Date:         Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:26:05 +1300
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <goose1047@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <goose1047@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Purple springs from H&R
In-Reply-To:  <00f301c96085$19ff2c00$6701a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Heavy-duty (sport) springs certainly will stiffen the ride. However in
an underdamped vehicle they will cause rebound at the end of their
travel ie bobbing, as will worn-out or poor  new dampers such as those
generally fitted to US-market cars.

Adjustable dampers do not stiffen the ride, as they act mainly on
rebound, slowing the UPward travel of the body AFTER a bump. They damp
the oscillation (this is why thay are NOT shock-absorbers, but
dampers... the springs absorb the shock). For this reason they will
not affect bodyroll in cornering either.

Fitting stiff dampers to softly-sprung vehicles can cause the
suspension to ratchet down over stutterbumps (eg corrugations),
possibly causing the suspension to compress right to the bump-stops
and stay there until the bumps are passed. This is because the springs
do not have sufficient resilience to force the car fully upward after
each compression.

Soft dampers with stiff springs can cause violent bobbing (try a 4WD
Mitsubishi Delica van crosscountry at any speed to see this).
Worst-case the wheels (front) can actually leave the ground due to
rebound.

So if you fit stiffer springs, fit stiffer dampers... and vice versa.

To limit cornering roll, fit better swaybars eg Whiteline.

If you can afford Konis, forget Bilstein.

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