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Love My Westy
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 1839
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 Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:02 pm Post subject: Is Anyone Using the New Van Cafe 2wd Springs |
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Has anyone out ther installed these on their Westy?
http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_837_1337/2wd_springs.html
I will be installing them next week and was wondering if they will pretty much level out my sagging suspension or if I will still need to add spacers. It would be nice to know so that I can add the spacers at the time of installation instead if waiting to see how it sits and having to go back and do it later. Also I need to get it aligned after my installation and don't want to pay for a second alignment after adding the spacers.
Currently the measurements on from center of hub to wheelwell are:
LF 16-1/2"; RF 17-3/8"; LR 16-5/8"; and RR 16-5/8". The new springs should be quite an improvement as my left front BFG rubs when turning into a driveway that has a dip in it. |
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j_dirge
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 4641
Location: Twain Harte, CA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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OOPs. My Post below refers to the "zero lift" springs. A different product.
The springs you link to are "out of stock" Do you have them on hand from an earlier order?
"The zero lift spring set"
| Quote: |
| plus Peter says they sit at 17.5" or so in the front and 17.25" in the back |
From bottom of page 9 of this thread.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=499853&start=160
Not installed yet, in Juan's case..
But call Peter at VC to verify.
Keep in mind that when YOU sit in the van, the front drops about 1/2"
Still..you may want to provide a couple 1/2" or 5/8" spacers for your mechanic.. Or have them ready when you do the job.
Do the fronts first.
Its not that big a deal to get the rear springs in.. Then bolt the wheels on and let it sit to get a static hieght front and back. Dont' like it?.. swap in the spacers.
Rear springs can be swapped in and out pretty quickly.
In the thread linked.. it became apparant that many of these new spring sets still rest with sag in the rear. Maybe due to permanent heavier loads carried in the vans? Dunno..
But 1/2" sag in rear, even with new springs, appears to be relatively common among van owners I've talked with.
Also keep in mind that a spring lift only.. will not entirely elminate a tire rubbing. The spring will still compress and contact will occur, just as it did beofre. It just may take a few more pounds pressure to make it happen.
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.
-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5
| danfromsyr wrote: |
those are straight line runs with light weight race cars for only 1/4mile at a time..
not pushing a loaded brick up a mountain pass with a family of 4+ inside expecting to have an event free vacation..
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presslab
Samba Member
Joined: September 29, 2008
Posts: 1730
Location: Sonoma County
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| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:46 pm Post subject: Re: Is Anyone Using the New Van Cafe 2wd Springs |
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| Love My Westy wrote: |
| The new springs should be quite an improvement as my left front BFG rubs when turning into a driveway that has a dip in it. |
I assume your tires are larger than stock? The stiffer springs won't fix your problem, although they may mask it. You need to increase the bump stop length. I did this on mine by placing a 3/4" tall bushing over the front shock shaft. What size are your tires?
_________________
1986 Vanagon Westfalia EJ25
1988 Subaru GL-10 EJ20G --- 2000 Honda XR650L
2010 Titus El Guapo --- 2011 On-One 456 Ti |
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madspaniard
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2008
Posts: 3795
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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Those springs are supposed to be available again sometime next week. I will be installing them followed by a road trip test to Yosemite first weekend of May. Steve at syncro.org mentioned he has slightly increased stiffness of rear springs, just a bit, compared to the previous run. Front springs remain the same. Ride height at around 17" to 17.5".
_________________
1991 Westy auto w/ Peloquin TBD
"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad” - Salvador Dali |
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highsierra
Samba Member
Joined: March 25, 2011
Posts: 269
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| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:16 pm Post subject: Re: Is Anyone Using the New Van Cafe 2wd Springs |
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I put these on my van over the winter. Before she was sittin' at +/- 17 3/4" (center of wheel to bottom of wheel well) in the front and +/- 17" in the rear. The new springs raised'r up to +/- 18 1/2" all the way around. After a few hundred miles of driving the rear end settled down to 18". Your results may vary, etc. Might just need to see how it all shakes out. I too thought of adding shims on the rear right off the bat. I wish I had but its hard telling, not knowing. I'm waiting for an "opportunity" to add the shims next time I've got the rear end off the ground. Otherwise, I am very happy with the results. Btw, I'm running 27x8.5 R14 BFG's with no clearance issues. Here's a pic from a recent trip to the Mendo coast.
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j_dirge
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 4641
Location: Twain Harte, CA
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| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:00 am Post subject: Re: Is Anyone Using the New Van Cafe 2wd Springs |
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| highsierra wrote: |
| The new springs raised'r up to +/- 18 1/2" all the way around. After a few hundred miles of driving the rear end settled down to 18". |
18.5? Wow.
Were you able to get a satisfactory alignment?
This 1/2" rear sag seems to be more the rule on these various spring sets.. not the exception.
I've seen it reported on GW sets, s.org sets..
I am not a big fan of spacers.. but I think I'd cut 2 5/8" spacers and put them in, regardless.
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.
