The right way to lower or raise the rear of an air-cooled VW

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Hi there. To all of the people that have lowered their VW and are unsatisfied with the ride, my company is Atomwerk Engineering Inc. and we have developed a solution to this. DropPlates. Kinda like drop spindles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA-BDmGMifI

[modok]

Have you investigated how much travel the axle has at the tranny before it binds up in the sidecovers?
Why limit downtravel so severly?
Why do the splined parts bolt on instead of weld?

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[modok]

[modok]

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The axle will not bind at three inch lift or drop. I have investigated this. This is why stoppers and the proper amount of travel is CRITICAL. Oh and these plates are calculated to not change the toe in like regular springplates do when ride height deviates. I was talking about rear tuck, not toe in. Dangerous tuck and toe in combined? Well I think that's what you are talking about and that's a scary scenario!

[modok]

Ok, i'm with you bro
Yeah, if you set the toe straight with the spring plates level, then it will toe-in as it travels up.....OR down. And so if you hit the brakes at high speed and the rear wheels tuck and toe in you can have speed wobble from hell!
Gene Berg advised to set the rear end up so it never travels into toe-in at any point in the down travel. And it isn't that hard to do EXCEPT that the spring plates are not long enough.
Your spring plates are longer and that is VERY helpful.

Then again I spose a 3" drop is about style not performance anyway, so it doesen't really matter if your wheels hit the car or not. DRIVE SLOW posers......haha

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[Eaallred]

Here's the thing I see with drop springplates:

The dogleg in the plate does nothing. It's like Berg carb linkage with the bends in the down-rods. It does nothing vs. straight arms. From pivot point to pivot point (point A to point B) the distance does NOT change. You'll flatten the bumpstops before the stock springplate runs out of movement with stock parts. Having a bendy rod vs. a straight rod does absolutely nothing for the geometry of the suspension/linkage.

Sorry, facts be facts. Looks to be quality work though. But is doing nothing different than a stock plate other than being shaped differently.
_________________
Eric Allred

You have to remember something: Everybody pities the weak; Jealousy you have to earn.

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All engineering and speculation aside, the proof is in the pudding. I am driving on the drop plates. They work. And they work well.

[fuguboy]

What about making a 1" or 2" drop plate ? Less camber change with swingaxle . Looks like a high quality plate good job .

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[fuguboy]

How much and where can I check them out ?

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Check out my website http://atomwerk.org/plates.html

[modok]

Oh yeah, the 1" or 2" drop would be fine, and the extra toe adjustment is a great feature.

The 3" scares me a little, that is a lot more up travel from stock, and the droop is limited more than healthy, but I guess some cases maybe that'd be ok.
I'll tell you for a fact on MY car a lot of other things would hit before the bump stop, including the oil sump!, so be careful.

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[Eaallred]