Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2018 10:22:14 -0400
Reply-To: Eric Caron <eric.caron@ICLOUD.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Eric Caron <eric.caron@ICLOUD.COM>
Subject: Re: Looking for advice on leveling Vanagon
In-Reply-To: <CAFnDXk3FzvMm_uMfK1P=6ooBm9qk83Z3sN87fXjqxrONNxVaOA@mail.gmail.com>
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Hi Jim,
Dennis Haynes leveled out my 85 when he had it for service. He did a incredible write up and used 4 scales.
In the end the thing I remember most is that he replaced the worn out original rear pads under the springs and also added a shim in the driver’s side rear back wheel. this technically made the weight on the wheels unbalanced a bit but balanced the van.
I also have a set of inexpensive air bages in the rear springs. Before Dennis worked on the van I had about 48 pounds on the driver’s side and about 42 on the passenger side. this balanced the van nicely. I know some folks use these air bags when they have heavy loads on the back. I found them to be a nice addition.
Now that my van is balanced the air bags are I believe at about 25 PSI both sides.
Eric caron
85 GL Auto
On Aug 15, 2018, at 09:02, Jim. Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
Thanks for the advice.
Best,
Jim
On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 7:58 AM Andrew Berg <andrew@bergweb.ca> wrote:
> I used one of these at driver side rear:
>
>
> http://www.gowesty.com/product/coil-springs/4346/spring-pad-for-rear-coil-spring-
>
> Leveled things out pretty well. Your numbers don't look too bad though.
> Mine were worse.
>
> Andrew
>
> On Wed, Aug 15, 2018, at 8:47 AM, Jim. Felder wrote:
>> I have a 1983 Westy with 2012 GoWesty replacement springs (normal lift).
>> Almost from the time of installation I noticed the car wasn't sitting
>> level, presumably because of the imbalance caused by the westy interior
> and
>> camping equipment.
>>
>> The sag hasn't changed much in 6 years. Here's what it looks like. The
>> measurements are from the lip of the wheel arches to the center of the
> hubs:
>>
>> Driver front: 16.5 inches
>> Passenger front: 17
>> Driver rear: 16
>> Passenger rear 16.75
>>
>> I realize that you can't shim these springs like they were mechanical cam
>> lifters, but that they are means of racking the car around the center of
>> gravity as a fulcrum, and in the front the suspension geometry has some
>> mechanical gain to it affected by the height changes in the rear. So, I'm
>> not going to try to learn all that for what I hope is a one-time fix.
>>
>> My question is a) what are the best options for shimming and b) where to
>> get the shims?
>>
>> Thanks in advance to those who know.
>>
>> Jim
>
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