec.  Minimizing sag and roll (also affected by your shock
condition) will, IMO, get more results than tinkering with corner
adjustments.

Keith Hughes
'86 Westy Tiico (Marvin)