Advanced Suspension Mods

[Advancedynamix]

Very nice! I was tihinking of getting the VW KYB Gas-Adjusts myself after you mentioned them, but now I will just wait for your report.

Good plan. I actually stumbled across this by total strange coincidence. I was at a salvage yard here in town and I noticed a new KYB shock box in the back seat of a BF Tracer hatch. I checked the box and wouldn't ya know it had a brandy new shock in it, but I knew it wasn't a BF shock (I was hoping it was since then it would fit my Capri). I brought it over to a festiva and eyeballed it and decided to rub some dirt on it and buy it for like 10 bucks. I at home I looked up the numbers and it turned out to be a MK1 vdub shock. Funny thing is, I have bought these new a few times in the past, I should have recognized it. I'll have more info later this week on the ride and fitment. These probably won't be as good of a choice for low HP street cars, but that's what I'm trying it on first, so we'll see.

[TominMO]

Very nice! I was tihinking of getting the VW KYB Gas-Adjusts myself after you mentioned them, but now I will just wait for your report.

[Advancedynamix]

I shortened the bottom shafts on my first set, and it caused interference with the shock and the beam. Not a huge deal because I just clearanced the beam (non structural part).

I am working on a new mod that uses KYB gas adjust shocks for a VW rabbit. These are already over 2" shorter than a festiva shock, and the small body sleeves fit them well (the VW spring perch is removable) but the lower mount is about .100" too wide (nothing a grinder can't fix) and they will most definitely require beam clearancing. The biggest benefit to these shocks is that they have a significantly stiffer compression dampening rate with a comparable rebound to the festiva shocks. This is great for all you 300hp bpt guys if you want the car to hook up rather than shift the weight back. I havn't tested these yet, I will be bolting them to the test car this week hopefully. They are slightly more expensive than KYB Festiva shocks, but if this works that means we have Bilstein options too! Very expensive, but the ultimate street shock by far. They also weigh more than festiva shocks, which means they won't be a good road racing option, but for street/strip cars, this could be a great mod. I'll post more when I know for sure if they will work, and what the ride is like.

[Tommychu]

Here's an idea I was playing with in my head the other day.
The GR2 (well, guess it's Excel-G now... I like the old name better ) is AFAIK the best direct-fit shock available for the rear of a Festy. But they're a slightly better OE replacement at best- they were originally designed to restore ride quality and handling to vehicles with old gross sloppy factory springs. Hell, my wagon came from the factory with GR2s though not stamped or badged as such.
The GR2 has a pretty beefy tube with a fair sized diameter, and would likely tend well to an insert of some sort. A bolt-through-bottom style insert would cause a slight issue, what with there being a big post coming out of the bottom for the eye. But if we're cutting the post down to shorten it anyway (because shortening the piston shafts is not within the capabilities of myself or anyone I know) it wouldn't be much more to drill/tap the inside of the post and run a fastener of some sort in there.
I'll likely just be shortening some GR2s and leaving them as-is internally myself, and the idea might not even be workable but it's worth putting out there nonetheless.

[Advancedynamix]

Thanks
I've ordered 2 sets.
How much travel have you allowed before the bump stops come into action?

What length should I cut them to ?

I want it to be track ready yet remaining on the street friendly side.
I'll use it as A starting point and then make adjustments as I go.

I change this dimension depending on the track. High speed sweepers, I only allow an inch of travel and I use an aggressive rate bump stop, low speed, tight tracks I typically setup 2" of free travel and use a longer and softer bump stop. This is on the rear. Front has 2" of free travel and a short but soft bump stop.

x2 I want to lower my Aspire properly. PMing you Charie.

I messaged him too Haha, I'm sorry for bombarding you Charlie I don't mean to overload you or anything. Really good to see you around here though, we need you like tweak needs meth!

I encourage everyone to contact me if you have a question. Sorry if I don't reply for awhile, sometimes I'm out of the country or just unavailable due to work.
I also want to make sure people know that the services I provide are just part of my hobby. I make it all by hand and do it in my spare time. This isn't a business for me, and I want to keep it that way. Please be patient with me, if your in a hurry then please don't ask me for help. If I'm not having fun, then nothing gets done. Lol

[zoom zoom]

I messaged him too Haha, I'm sorry for bombarding you Charlie I don't mean to overload you or anything. Really good to see you around here though, we need you like tweak needs meth!

[nitrofarm]

Thanks Charlie! I'll take your offer.

