TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun May 12, 2013 8:57 pm

Sand rail vw 1835, had posted earlier my rear suspension was too soft and bottoming to often, I re-indexed one notch on the outside, all is good now except it springs back pretty hard, I am using KYB gas adjust, should I add another shock for rebound? someone told me to turn my shock upside down?
thanks

Mon May 13, 2013 1:06 am

If you flip your shock upside down the oil in the shock will be on the wrong side of the piston and you will probably lose more dampening.

Mon May 13, 2013 6:06 am

You need to soften rear by taking some of the preload out from outside spline move by changing the inside splines if rear is to solid..... You just when from one extreme to another.... By also adjusting inside spline you have better control of preload (spring rate)...

IF you turn shocks upside down, you might as well just leave them off.... The shocks are not the problem of you harsh ride, the problem is in your adjustment of rear splines...

Dale

Mon May 13, 2013 7:08 am

Flipping shocks is an old racers trick. Its done to reduce unsprung mass, when the shock body is attached to the suspension arm it must be calculated into for unsprung mass. When the shock body is attached to the chassis, its not included in the calculation for unsprung mass. There is no performance change when flipping shocks, the piston still moves through the shock fluid just like it would if it were right side up.

I agree with Dale, this is an issue with indexing not shocks.

Mon May 13, 2013 1:06 pm

I hate to start a fight, but like you said "flipping shocks is an OLD racers trick" In modern shocks, flipping them upside down is asking for problems. In the old days there is a good chance that the shocks were not even nitrogen charged. I do a lot of suspension work on VWs, dirt bikes and mini buggies and you NEVER flip the shock upside down. We have taken videos of KYB gas adjust shocks going though the bumps. They just do not have enough rebound dampening when the torsion bars get heavier or have a lot of preload. The ass end almost acts like a pogo stick and the wheels will leave the ground. If you want some shocks with good rebound dampening, get a set of bilstiens. They are well worth the money.

Mon May 13, 2013 2:14 pm

You can turn a monotube, non-emulsion shock upside down with no issues.

A twin tube, or emulsion monotube, no, you'll just get gas pockets and no damping in the travel - nothing to do with oil the wrong side of the piston - oil should be both sides of it!

Mon May 13, 2013 6:00 pm

Since I re-indexed the outer one notch I sit about an eight inch from the stops and do like the ride with the exception of the pogo stick effect so a shock to control rebound sounds good, can you suggest a shock? you had mentioned bilstein, is there one in mind?