I was in touch with a small company (more like a shop, really) that specializes in adoption the AirLift kits for VWs.  They have full air suspension kits for the bug, Karmann Ghia and Split Window Bus.  Initially they seemed very interested to make a kit for the Vanagon/Syncro.  They even came to San Francisco for a meeting.  Steve Schwenk, Warren Chapman, Jeanny Maly and a few others were there also.  After this meeting they went completely quiet.  They haven't returned a phone call since.  At this point I gave up on this company and have not found another shop that does stuff like this.  A full air suspension would also be pretty pricey.  We were talking between $1500 and $2000 for a complete kit, depending on what options you wanted. 
 
I think with the kits that are offered through the group purchase you are able to get a very effective, simple and inexpensive add-on to your rear suspension.  You'll get lots of ride improvement for your $$.  The system is easily tuned to your application camper/non-camper/loaded/empty/on-road/off-road/etc.etc. 
 
I really love this system and would like to give listees the chance to get one also at a reasonable price.  As I said in an earlier mail, there is no money in this for me. We have the chance to cut our the middle man with this purchase.
 
Best,
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: Derek Drew [mailto:derekdrew@rcn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 11:30 AM
To: Syncro@onelist.com; Buettner, Peter; vaNAGON@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: [Syncro] RE: air suspension group purchase - status

This kit sounds like a great idea, but in my view the job is only half completed if we are talking about the rear of the vehicle only.

It has always been my view that the AirLift or Firestone kits were fantastic, but the trick was in adapting whatever these companies offered into something that was workable on the front of the syncro as well as the rear.

Has anybody done any work in this area? Peter, can you weigh in on this topic?

At 11:02 AM 11/15/00 -0800, you wrote:

Just wanted to let you all know that the AirLift group purchase is very close to becoming reality.  So far I have 43 orders.  I need 3 more takers for kit 1 and 4 more takers for kit 2.  Anybody else want to get in on this?  Dose anybody who ordered kit 1 want to upgrade to kit 2?

Cheers,
Peter

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Buettner, Peter
> Sent: Friday, November 10, 2000 10:54 AM
> To: 'Vanagon List (E-mail)'; Syncro List (E-mail);
> 'SyncroSA@egroups.com'
> Cc: 'caravana@topica.com'
> Subject: air suspension group purchase
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm organizing a group purchase for air suspension kits by
> Air Lift.  There has been quite a bit of discussion about
> these kit on the Vanagon list in the past months.  I also
> wrote a test report earlier this year (see links below).  You
> can check these resources for more info on these kits.  I
> want to keep the bandwidth low and so I'm not going to go
> into more detail here.
>
> I have some orders already and have contacted these people
> via private email.  If you're interested in this group
> purchase and have not received a private email from me please
> read on and respond.
>
> There are two kits to choose from.  Kit 1 contains air bags
> only and kit 2 contains the air bags with compressor and a
> dual-gauge control panel.  Group purchase prices are $50 for
> kit 1 (about 50% off the retail price) and $150 for kit 2
> plus shipping.  These prices are based on an order for
> 30xkit1 and 20xkit2.  At this point I don't have this many
> orders so there might be some changes.  I'm not making any
> money off this purchase.  Please don't expect full customer
> service from me and be patient if it takes me a while to
> respond to your inquiries.
>
> Air Lift is official sponsor of the Caravana Pan Americana
> 2000.  Jeanne, Ron and Tyler have the kits installed in South
> America right now.  Maybe they can give us a report of their
> impressions.

> I have installed the full compression kit in my Syncro Westy
> this spring and it's been working great ever since.  Please
> drop me a line if you'd like some pictures of the installation.
>
> Links:
> Air Lift     http://www.airliftcompany.com/
> Test article http://www.vanagon.com/syncros/technica/airlift-test/
> Caravana     http://vanagon.com/journeys/caravana/index.html
>
> Best regards,
> Peter
>
>
>

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________________________________________________________
Derek Drew                              New York, NY & Washington, DC
derekdrew@rcn.com       
EMAIL ME FOR VISCOUS COUPLINGS
'90 Syncro Westfalia...
...seen off-road at http://www.tiu.net/~des/vw/drew/index.html

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