-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5
| danfromsyr wrote: |
those are straight line runs with light weight race cars for only 1/4mile at a time..
not pushing a loaded brick up a mountain pass with a family of 4+ inside expecting to have an event free vacation..
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Jon_slider
Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2007
Posts: 5091
Location: Santa Cruz, Crowdifornia
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| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:43 am Post subject: |
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> LF 16-1/2"; RF 17-3/8"; LR 16-5/8"; and RR 16-5/8".
because I like my van to ride 1/2" higher in the back, I would use 2 shims at driver rear, 2 shims passenger rear, 1 shim driver front.
my guess is, with 2 shims at each rear corner and one shim driver front, and new springs, you will be at
> LF 18"; RF 18-1/8"; LR 18-1/2"; and RR 18-1/2".
I would rather have the rear sit 1/2" higher than the front. Personal taste. If you want the rear to be equal to the front, you will probably only want 1 shim at each rear corner, plus the shim at the driver front.
fyi, when you shim the driver rear, it causes the passenger front to drop, because the lift at driver rear transfers load diagonally to the passenger front.
Similarly, if you shim passenger rear, it will drop Driver front, which is why Im telling you to shim Driver front when you shim passenger rear.
the new springs may have different ride height, but you will most likely have the same difference in corner heights if you dont shim.
New springs dont account for westy closet side weight, you will definitely need to shim, no matter what springs you use.
About alignment, dont be afraid to get an alignment immediately, you want to enjoy driving the van while the springs seat in.
I recently added new springs, GW +2. They have settled 1/2" in 1000 miles, but only on the closet side of my westy. I added a second shim to driver rear, and raised driver front, by raising the front spring perch on my Fox shocks
do let us know how it works out, both initially, and after 1000 miles
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My Soapboxes: Inflation; Handling; Gearing; Decoupling; Swepco |
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highsierra
Samba Member
Joined: March 25, 2011
Posts: 269
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| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:59 am Post subject: Re: Is Anyone Using the New Van Cafe 2wd Springs |
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| j_dirge wrote: |
18.5? Wow.
Were you able to get a satisfactory alignment?
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Yeah no problem with the alignment. Tracks nice and straight down the road. I thought 18-18.5 was pretty typical for 84/85? Either way, I am happy with the ride height and very glad I didn't get lift springs. Might have to resign myself to a weekend experimenting with different shim configurations to get it all just right  |
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LemonCove
Samba Member
Joined: July 29, 2010
Posts: 324
Location: Henderson, NV
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| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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Another example for comparison.
Just put on new Van Cafe 2WD springs, bilsteins and tires (Nokian 215/60-16).
Ride height now DF 16.75, PF 17, DR 16.5, PR 17
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'88 Bostig Westy |
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madspaniard
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2008
Posts: 3795
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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Springs installed about two years ago
_________________
1991 Westy auto w/ Peloquin TBD
"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad” - Salvador Dali |
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16505
Location: Brookeville, MD
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singler3360
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2009
Posts: 1191
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
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| Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:06 am Post subject: |
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I had no noticeable lean with the stock springs but it was riding low on all four corners (~14").
After these springs were installed:
DF 16", PF 17 1/4", DR 16", PR 16 1/2"
After 1/2" cutting board shim added to DR:
DF 16 1/4", PF 17", DR 16 1/2", PR 16 5/8"
Handling in corners has noticeably improved with the shim.
Should I add another 3/8" shim to the DR to level it out even more? |
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madspaniard
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2008
Posts: 3795
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:13 am Post subject: |
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| singler3360 wrote: |
I had no noticeable lean with the stock springs but it was riding low on all four corners (~14").
After these springs were installed:
DF 16", PF 17 1/4", DR 16", PR 16 1/2"
After 1/2" cutting board shim added to DR:
DF 16 1/4", PF 17", DR 16 1/2", PR 16 5/8"
Handling in corners has noticeably improved with the shim.
Should I add another 3/8" shim to the DR to level it out even more? |
I also added 1/2" cutting board.
Were your water tank and closet/cabinets full when you measured? If not, try that first and see how those measurements change before you add more shims.
_________________
1991 Westy auto w/ Peloquin TBD
"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad” - Salvador Dali |
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singler3360
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2009
Posts: 1191
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
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| Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:21 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Mad ^^^^. EDIT - very nice Westy BTW.
The water tank was full but the van was empty otherwise, except for my bouncing new baby eTDI under the deck lid! 
Actually, I wonder if the TDI could account for the lower overall lift height I achieved compared to others with these springs? Not a big deal to me, just curious. |
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16505
Location: Brookeville, MD
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timichango
Samba Member
Joined: April 07, 2012
Posts: 858
Location: Squamish, BC, Canada
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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We've got those in our van, with a set of Mercedes CLK 16" wheels. Springs work well—stiffer than the ones that were in there, but not by much. Definitely higher by a few inches. After 1.5 years, the van hasn't settled out too much either—I'm sure they'll compress over time, but so far we seem to be staying taller.
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Vroomhilde-San: Our 1991 Silver Vanagon Westy automatic + Subie EJ25 |
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