2wd Lift Springs/ Lifting your van in general

[Stuartzickefoose]

[Stuartzickefoose]

What all do you guys run front shock wise? I’m going for the moog 5660 springs, and want to match the bilstein rears I got with the syncro stuff. Here’s what I found, but I want to confirm it’s long enough first!

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vw-shock-absorber...yqEALw_wcB

Or these which match up with gowesty (out of stock) XHD set....:
https://www.amazon.com/Bilstein-24-008204-4600-Shock-Absorber/dp/B009FU4YUS


I’m sitting at 19 passenger and 20” driver rears right now, and I haven’t driven to settle them and the van is full of junk right now (due for an engine) so I don’t have solid numbers yet, but my goal is to be in the 18-20” front range too. Are stock length 2wd long enough?


End goal:
1980 automatic air cooled westy sitting 18-20” up, on 27” general grabber AT/2 on stock alloy rims. It’s getting a fresh top end in the next month, and I’m looking into higher angle CV joints etc. now sitting on the syncro rears, with bilstien shocks, want to match shocks up front with bilsteins, and moog 5660, and BJ spacers. Planning a Alaska trip to travel as much dirt highways as I can in mid to late August. To stay on topic here, just looking to find suspension info for now, going to be starting a thread later for upgrades and trip report stuff. Bumpers lights and spare tools etc all can go in another thread. Open to suggestions!
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Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[Stuartzickefoose]

Just posted this in the moog spring thread but wanted to see if anyone had any better suggestions for lifting the front up the final 2” on the left and 1.5” on the right?

And will I need longer shocks at that point?

[Christopher Schimke]

I don't have suggestions for actual springs to get you that tall, but I can tell you that a 2wd drives terrible at anything over about 18" tall (maybe 18.25 at the tallest). The bump steer is horrendous which causes the van to feel darty and unpredictable. You have almost no droop (downward suspension travel) which makes the ride quality pretty awful too.

I have many customers who wanted to go as tall as you want with a 2wd and ended up dropping it back down to 17.5" to 18" and they are much, much happier with the way their van drives.

Just a suggestion!
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[dobryan]

[Zeitgeist 13]

I'll second what Christopher says above. I'm lifted and the front is twitchy and unsettling, and I took a hard low speed left turn yesterday and felt the rear lift and kinda hop over which was no bueno. I'm thinking about dropping it down about 1/2" in the front and 1" in the rear. The geometry just isn't right for my kind of driving style.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Stuartzickefoose]

[levi]

[levi]

[Stuartzickefoose]

Learning question here: what’s wrong with putting a spacer on the bottom of the spring in front if I cut the circle from center to outside edge to create a “drop” spot or “perch” to match the LCA and spring?

I have a material here I haven’t measure thickness but is what I’m gonna use, aiming for an upper space INSIDE the cup, so I’ll report back when done I’m sure.
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Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[levi]

I don't know that there's anything wrong with that, never heard of it being done.
Maybe Christopher will see this and give his input.
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[davevickery]

[j_dirge]

[davevickery]

[j_dirge]

[llilibel03]

So we got back from Sequoia. While there we visited the Buck Rock Fire Lookout. It was an interesting road to get out there. Almost immediately upon embarking on said road we came upon a vehicle coming down the road. It turned out to be a ranger. I asked him if my van (85 westy 2wd) would make it. He looked at it for a while and replied, "It'll be a little dicey in spots....but I think you could make it." Cool. We proceeded. My wife, who is from Italy, asked, "What does 'dicey' mean?" Mmmmmm. How to answer that? "Kind of fun, like exciting."

Well, we hit one dicey spot, a granite boulder that was covered with sand and therefore I didn't see. We slid sideways about two feet in a big "Whoa!" kind of moment.

Anyways, the whole way I kept thinking a little extra clearance would be nice.

Despite what I've read about the 1985 models being tall, mine is at 16.25" in the front and 15.75" in the back when not loaded.

Maybe as a result of the Buck Rock Road my van is pulling slightly to the right and since I have a lifetime alignment deal from Firestone I was thinking to bring it in for an alignement. But then I thought I should consider changing springs now.

My question (sorry for the long preamble) is- if I get the Moog 5658s and get to 17" or maybe add a 3/8" spacer and get to 17-1/2", how many spacers could I add to the rear to even it out? I've seen or read about people having 1-1/2". Is that doable/safe? I'd rather not have to replace the rear springs just yet.

Also, if I add that many spacers am I going to need a spring compressors.

I should mention, I never minded the soft ride, just want the clearance.

For your troubles-

Buck Rock Fire Lookout

Not for those who suffer vertigo.

Definitely worth the effort to get there

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87 syncro tintop
90 gl tin top
85 westy 2.0 tiico automatic (present)

[llilibel03]

No answers? Maybe too much story telling.

Questions-

How many rear spacers can be safely used?

How much lift before CV joints are affected? (I'm guessing mine have 25,000miles , when the PO did a tiico swap)
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87 syncro tintop
90 gl tin top
85 westy 2.0 tiico automatic (present)

[shagginwagon83]

I read your post but I don't know much more about the 5658s. I lifted my van with GoWesty 1.5" springs. I have about 6 months on them. Because of the lift, I added Burley's upper control arms for accurate alignment in the front. In the rear I added one .5" spacer to the driver rear (westy lean). I ran regular CV's for a little bit. They seemed to do fine. But I swapped to 944 CV joints for higher angles. I love the clearance.



https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=702936&highlight=5658
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
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[davevickery]

[E1]

For other readers, and the kiddies, can someone please confirm the idea that for every inch of spacer one gets approximately 1-2/3" of lift?
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
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