Advanced Suspension Mods

[theastronaut]

It was around 35-40 degrees out so it was fairly cold. I bought the coilovers used so I don't know how many miles were on them before I got them or how hard they were driven. They were on a heavier Golf/Jetta before. I've put over 20K miles on them since. I did some googling and found Koni's website earlier today but I haven't pulled them apart to get measurements to see what insert would fit yet.

http://www.koniracing.com/8611.cfm#tech info


Also found this thread and ended up knowing the guy who posted it, he's local. Shows the process of using the Koni inserts.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5811535-hybrid-coilovers

[Advancedynamix]

What was the temperature when you were jumping your festy? I've jumped all of my cars with these shocks and I haven't blown a set yet, but I've never tried it in the cold. Since your the first to blow a set John, you're the guinea pig. I'm pretty sure MK1 VW golf/jetta/scirocco/cabriolet strut inserts will replace the inserts in those shocks. If you want to mail them to me, I can swap them out for you. I already made the spanner tool to take the racelands apart.
Koni makes a super short strut insert that will fit in these shocks as well. I'll have to look up the number to be sure which one it is. They sell them in both single and double adjust, but the double adjusts are quite pricey.

[theastronaut]

I caught some air a couple nights ago and blew out one of my very used Racelands. What new insert (year/model fitment, brand/model,etc) would you recommend, or should I just get another pair of coilovers from eBay?

[Advancedynamix]

They use a specific rubber grommet.
CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE

The brake hose is fed through the round part and the hourglass shaped hole goes over the tang on the shock.
I installed a set on one car that I put this suspension on, but I haven't used them on any of the other cars
The brake lines on my car seem to just naturally go in the right place where they don't rub anything and they don't bounce around a lot. I haven't seen any brake line issues with any of the cars that don't have these grommets. I also never have any corrosion to worry about. In a place where the steel ends of the brake lines are exposed to corrosion, this grommet may be a fail safe against brake line fatigue.

[bravekozak]

Next time I know where to get a hunk of aluminum for my E5 intake manifold adapters!

My fronts are installed. I'm still playing with the right rear bolt.
Thanks again for all of your help.

Does anyone have a picture of how the VW flexible brake line is attached to the strut arrow? I keep forgetting to look a the junk yard.

[Advancedynamix]

The eBay coilovers do work better than any of the OE replacement struts. They are shorter, and the valving is better matched. I didn't try those Bilsteins, but I made a set of coilovers from some Bilstein sport struts for a mk3 Cabrio. They were too stiff for a Festy. I sold them to AZGTX for his 323 gtx and I went back to the cheap eBay coilovers.



I've tested Boge, and Sachs VW mk2 OE fitment struts as well. None of them perform nearly as well as the the cheap coilovers. I also have Wietech and bilstein pss coilovers that I've adapted to fit a festiva. I've tested a lot of shocks. I put 250 track miles on a new set over the weekend.
Also, you can replace the inserts in those coilovers down the road with bilstein, koni or Tokico inserts if you want. They are serviceable. The first set I built have well over 100k miles on them, with well over 70k track miles and they are still going strong.

[Grey Vw]

hey guys im starting to put together my suspension setup and wanted your opinions:

So my two options are:
Option 1:

cheap ebay coilovers, be it FSK, RSK, or rice land. Buy KYB mk1's for the back and new springs all the way around (black magic stuff)

Option 2:

these mk2 golf struts for the front, and kyb mk1's for the back and new springs.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Bilstein-22-045010-Front-Strut-/272446551895?hash=item3f6f147757:g:-GUAAOSwAL9Uki5v&vxp=mtr

Part of me feels more comfortable with Bilstein brand struts

I felt the same exact way as you, but I found a post from Charlie stating that the eBay front coilovers worked better than the Bilsteins he built. Whether he meant better for a particular application or better overall I don't know. I went ahead ordered the ones linked in this thread.

