TheSamba.com :: View topic - lifting a syncro as high as possible: how are you doing it?

Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:37 am

Looking for all options available to lift my syncro. I know of the 16 arms, emu springs/shox, and spring perches.

Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:10 am

Here's an example of a home-made lift kit.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2405738&postid=26337169#26337169

Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:07 am

Save money and buy the syncromog- http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=667831
Lifting the syncro isn't too hard, but it does get expensive fast. Beyond a certain point custom rear CV axles need to be bought $1600(john wessels). Front ball joints will get past their useable angle so custom front control arms are needed $800 (burley motorsports). Bigger wheels/tires need big brake kits (volkscafe, small car performance etc.) Low gears are needed for the tranny and front diff- good luck I haven't been able to find these yet. 16" arms are needed quickly $1150 or more depends on what you want (burley motorsports. Of course past a point body mods are needed wheel well/front door mods. How much are you looking to spend will dictate how high you can go.

Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:27 am

indeed, the syncro is pretty capable with 225/75/15 tires, and many run 30x9.5 or 235/75/15 but those require some body/suspension mods.

need it high as the sky, buy a MOG

Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:16 am

I think the easiest way to "lift" is to install larger tires. I run 30x9.5r15 and have 12+" of clearance. The only mods I did was to grind the lip on the rear trailing arm and reweld the joint smooth. The fronts rub a little when turning at full compression. I have three cutting board spacers in the back to make it ride 1/2" higher in the back (19" +/-1/2" all 4 corners). The big expense doesn't involve the lift, it's the, at minimum, a tranny regear and maybe a new engine.

If you want to go above this situation I would just decide to go big, it isn't worth the money for an inch or two.

Itsdshtz started a thread awhile ago about a syncro build in Germany, it's worth a look.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=261042&highlight=

Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:19 am

I made no changes to the suspension. I went the easy route, put 16" rims and 215/65 R16 Nokian Hakka's. It came out plenty high for me at that point. I haven't had any interference issues with the components so far, about 1.5 years since the switch.

With the 16"

This is with the 15" rims with the Aglis 205/65 R15

Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:34 am

Hey Dog, what's the tread height on those Hakkas? I have some Audi 16x7's for my Syncro and I like the Hakkas, just wondering what they would do to the drive ratio, if anything.

Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:41 am

10¢ Using this size did a ~6% change in gearing. This allowed the 2.4 to push the van along nicely at 75 at 4,050 rpm

from Derk Drew's site:
This is a quote from Derek Drew, one of the gods of the Syncro Pantheon THe CV-900 is a rim style adapted from the Eurovan:
The best general purpose tire to get for the CV-900 for North American vehicles with stock factory gearing is the Nokian Hakkapeliitta CS tire in size 205/65/16. The 205/65/16 tire is rated for mounting on a 6.5 inch rim, has an incredible load index of 105/107, and, although it is classified as a winter tire, it uses a year-round rubber compound so it is well suited to year-round use. It has 790 revolutions per mile and looks like this: . There are many other possible tires however, and the somewhat laborious information below goes into all the details. Before buying one of these other tires, you will want to make sure that those other tires compare favorably to the Hakka CS mentioned above.

I bought them at tires by web, the guy there also know Vanagons and gave a good discount.
http://www.tiresbyweb.com/

Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:50 am

Thanks!

Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:42 am

I am curious as to the tallest syncros out there and how they did it, I didn't really answer your question concerning "as tall as possible" but I think izdshtz's is one of the taller ones out there and he has documented it pretty well.

Any one else got photos of car crushing syncros?

Sat Oct 25, 2008 7:22 am

Hello dredward

Yes I know raised Cars are fun, but doing it on a Syncro opens up a can of worms.
If you wont raised springs, cheapest is HD 2WD Springs (Europe) in front and donuts rear. Combined with my 215/75R15 on ZA steel wheels, it looks great and your still in a acceptable range for your CV joints.
Spring kits from Go Westy, Synco.org, or Van café will do the same just for more money.
But keep in mind that if you raise your spring height your shocks will be short the same amount. This will lead to less articulation of the Suspension and will restrict your off road capability.
I run longer Bilstein shocks in the rear, as an offset, still waiting on the longer front ones from Germany.

Going taller on Springs/Tires also means doing a lot on other parts or performance will suffer.
Sure if you want a car to go to the dive in, just put big 16” on it and put some tall donuts under the springs, nobody will ever see that the car drives like s&$@ :wink: .

Michael

Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:26 am

With the 16"

Hey Dogpilot, where did you get these 16" rims? They look like the GoWesty 16 inch rims, but yours look to have the VW center plug.

Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:47 am

No I went the easy route, told my wife what I coveted for my Bday, and she got them from GoWesty. Just ensure you get the rims without tires. I think a truckload of Hydroedge overturned near their shop and they are trying to unload them. It is actually a decent package, they supply everything, including lugs. I suppose I may have to get real VW cap stickers, but the GoWesty one actually look like them from the 15' viewing.

When I went for this, I did discuss those rims and the tires I was contemplating with Lucas. He checked to see if there was any interference. It kind of sucks to spend all that on rims and tires and end up with a package that doesn't fit. The most amazing thing is I have like 1mm clearance on the slider and the rear tire. So if it stuck out any further, I would have to modify the slider rear link and the closing link. So if you do go bigger taller, and have to space the rims out, you may end up with a series of cause and effect changes, way beyond what you originally conceived.

Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:41 am

fairweather wrote: Any one else got photos of car crushing syncros?

I sure would like to know how this much lift was accomplished !!!

Mine, only lifted 1.5" but nice "car crushing look" picture :P

Sat Oct 25, 2008 12:35 pm

Ya that orange one definitley looks like it has more than 2", maybe 4-5 with room for bigger tires than he has!

Now that I think more about this I remembered David Marshalls LT.

He's got some good info on lifting syncros here:

www.hasenwerk.ca

Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:06 pm

what company sells custom trailing arms and custom upper fr arms to attain 20in ground clearence? I had the company but lost after rebooting after a virus attacked my computer....

Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:14 pm

http://www.burleymotorsportsdirect.com/

Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:17 pm

dredward wrote: what company sells custom trailing arms and custom upper fr arms to attain 20in ground clearence? I had the company but lost after rebooting after a virus attacked my computer....

Never used them, but these guys might help: http://www.burleymotorsportsdirect.com/

Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:00 pm

syncrodoka wrote: Save money and buy the syncromog- http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=667831
Lifting the syncro isn't too hard, but it does get expensive fast. Beyond a certain point custom rear CV axles need to be bought $1600(john wessels). Front ball joints will get past their useable angle so custom front control arms are needed $800 (burley motorsports). Bigger wheels/tires need big brake kits (volkscafe, small car performance etc.) Low gears are needed for the tranny and front diff- good luck I haven't been able to find these yet. 16" arms are needed quickly $1150 or more depends on what you want (burley motorsports. Of course past a point body mods are needed wheel well/front door mods. How much are you looking to spend will dictate how high you can go.
I am in too deep at this point ](*,) 8) .

Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:04 pm

1621 wrote: dredward wrote: what company sells custom trailing arms and custom upper fr arms to attain 20in ground clearence? I had the company but lost after rebooting after a virus attacked my computer....

Never used them, but these guys might help: http://www.burleymotorsportsdirect.com/
Thanks and saved...... :D .....