I am sending this message to the Vanagon List as well as Joel's Syncro owners list. Sorry if you get the message twice.

This discussion concerns the ride height of the Volkswagen Vanagon (Caravelle/Transporter) Syncro (1986-1991 or even later years if you are in SA).

I have found that Syncro Vanagons have different ride heights (and hence more or less ground clearance) depending on how much weight is on the vehicle. I have found that a vehicle such as mine (heavily weighted) can typically ride as much as 1-3/4" lower in front than a bone stock, no-GL, non-Westy, empty Syncro. It seems that the GL-Westy option on a syncro deprives the owner of roughly 1.5 cm (about 0.6 inches) of ground clearance. Equipment, drinking water, camping stuff, food, propane, awnings, etc., can easy swipe away an additional 2 cm of ground clearance.

In intend to compensate for this by raising my van back up in the front about 1.5" to 1.75".

You can participate in the measurements (and see where you stand relative to other Syncro owners) by measuring the distance between the absolute center of your front wheel (in line with the axel) and the wheelhousing sheetmetal immediately above this (the little wheelwheell flare). This will show much much your spring is compressed. If your spring is extreemly compressed then there is a possibility it is worn out (or that you have a lot of stuff in your van. :-) )

This measurement is valuable to have in any case as it determines how your front wheel alignment should be calibrated as per the graph on page 44.3a of your Bentley manual and/or microfiche.

Actual measurements I have taken have revealed the following (all measurements are in cm):

===============================================================

Right Side Left Side ---------------- -------------

A bone-empty Syncro 48 47.5 I saw in Brooklyn one day

My 90 Camper/87 Camper...

...new, empty 46.5 46

...the way it normally is now* 44.5 43.75 (always partly filled with stuff)

...outfitted for expedition** 43 42 (really full of stuff)

...badly overloaded (6,230lbs) 41.5 40.5 (filled completely with magazines)

*filled with food, fuel, winch, awning, supplies, etc., that stay permanently in the van.

**add chainnsaw, supplies, clothing, bags, canoe, possibly motorcycles, etc.

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If you take a measurement of your own syncro and send it to me, I will collect all your results and report them back to the group so we can see what is normal. Be sure your van is on absolutely level ground. This is a harder requirement to meet than it sounds as even most supermarket parking nots are not level.

If, after you have taken your measurement, you find that you are at a ride hight similar to mine (you rarely get above 44.5 or so) then you may wish to take corrective action to raise your van back up to the height that it can be when new and empty (48 or so), a difference of 4.5cm, or 1-3/4 inches.

The advantage of riding higher is that you can drive your syncro on worse roads without hitting anything underneath. 80% of you probably do not drive off the pavement, but the vehicle really comes in to its own in that setting and can keep pace with the best 4x4s on the market today.

Following this message is a correspondence I have had with John Anderson concerning methods to raise a Vanagon Syncro and some design considerations. This involves methods to raise the front of the vehicle. Not discussed are methods to raise the rear. (Methods to raise the rear are easy and cheap and I have posted solutions before to the Vanagon mailing list. If there is sufficient interest, I will report the cm figures for the rear as well, by the way.)

John Anderson, by the way, has been kind enough to subject the springs of the Vanagon Syncro to analysis on machinery to determine the exact spring rate vs. lbs for the travel of the springs. This data will prove useful for any of us wishing to fabricate longer or more heavy duty springs for the Syncro in the future.

There is a possibility some of the information here will not apply to South African Syncro vans as these seem to have random parts that are different from the Syncros made in Austria that those of us in the rest of the world have.

If any of you wish to raise the front of your Vanagon Syncro, then there seem to be two good options at this time: To get a bigger spring (better, more expensive), or to make up a little washer to go under the front spring (easy, cheap). For more data on the little washer thingie you can write to me or examine my post on this subject to John Anderson, just CC'd to the Vanagon List. If you want to get a bigger spring for the front of your Syncro, then send me a note expressing interest. Then, in about a year or twos time, after all the engineering is complete and the vendor selected, I can make up a mass order for these springs depending on which of you still want them at that time. This will keep costs down.

Bye for now. ___________________________________ Derek Drew New York, NY drew@interport.net (main address for e-mail) derekdrew@aol.com (alternate/backup, checked infrequently)