Performance Chassis for T1

[Plipton]

[Tom_Kathleen]

Our turning radius is also "large", we have to do some "K" turns at times. It is annoying after driving a 80" wheelbase buggy, but to get the ride quality, it is worth it. Tom
_________________
Manxter #16, 1968 Meyers Manx & Kick-Out SS #16 (WIP)
Manx Club & CVA

[BuggyT4]

[Tom_Kathleen]

Sorry, I don't have a real number of the turning radius for you. Tom
_________________
Manxter #16, 1968 Meyers Manx & Kick-Out SS #16 (WIP)
Manx Club & CVA

[mark tucker]

I would move the tie rod hole. but do some checken first like where the akerman intersects, rear steer cars should be eazy to get perfect but perfect dosent always work out. I would give up some ratio to have a better raidi and not have the tie rod end agnist the upper arm at full turn. I dont know the answer but Im gladd you brought it up. if it takes that much to turn how is anybody swallum racing them??get the rear to breakloose? Ive not yet decided on the system Ill use on my 356.

[BuggyT4]

Think long and hard before you decide what you put on your 356, Mark: both spindles on my Mendeola front-end broke, and I had never raced or tracked the Manxter; I had not even driven it hard. We had to do a lot of welding to reinforce those spindles. A workshop owner who has been around cars and VWs for over 30 years told me that the way they are designed, he was not surprised that they broke.
BTW, unless memory fails me, I remember that in another discussion, Tom mentioned that he had to deal with "some issues" in the early days after installing his Mendeola from-end. I wonder what those issues were?

[Plipton]

In Europe we have to use stock spindles unless we pay for the Mendeola ones to be destruction tested (VERY expensive as they want several sets and they do many, many tests) otherwise we will not get a certificate of roadworthiness (MoT, TUV, WoF, depending on your country). It can take months or even years to get approval.

It means the ride height is compromised slightly but can be adjusted down again, although that has other effects. Dropped spindles would be too low, unfortunately.

[mark tucker]

I wasent real impressed with the medeola parts(front&rear) i held in my hand. I doubt I would be going that way. but issues need to be addressed and a solution found for all.
when your arc is at or past center of the pulling point all your doing is trying to pull things appart, not steering. Ive seen dead racks due to issues like that. and guys that fight bump steer when it's realitively eazy, but outside box thinking & building is required. the old the tie rods have to be "this length "just isant true.longer is better. the akerman needs to be close, but can be off somewhat.some are way off and the people just dont get it because you "cant see it" well you can see it if you open your eyes. rear steer cars are usuely not a issue because it's eazy to set up right, front steer cars are almost never right but they still work.some are so effing far off it's amazing they can be driven.. as for my 356 Im in limbo,arm or strut...this or that. along with somany other things that have to be done to it before it is ever driven. Ive been driving my daughters kia forte 5door hatchback a little since she is no longer needing a car (working in dc and doing masters in dc&italy)and we are selling it for her, that sucker drives like a sweet gocart and it;s not a tiny car.it's got a nice set up under it Ive been looking at a little and thinking. Ideas come from everywhere.

[coolrydes]

[coolrydes]

[coolrydes]

[BuggyT4]

Hi Coolrydes,

Good to read from you again, and to know that you intend to address this issue. Thank you for your kind offer to reimburse the costs I had in trying to repair the spindles (the repairs have not held long-term: see lower).
I agree with you: errors are always possible, it is how they try to correct them that differentiates good and responsible suppliers from the bad ones.
I have just been advised by the guy working on my buggy that the spindles have cracked again. Here are some photos that he just sent in.
I look forward to hearing from you further.

[coolrydes]

[BuggyT4]

Coolrydes,

I sent you an e-mail with an address where you can ship the replacement spindles. We'll send you the cracked ones as soon as we have received the new ones. Please send them ASAP. Thanks!

[coolrydes]

Hello, Buggy T4

I am currently in the middle of a production run of spindles and am currently out of stock. I need you to send yours back so I can have them checked out completely. I do not want to send another set of spindles that might fail. We need to understand why yours failed first. We will need details on the type of roads the vehicle was driven on, what size wheels and tires. We will need to know wheel diameter and wheel offset. We also need to know if there were additional adapters used to mount the wheels and the size of those.

Please understand the following details:
1) Mendeola no longer owns or manufactures these front end. I have always controlled the building of these since day one, however when yours was sold to you it was by Mendeola, not CoolRydes Customs. I am trying to take care of you as a good business dealing.

2) Without knowing exactly why these failed not once, but twice. According to you the spindles were not only repaired, but also re-enforced. This worries me and I take your safety very seriously. Therefore until we receive your spindles and figure out why they failed, I will not send out replacements. We have only had two sets of spindles fail. When the first ones failed we made a couple of material changes for improve the strength in the area of failure. This was done by Mendeola.
_________________
Kevin "Coolrydes" Zagar

COOLRYDES So-Cal CUSTOMS
MENDEOLA SUSPENSION
THE HOME OF STYLE AND PERFORMANCE
www.CoolRydescustoms.com

[coolrydes]

Buggy T4 (Thierry)

After careful examination of the pictures you have posted here. I can tell the wheels and tires that are currently on the car are the ones that we (Mendeola Suspension) explained to you back in 2013 were the wrong wheels for the car. The offset, wheel and tire size are completely wrong for the suspension as we explained before. This will cause your turning circle to be too large and can also cause additional stress on the spindles.

We still would like to see your spindles for full inspection, and will do what we can to help correct the problem.
_________________
Kevin "Coolrydes" Zagar

COOLRYDES So-Cal CUSTOMS
MENDEOLA SUSPENSION
THE HOME OF STYLE AND PERFORMANCE
www.CoolRydescustoms.com

[BuggyT4]

...

[BuggyT4]

Hi Kevin,

As advised to you in my e-mail, the car has been driven less than 1,500 miles since it received its suspension, on city streets and on good roads; it has not been driven hard.
You might be getting mixed with another project? It was in 2012, not 2013. I have all of our correspondence from that time: the issue with the wheels did not concern suspension; it was not their offset, nor the size of the tires. The issue was brakes: if you will remember, I wanted to use Porsche brakes, while the original rims had a dual GM 5 and Ford 5 pattern. You advised that it was not possible to drill additional holes for a Porsche pattern, so we decided to install replica Fuchs wheels (with a Porsche pattern). We discussed offset, ET, backspace, spacers, etc. for the look and for the fit, not for suspension and/or steering.
I am keen (and readers of The Samba will be keen as well) to have your input and advice on what a good set-up is for a street Manxter with a Mendeola suspension. You have built numerous Manxters with your suspension, so you know what works. What is your recommendation?

[coolrydes]

Mendeola Manxters were always built with 17x7 front wheels with a +45-55mm Offset. The replica Fuchs that were put on your car as rollers are a +42mm offset (good enough to work and be safe) The wheels that are currently on your vehicle are zero or worse. This causes the suspension geometry to be off. The first and most noticeable issue will be turning circle and under steering (pushing, or not turning well). Then increased stress on the suspension itself.

Mendeola Suspension has been engineered to use modern day wheel off sets to increase handling, therefore normal VW beam offsets and wheel sizes will not work properly.

As for the spindles, the sooner you can get yours to us, I will personally have them stripped and inspected to figure out why they failed. Then we can address replacement spindles. We are getting ready to release a part that will allow the use of stock VW spindles.
_________________
Kevin "Coolrydes" Zagar

COOLRYDES So-Cal CUSTOMS
MENDEOLA SUSPENSION
THE HOME OF STYLE AND PERFORMANCE
www.CoolRydescustoms.com

[Plipton]