Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 23:48:45 -0700
Reply-To: Steve <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Steve <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
Subject: Syncro Shock Preload
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Yes, it's back to this topic again, but only because I have
something to report. I pre-loaded my front shocks today,
and have now pre-loaded front and rears. I had already
added an additional rear-spring donut between each rear
spring and spring perch. These are a little over 1/2 inch
thick to my recollection...Up front, I followed Harold
Yancy's lead and inserted spacers between the top spring
perch and the rubber that fits on top of the spring. I put
a 7/16inch spacer on the left and a 5/16" spacer on the
right.
This is the first crude adjustment. What a difference,
though. This is exactly what I thought would happen.
Folks, there's some good suspension hiding in there, we just
need to find it. It's actually a little too stiff right
now, but not much...and much better than the too-soft of
before. The difference: the van rides noticably
higher...and firmer...no more of that horrible bouncing up
and down ... it's a much steadier, stabler, predictable ride
on the freeway and highways. I took it on a dirt road along
the beach at sunset (what a day)...as I suspected the entire
range of travel is firmer. It does not bottom out on bumps
it used to. There is still some travel left for subsequent
bumps whereas before the second set of bumps would bottom
out the front suspension. This is the single most
significant improvement to my van I have made, with
improvement in both on road and off road performance.
Regretfully, each spring will have to be removed at least
one more time, and that is a horrible job. the first round
was to get an idea how much pre-load waas needed. It's a
little too stifff as is, and not balanced left-to-right. I
am going to put a thinner spacer in the right rear (I need
to measure the thickness of the donut before I decide what
I'm going to use.)... and a thinner spacer in the right
front, which I will drop down to 3/16" from 5/16...with
7/16' staying in the left-front for now, but I fear that
will have to come down a little, too. These changes should
balance the suspension and soften it just a little so it is
more responsive. Unfortunately, this may take more than one
more attempt. After all, I'm just guessing...based in large
part on the weights at each wheel Derek so kindly provided a
couple weeks back. I wish I had the time and knowledge to
calculate the preload for each wheel based on weights ...
or at least to know how much additional preload for those
wheels with more weight. But despite the in-exactness, it
is vastly better than before. When I'm done, it'll have to
be aligned as the toe will have been changed by changing
vehicle height...or something like that.
This was exactly likje adjusting the rear spring pre-load on
my YZ...which is now sold :~(. It had the same saggy, mushy
symptoms of too much sag/too little pre-load. By the end of
the summer, I should have my springs dialed in pretty good
so that others can at least use my specs re the thickness of
the spacer at each wheel as a starting point.
steve
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