I'm working on a PM.

Karl

x2 I want to lower my Aspire properly. PMing you Charie.

[moz]

Ian, I am usually in such a hurry when doing my setups that I forget to take pictures, but I'll do a quickie on aligning a festiva, stock there is not much to adjust really, just toe and camber with the strut mounts. I run -2.5 degrees camber in the front as well with 0 toe. This car is awesome because those settings work great with my R compound tires, my slicks and I ran those settings continuous for 6K miles across country and back on brand new tires and experienced no noticeable tire wear. Gotta love that!




Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad this thread is helpful to so many. I prefer the bumpstops sold for VWs like the Mk3 Mk4 or new beetle. I buy them by the dozen and cut them to all sorts of different shapes. It's okay to trim them for your application. I find the VW ones are the easiest to trim and are very long to start with. the front bump stops are not as critical as the rears.

Thanks
I've ordered 2 sets.
How much travel have you allowed before the bump stops come into action?

What length should I cut them to ?

I want it to be track ready yet remaining on the street friendly side.
I'll use it as A starting point and then make adjustments as I go.

[Advancedynamix]

Some cutting, trimming and welding ( the re-bar is charade with festiva mounting plates). The charade bumper is very light and allows more airflow too my engine bay and radiator.

[moz]

Hey charlie.
Slightly off topic now.
How did you get that charade bumper to fit?

[Safety Guy]

Thanks Charlie! I'll take your offer.

I'm working on a PM.

Karl

[Advancedynamix]

your welcome. I agree, it's a pleasure to do business with SWS, they sell on Ebay too, and AJ is the same guy you'll deal with on their auctions.

[moz]

That's great news. I found the service and pricing at southwest to be much better than speedway.
Thanks charlie

[Advancedynamix]

Charlie, when you get a chance, could you post a current source for the "small body shock sleeves" you recommended at the beginning of this thread? The ebay link has run out and I couldn't figure it out myself.

I'm ready to redo my work car's rear suspension so I can haul loads, pull trailers and raise and lower it accordingly when I'm not hauling stuff. So far I have:

KYB Festiva spec rear struts.
Black Magic 10" x 1 7/8" rear springs (150#, from SW Speedshop)

I figure I can (carefully!) cut and grind off the spring perch on the KYBs myself. I'm keeping them full length since "ultimate handling" is not the goal. Is this all I need to do to install the small body spring kit?

I'm dropping my 13 wheels for 14" Miata wheels and 185/60-14s for ease of replacement on long trips should a tire be destroyed. I'm thinking "long term" use since I may not always be able to get the 175/60-13s I'm running now. I also plan to go to later model Rio 10" disk brakes for heavy duty braking (ie, pulling trailers), which will require 14" wheels.

I may have further questions on running Rio front struts and converting them to coil overs in the near future, but my cut Aspire springs on Rio struts are fine for now.

Thanks,

Karl

I get my sleeves from Southwest Speed now too. You can buy the parts individually from them.
Here is the page https://www.southwestspeed.com/?sec=...Sleeves%20Only

The part number for the sleeve is 180-000 and the nut is 180-036. as MOZ noted, these nuts also do not have the teh little locking set screw in them, so I have been drilling them and tapping them for 10-32 nylon tipped set screws on my setups.

I don't have a simple solution for the spring hat yet. The ones they sell for these kits are slotted and aren't optimum for the festivas rear upper mount bushing setup. I have been making my own hats. I can sell you a set for 35.00 plus shipping if you like. Look back in this thread for a picture of these hats. If you call Southwest Speed, ask for AJ. Tell him that Charlie from Advancedynamix suggested their products. I don't think he'll hook you up with a better deal, but if enough people say that then he'll give me better deals and I'll pass that on to members through group buys and such. If you want to have me make you some hats I'll sell you sleeves and nuts from my personal stock for the same price that they have listed on the site. You can save on shipping since I can flat rate box it all together. I can also drill the adjuster nuts for you for 10 bucks a piece including set screws (the set screws are 2 bucks a piece because of the nylon tip).

Also, I have been using 3M emblem adhesive to between the sleeves and shock body just to keep them from spinning when I'm making adjustments. As MOZ said, they are quite snug on the shock body, but they can still spin if your having one of those days where things don't want to cooperate.

[moz]

They'll fit as long as you have gr2 or g series shocks.
You need to remove the dust cap and gently file the bead on the weld at the top of the shock body. Very snug fit.