Suggestions for more travel and better traction on dirt?

[Sid_RallyX_82]

My girl Alice is completely stock and used as my commuter, but I love finding a curvy dirt road and hauling ass through the back country. I plan to conduct some weight reduction and such type of simple mods, but I desperately need to improve my suspension. The roads I use have no jumps and minimal dips, but I still have problems with bottoming out through small dips and over rocks and can't take the wash board very well. Who knows of some tried and true upgrades. I AM planning to build braces and skid plates. Advice?

[Movin]

Coil overs to make room for ATV tires. Adjust up 2 - 3 inches. Use lighter springs but longer for more travel. Lighten weight in the rear and move the weight that you can to the front.

[Sid_RallyX_82]

ATV tires doesn't sound very commuter-car friendly. What coil overs? Brand? Should I change the whole strut and put in adjustables? What should I look for in terms of valving for the dampers? What are your thoughts on Camber/Caster-Adjustable tower mounts?

[Movin]

ATV tires doesn't sound very commuter-car friendly. What coil overs? Brand? Should I change the whole strut and put in adjustables? What should I look for in terms of valving for the dampers? What are your thoughts on Camber/Caster-Adjustable tower mounts?

https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/723/31262/STI-Black-Diamond-XTR-Radial-ATV-Tire?term=sti+black+diamond

Keep your street treads. I pack a enough stuff to set up a camp near the play area and change tires. Be sure to keep DOT tires like the ones in the link, some of your roads may not be ATV legal , the DOT rating will help keep you out of trouble with the law. Plus if you want to stomp around town once or twice with the ATV tires you can. You will not find commuter tires that work like the ATV tires on washboard roads. Not even close.

The brand of coil over probably is secondary to the spring rate of the spring or spring stack used. The height is important as well. The spring rate will depend on your set up. The rate will be far lighter than for street use , that is how you get the longer trave. It also helps keep both drive tires in contact with the ground. Be sure to use the math to figure out how much the spring will be compressed to support the cars weight, and that there is enough compression left for the full travel length without spring bind.

I used VW mkII struts all around to get damping rates designed for a car that is another 1000 lbs heavier. Apparently they hold up well in the presence of NOX . I have blown two upper seals and replaced them, both rear on the right side. No big deal but I am going to try something different. The performance was dead on what I was looking for. I used adjustable kits for the seats and turned off the original seats. I used windshield adhesive to keep them from wearing on the strut. The mounts had to have some customizing as well.

The stresses we encounter are far different than drag racing or road racing. For this reason I would not use upper camber adjustments . I use a slot in each strut where the two big bolts go through the knuckle. The tower has been known to crack while racing so rather than adding adjustability I would want to strengthen this area. I have not yet and have no cracks.

The extra height reduces underside vulnerability but the gas tank and the oil pan are the two most common things to get damaged. The fuel and brake lines are next. The body and exhaust are also exposed. Skid plates, weight, how slippery they are all competing considerations.

Break up the mods to as small as possible and do more steps. This helps keep you going as you get to drive it more. Avoid project burnout!

[WTFestiva]

Movin had the right idea. I would go ahead and upgrade the dampers and springs. We used the "upgrades" from autozone, because lifetime warranty, with some upgraded springs in the front to accommodate the swap weight. This will give you the cuts you want in the gravel. Then you will want to upgrade the tires to something made for this.

http://www.dmacktyres.com/gravel-tyres

The dm3s won't disappoint you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

[Movin]

Two completely different uses. The WTFestiva car is awesome at what it does. You may be doing something different than either of us, match the parts you choose with what you are going to do , everything has a trade off.

[Sid_RallyX_82]

By "lighter springs" you are referring to the spring rate? Does lighter mean a softer spring/lower spring rate?

[Sid_RallyX_82]

Also, my end goal for the car is to race either Stage Rally or Rally Cross

[Movin]

Then I would follow the WTFestiva recipe more than mine. A spring rate with a lower number will give a softer ride and more travel. A higher number will jump and corner better, handles high speed and sounds like where you are headed. ATV tires give the best traction and a smooth ride on washboards, the gravel tires on WTFestiva will give good controlled cornering and higher top speeds for rally. You may want a little lift but not like I run.

I like wheeling , hunting and exploring the desert, not racing and rally. The WTFestiva have where you are headed figured out.

[Sid_RallyX_82]

Ok, upgraded Golf struts from AZ/ O' Reilley's? What formulas will I need to find a base line? How much do I want to compress at ride height? What rims do you recommend for the DMG3s? Will I have any clearance issues which may require modification?

[Eaglefreek]

If you want to compete in a sanctioned event, I would find out the rules first before you start modifying your car. You don't want to wind up not be able to compete or in a modified class against cars at a whole different level.

[Sid_RallyX_82]

Great advice, thank you

[Sid_RallyX_82]

Anyone know the stock spring rates?

[F3BZ]

the stock springs varied depending on equipment. the front springs could even vary from left to right. that is to say a stripper L with MTX would have the lightest springs and a heavily optioned GL with ATX, AC, etc. would have the stiffest. a set of all purpose stock springs purchased from FMS long ago has dimensions which when plugged into a basic spring rate calculator yield these values: FR - 97#/in RR - 78#/in. that is assuming an active coil count of 7. i had a hard time pinning down exactly how to count active coils. here's a pic.

[Sid_RallyX_82]

Are the struts different between the differently optioned cars? Would springs from a heavy GL fit a '91 L?