[festyfreak39]

hey guys im starting to put together my suspension setup and wanted your opinions:

So my two options are:
Option 1:

cheap ebay coilovers, be it FSK, RSK, or rice land. Buy KYB mk1's for the back and new springs all the way around (black magic stuff)

Option 2:

these mk2 golf struts for the front, and kyb mk1's for the back and new springs.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Bilstein-22-045010-Front-Strut-/272446551895?hash=item3f6f147757:g:-GUAAOSwAL9Uki5v&vxp=mtr

Part of me feels more comfortable with Bilstein brand struts

[mikemounlio]

Back on topic I have ordered a new set of suspension parts when I get home I'm going to make new pictures for my thread. So each part and how and where it goes together in better detail. So look for that early Feb I guess

[Dragonhealer]

I'm. With Brave, the charts are easier, I haven't used my K log k in decades, and the great thing about the cell phone is your never without your calculator, 25,4 is my friend, and I only know decimal equivalents of fractions due to the machinist part of my background. But i'm lazy, I would rather look at the chart

[reddragon]

I grew up with both the metric and Australian slang systems. Roughly translated, 1/64, 1/32 and 1/16 become mickey whisker, bees dick and poofteenth. I cant go much further due to censorship concerns, but it's basically a blend of algebra and abstract expressionism, as opposed to fractional mathematics. .

[bravekozak]

I took courses in advanced linear algebra, advanced calculus and point set topology at university. My brain has been fried. I just prefer to glance at the conversion chart on the wall. You can get lots of them by going to any industrial tooling expo.

[ryanprins13]

Nope, that's easy too. Multiply mm by 2.527 to get 64ths of an inch (or just 2.53 for a close estimation).

Here's why:
1 inch = 64/64ths inch = 25.4mm*, all interchangeable for math purposes

So, to convert 38mm to 64ths of an inch:
38mm / 25.4mm = 1.496 inches (call it 1.5)
64 x 1.5 = 96.0
So 38mm = 96 64ths of an inch, because 1.5" = 96/64

So, using the shortcut:
38mm x 2.53 = 96.14, or 96.1 (remember this is .03 high)
So 38mm = 96.1/64ths; or 96/64ths, i.e. 1.5 inches

What I would do if I wanted to get it exact and had to multiply it in my head is this:
Multiply mm by 2.5 to get close, (38 x 2.5 = 38 + 38 + 19 = 95)
then multiply the mm by 1%, (38 x .01 = .38 )
triple that, (.38 x 3 = 1.14)
then add it to the result of the first answer. (95 + 1.14 = 96.14)

* slightly inaccurate

I saved that^. Thanks!

Tom, there is a special place in.......reserved for people that smart
and you did that in YOUR HEAD ?????

The guy i work for is the smartest guy i know. He knows the decimal equivilant of every fraction up to and including the 64ths in his head. Takes him like one second to tell you what say 51/64ths is. Anyway, the embarrasing thing is that he expects me and my co-worker to be able to come up with the decimal equivilants instantly and looks at me like im dumb when it takes me 5 seconds to add 1/16 and 10/16ths to figure out 11/16ths in my head. Asks me if i went to school, lol. They quit teaching kids useful stuff before i was born i think.
Oh well, its cool to work for someone like that.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[Dragonhealer]

Lol! ty1

[TominMO]

Tom, there is a special place in.......reserved for people that smart
and you did that in YOUR HEAD ?????

What, you thought I was just another pretty face???!!!

The last part (38 x 2.53) I can do in my head in about 5 seconds. but all the rest I used a calculator to work things out. I ain't no autistic savant kinda guy, just decades of familiarity with arithmetic. 38 x 2.5 takes me less than a second; the other 4 seconds are for the .03, because of the eight steps. The ones not shown above are for getting the answer to 38 x 3. I toss out the decimal point, round up to 40 x 3, get that answer, then subtract 2 x 3, get that answer, to come up with 114, then toss in the decimal point, add it to the 95, and Robert is your mother's brother.

1.5 inches = 38.1 mm, to be exact.

Have to make a correction: 25.4 mm is the exact official definition of one inch, expressed in mm, not an approximation.