Date:         Sun, 19 Aug 2007 14:56:55 -0700
Reply-To:     Reinhard Vehring <rvehring@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Reinhard Vehring <rvehring@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: ride height adjustment? (long post)
Comments: To: Keith Hughes <keithahughes@QWEST.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <46C89E45.1000806@qwest.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Keith,
I saw in your post that you have the Van-Cafe springs
installed. I'm interested to learn a little bit more
about them. What is your ride height with them,
unloaded van,measured from center of wheel / rim to
lower edge of wheel well? Do you know any details
about the springs, like how high they are uninstalled,
or the spring constant? If they are, as you say, more
stable, does that mean they are stiffer than stock, or
are they just longer than stock? I asked the guys from
Van-Cafe all these questions, but got no answer, so
maybe you can help.
Thanks in advance,
Reinhard

--- Keith Hughes <keithahughes@QWEST.NET> wrote:

> >
> > 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)
>




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