Torsion springs for the smoothest ride with stock height

[LuckyMonkeyGarage]

I've been on a quest for years to have the smoothest ride on a split window bus that can be had. I remember going on a three state tour once with three people in a 1962 panel with the bounciest ride I have ever had! Some of you might say it was your rims...nope, they were straight...well then it was you shocks..nope they were the original black Bilstein....then the grey KYB shocks and more! All had about the same ride. Then it was the tires...nope went through every thing from bias ply to radials and it did help I little bit but not much. And yes the beam was well greased. Then a buddy with a 66 split window came over and his ride was really smooth...why? And yet another friend with a 65 bus with a smooth ride? The connection was they were both later splits and they were both later Kombis? I also realized that my friends with the buses that were commercial models were suffering from the same bouncy ride......so then we thought, "is it the leaf springs in the in the beam?" "Are they different?"

Well, I now have a 1961 Single Cab and guess what, it has the same bounce! So then off I go to my early bus parts book, you know the one with all the parts numbers and diagrams from VW. ( Forgive me I have a copied version with no cover) And I look, and to my amazement there are three torsion springs listed? They are listed as a five leaf part #211 411 021, a four leaf part # 211 411 023, and a nine leaf part # 211 411 033. This would be on Illustration 28, 4-13.

Has anyone else out there played with the front beam to get the smoothest ride with stock height? Has anyone replaced leaf springs with a difference in ride? How well do you really know your beam and leaf springs?
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[rking6]

I wish I knew the secret... I've been bouncing in my 63 EZ camper for 42 years... And, I love every bounce!!! If you find an answer please post.... Bob King , ,Long Beach, Ca..

[Clara]

A light bus is Bouncy.
An empty SC can be pretty light.
I had a SC I drove in winter and had to load stuff in the back for traction in snow.

Try loading 1000 lbs of gear in the bus and see how the ride changes.

FWIW, A VW bus is NOT the smoothest ride. But check your steering and adjust the link pins every 6K miles.
Grease the beam till new grease comes out every 3K miles.

Seems like every new bus I get has neglected suspension & I end up pulling the beam apart and cleaning it out where the sun don't shine and it's not uncommon for there to be broken leaf springs. I've even seen crusty beams with stuck trailing arms. Have you taken your link pins out and inspected them?
Just saying.
It is extra work to check the leaf springs. Last guy I convinced to check it said they were fine and felt it was a waste of time.

I think some special order models got heavy duty leaf springs, which is pretty rare. It is not something I would think about changing to adjust ride quality.

If you want to get hardcore into correct suspension condition, replace your bushings with NOS ones and ream them in place with the special 4ft reamer. That is a 40 hour job with hard to find parts and special tools.
It eliminates the slop from trailing arm to beam, no more rattly when driving over railroad tracks in the 56 westy.
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[krusher]

koni shocks
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