Will adding adj. beam to drop spindle setup smooth out ride?

[sonoma_vw]

1960 currently with 2" drop. (145 front, 185 rear)

Country roads are hell, every crevasse and wave in road is amplified in this car.
If I was to add an adjustable beam to this setup, then raise the car height up a bit (but not to stock height) would the ride comfort improve? Or is the presence of the 2" spindles the culprit?

Another way to put it:
Am I correct in thinking the Adjustable beam only setup is a more comfortable ride than 2" drop spindle only setup?

Thanks

I'm just dreading removing drop spindles as they are tied into the disk brakes.

[67rustavenger]

What tire pressures are you running, front and back?
What shocks are you running, front and back?
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[sonoma_vw]

Thank you 67,

145/65 15 are @ 33 psi (guessing it should be down to 25?)
185/65 15 are @ 29 psi

Hadn't thought about the shocks. I'm all ears for suggesting on comfort oriented ones. Cant tell what brand they are, but they are black. lol
I'll get my head under there and see whats what.

I DID buy a set of what would have been stock oil shocks for front and rear, (one pair red, one pair blue), but have not tried them yet as some advice was that they wouldn't be as responsive as modern gas ones.

What are recommendations for best comfort-oriented shocks with a drop setup? And are they supposed to be shortened ones, or standard length size?

[rockerarm]

Hi. With the suspension at rest, meaning the car just siting with maybe a driver/passenger inside, can you view both the front and rear to verify how far you are from the bump stops. VW's don't have lots of suspension travel so I would look here first. If you lack space between the bump stops and suspension components this could be your issue. Modifications are available to increase this.
Another check would be to remove the shocks and verify the car will bounce, meaning you push down onto a ender and verify the car easily goes thru it travel with ease and continues to bounce, maybe a couple of times based on your force pushing down. This could verify if any binding is happening within the K&L carriers or the torsion arms into the beam.
Also, shorter tires mean less sidewall and the sidewall needs to be factored into the total suspension, especially if comfort is expected.
Hope this gives you some ideas, Bill.

[rcooled]

Adding an adjustable beam won't significantly impact the overall ride quality of your car. The black shocks sound like the oil-filled type from Brazil that're available from many sources. They should be fine as long as the rest of the suspension is in good order as rockerarm describes.

You're probably running way too much pressure in your front tires. VW recommended only 17 PSI for stock-size front tires. Not much weight up there...
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[sonoma_vw]

Re: "King and Link carriers" and the "torsion arm into the beam"...can i get reference pics for what they should look like? Thanks.

Suspension newbie.

[rcooled]

[sonoma_vw]

Awesome. Thank you for the brilliant illustration.

[turbotype1]

Dropped spindles ride better than an adjustable beam lowered down ….. Been there and done that. No comparison as far as ride quality goes.
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[67rustavenger]

[Slow 1200]

drop spindles give the best ride, you got to lower your tire pressure

[sonoma_vw]

By drop spindles providing "best ride", is that meaning the responsiveness for turns, or the comfort level (for me, comfort means not feeling every bump in the road), cause those seem to be two separate things.

If the daily drive is bad with your 2.5" + GR2 shocks, then why is the country driving great? Maybe the handling on the windy back roads are dealt with better than daily bad freeway concrete conditions?

Will report back after I try the 3 things everyone recommended:
- lowering the psi to 17 and check ride.
- removing the shocks to check the car bounce.
- installing the 1960 style shocks to see how those ride.

[67rustavenger]

My wine country road driving is aggressive. I accelerate hard from turn to turn and brake hard before entering those turns. Speeds can reach up to 85-90 mph. That type of driving is hard on the running gear and makes the front and rear of the car work harder to keep grip on the road. That's where the GR2's make it work. In normal traffic at sane speeds. The front end bounces at the small imperfections on the roadways here.

Stock Non-gas shocks and proper tire pressures will make a world of difference in how your car feels on the road in calmer times of driving.

Your relatively small front tires are not helping your subtle drive that was carefully engineered many years ago. Also the small tires are kinda defeating the ability of your disc brakes to effectively stop your car.

If your getting blown all over the road in windy conditions. You need some caster shims to help stabilize your ride at hiway speeds. They work! The only issue that I have had with the caster shims, is my horn blows occasionally during parking lot navigation

Good Luck.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[sovereignsamba]

No. Rides better with proper angles at trailing arms.

[sonoma_vw]

Trailing arm angles affect smoothness of ride?

[67rustavenger]

Deleted*
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[kokanee]

These cars will never ride as good as a new car add a adjustable beam and it will not ride any better it will stiffen up your best bet is some stock shocks

[turbotype1]

[doc73]

I went from a stock beam, to a 4" narrowed with dropped spindles. Drove it home from a buddies shop on the freeway and without shocks that thing was scary! Oil shocks all the way, all day. Rides much better. Not as smooth as stock but thats the price you pay for the cool factor(personal opinion).
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[sovereignsamba]