Advanced Suspension Mods

[Advancedynamix]

I run about an inch and a half of clearance before using the bump stop at ride height on all four corners. I just used the ones that came with three raceland shocks. They are progressive, but I'm not sure what durometer they are. I have some different stops on order so that I can nail down what works best. If you drive in an area that is rough and bumpy you will probably want more space between the bump stop and shock hat.

[zoom zoom]

Basically you have about an inch and a half of body roll before you hit the bump stops and they make the car slide..or roll.. I'm not familiar with durometer or progressive rates of bump stops, pretty new to all this, I think I'm following what your saying tho!

[Advancedynamix]

The bump stops don't actually stop the shock travel, they are simply there to raise the spring rate. They can be used to limit travel, but that's not what I use them for. The car will lean about an inch and then the stops progressively raise the spring rate on that corner. This isn't to induce overseer or to rotate the car at all. What this does is it allows the front inside tire to get traction when the throttle is rolled on using the outside rear bump stop (the extra spring rate works in conjunction with engine torque to keep from losing traction) To rotate the car I use the brakes and the front bumpstops do the exact opposite of the back, they take weight of the rear tires. Bump stops can be used to fine tune the spring rate of each corner. They can also be used to correct shock valving issues. On a front drive car I like to use fast compression dampening and slow rebound, this will stick the front end to the track when you brake before a turn and limit the amount if weight transfer to the rear under acceleration. The bump stops can be used to fine tune this.
Hope that helps.

[Advancedynamix]

Here is a little parts list for some of the components I used, where to find them and the cost.

KYB shocks for the Aspire/Festiva 116.00 for the pair. Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Rear-KYB-G...ecb796&vxp=mtr

Small body shock sleeve kit-54.00 a piece, 2 required. Here http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Bilstein...ab4dbc&vxp=mtr

1 7/8" 10" I.D. springs- 35.00 a piece (when shipping is split between 2 springs) here http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-MIDGET-R...bbb547&vxp=mtr

Raceland VW mk2/mk3 coilover kit- 400.00 est. go to raceland.com or here is a set on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-1992-vw...c6e16a&vxp=mtr

2 1/2" x 10" front springs- 35.00 a piece (with combined shipping of 2) on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-RACING-C...304e4d&vxp=mtr

The machining necessary for the front struts to fit correctly should cost between 100 and 200 dollars at a small job shop style of machine shop. the raceland coilovers come apart fairly easily so they don't need to worry about overheating the strut insert when they weld in the bushings. You'll need a loose knuckle to have them match the pattern. The rear shocks can be modified with a grinder and cutoff wheel, if you turn them on a lathe or have them turned make sure a sleeve is used to protect the shock body when holding the in lathe chuck. The shock body is made of very thin and soft steel (I messed one up when I made mine and had to order another shock ). I made my sleeve out of a piece of black PVC, you can see it in some of my pictures. I wouldn't pay more than 100 dollars to have the shocks modified since it really only takes a half hour on a lathe (that's not including the shortening, that takes more time and people should really know what they are doing with that).

All said and done I have around $1200 into my suspension. Not bad for how well it works. I was originally going to buy Tein coilovers from FMS, but.... well you guys know what happened there. I'm glad I went this route though, because I've been able to really dial this in and I have more clearance in the rear than I would have with the Teins. I would like to do a back to back comparison though with both setups to see what the pros and cons of each are.

My next setup will probably use some Afco aluminum threaded body shocks because I can rebuild them and change the valving to suit the car better and they are a little lighter. These KYBs have given me a great platform to determine shock length, stroke and baseline valving.

[zoom zoom]

Have you tried monroes? I was thinking about going with them since they're a little cheaper and I'm a tightwad. Just wondering what the difference would be, the dampening properties?

[Advancedynamix]

I haven't. I've only used the kyb shocks on this car. You may also be able to save money on the sleeve kits. Afco makes them too, but you need to make sure that they come with adjusters and spring hats to know if your getting a good value. You can modify the stock shock washers ( the bottom ones that sandwich the rubber mount) to make a spring hat, but I didn't go that route.

[russian]

I have recently received poly front sway bar bushing - SPF1478-22K - shipped from Australia, ordered via Tein USA. They are direct fit for stock festiva sway bar.

Will update the old poly bushing thread which pointed me to them as soon as I receive the sway bar to LCA bushing.

[Advancedynamix]

Good information for sure! Did you have to call them to order? I found the parts on their site, but I'm not sure how to order them. Might be because I'm on my phone. Thanks for the info. Post pictures of them when you install them.

[BigElCat]

FYI

Moog makes a sway bar to LCA bushing that is much stiffer than rubber. It may be polyurethane, but it seems even 'stiffer' than other polyurethane bushings I've seen. They're blue in color. Part number K9737. I haven't used these so far, but I will someday. O'reilly sells them for $10.00 a side.

[TominMO]

Have you tried monroes? I was thinking about going with them since they're a little cheaper and I'm a tightwad. Just wondering what the difference would be, the dampening properties?

Zoom, I had KYB GR2s front and rear on my Festy, but had to switch to Monroes on the rear for the higher spring perch, when I installed wider tires. They are definitely inferior to the KYBs. I'm even thinking of going to lower-profile 14s all around, or even 13s on just the rear, to allow me to stick GR2s back on.

Charlie, would you be willing to entertain the idea of duplicating a pair of rear GR2s for those of us without your fab knowledge/skills/tools? I'm thinking, send you the $$ for all the parts and shipping costs to me, plus a reasonable profit, then patiently wait until the struts arrive on my doorstep. I hate my Monroes.

[zoom zoom]

I wonder if a stiffer spring would help?

[TominMO]

I wonder if a stiffer spring would help?

If you're addressing me, I was pretty happy with the stock springs; it seemed to be all about the superior dampening of the GR2s. I compared the Monroe and GR2 side by side off the car, and the Monroe has both a thicker shaft and heavier dampening.

[TominMO]

^^ Correction to the above: the KYB has the thicker shaft and heavier dampening!

[Advancedynamix]

Tom, I would be interested in that, but it would be better if we could get at least ten people interested. That way I could have the sleeves machined instead of buying them and I could probably get a better deal on the shocks and springs. Without the discounts it works out to being around $250 not including the price of the shocks.

[Advancedynamix]

If you're addressing me, I was pretty happy with the stock springs; it seemed to be all about the superior dampening of the GR2s. I compared the Monroe and GR2 side by side off the car, and the Monroe has both a thicker shaft and heavier dampening.

I found the stock rear spring rate to be a great street rate as well. With the car stripped out it handled great with gr2s and stock springs. When I cut my stock springs it sat lower and was slightly stiffer, but didn't handle better. It actually had more body roll.