Ultimate Street suspension guide

[mikemounlio]

I've seen talk of make-shift rear camber by using washers between the spindle and beam; does anyone know what the outcome of 1/8in washers would be? Or what thickness is needed for -2 degrees camber?

I was gonna do this! Until i took the rear apart. The rear spindle is held in place by 4 studs. The issue is that the studs are not in line vertically or horizontally. TYou would have to have 4 different thickness washers to make the camber and toe come out right.

I have bought some shims that are a disk. They are a hard plastic material. You line the shim up to the angle you want and cut holes in it. You take the spindle off and put the big round shim under it. i have shims that are 1.5°. I bought 2 for each side to give me -3°. I will try my best to get the fat part of the shim on the bottom. My goal is to get -3° camber and keep my 0 toe. I have heard that the shims are a pain in the butt to get right tho. Ill look for a part number.

[TWFodor]

I've seen talk of make-shift rear camber by using washers between the spindle and beam; does anyone know what the outcome of 1/8in washers would be? Or what thickness is needed for -2 degrees camber?

[Advancedynamix]

I did this upgrade on my car and I've got to say it is the difference between night and day! Makes it a blast to drive. Holds the road way better and feels much more planted on the pavement. I'm no race driver so I'm a little scared to push it too hard, but I can take most freeway ramps at 55 to 60 mph with no troubles at all! The Rio strut mounts are the icing on the cake since they make it much easier to steer. I want to thank Advncedynamics and Mikemounlio for all of their effort. Would never have found out how well these cars can handle without your guidance. I ended up with about 2.9* of negative camber. (pretty good for winging it with a round file) My toe was way out after I first did it but I used the string method to get it to 0. The Caddy Hottunig coilovers work perfectly. Once again, thanks. Especially to Charlie for inventing all this and to mikemounlio for putting it in an easy to follow thread. It has been a long evolution!

Very happy to help. I'm also glad that Mike documents his work so well. The more of these cars that are out there being enjoyed, the more we will all learn about what they are capable of.

[FastOrBust]

Hahaha. I read through 20+ pages of Charlie's build yesterday. I could have saved myself some time coming here but I feel like I did some learning so I'm cool with that. I still don't full understand these camber shims yet or how they get installed. Is there a thread for that? Great info guys, I can't wait to try it for myself.

[mikemounlio]

I did this upgrade on my car and I've got to say it is the difference between night and day! Makes it a blast to drive. Holds the road way better and feels much more planted on the pavement. I'm no race driver so I'm a little scared to push it too hard, but I can take most freeway ramps at 55 to 60 mph with no troubles at all! The Rio strut mounts are the icing on the cake since they make it much easier to steer. I want to thank Advncedynamics and Mikemounlio for all of their effort. Would never have found out how well these cars can handle without your guidance. I ended up with about 2.9* of negative camber. (pretty good for winging it with a round file) My toe was way out after I first did it but I used the string method to get it to 0. The Caddy Hottunig coilovers work perfectly. Once again, thanks. Especially to Charlie for inventing all this and to mikemounlio for putting it in an easy to follow thread. It has been a long evolution!

No problem man! I did this write up just for this reason! Im glad you were able to get the job done with my help. Good luck and thanks for the feedback.

[zoe60]

I did this upgrade on my car and I've got to say it is the difference between night and day! Makes it a blast to drive. Holds the road way better and feels much more planted on the pavement. I'm no race driver so I'm a little scared to push it too hard, but I can take most freeway ramps at 55 to 60 mph with no troubles at all! The Rio strut mounts are the icing on the cake since they make it much easier to steer. I want to thank Advncedynamics and Mikemounlio for all of their effort. Would never have found out how well these cars can handle without your guidance. I ended up with about 2.9* of negative camber. (pretty good for winging it with a round file) My toe was way out after I first did it but I used the string method to get it to 0. The Caddy Hottunig coilovers work perfectly. Once again, thanks. Especially to Charlie for inventing all this and to mikemounlio for putting it in an easy to follow thread. It has been a long evolution!

[TWFodor]

That depends on your ride height and your requirements. If you prefer less body roll and want a firm ride or are planning on carrying a heavy load then longer is better. If you want a little more roll or a softer ride and don't plan on carrying heavy loads then shorter stops may be better. I run mine shortened, because I like a little body roll and I prefer a soft ride.

Ok, great! Thanks for the info.

[Advancedynamix]

I plan on combining all of these threads and making it an article. Development is still progressing on this chassis though and new things are always coming up. Luckily, there are a group of us here that have utilized this setup to answer any questions. Together, we can all make this setup even better and easier to build or buy.

[mikemounlio]

No clue! Its all the same info that Advancedynamix has already given in his thread. I just cleaned it up and listed it all at once to make it super easy for others to follow.

[Sleeper]

Why the heck is this not a sticky thread?

[Advancedynamix]

That depends on your ride height and your requirements. If you prefer less body roll and want a firm ride or are planning on carrying a heavy load then longer is better. If you want a little more roll or a softer ride and don't plan on carrying heavy loads then shorter stops may be better. I run mine shortened, because I like a little body roll and I prefer a soft ride.

[TWFodor]

Yeah, You can either cut off the largest 2 bulges or sand them on a belt sander, depending on how long your bump stops need to be.

Would it be better to just sand them down or cut them off? Is there an optimum length?

[Advancedynamix]

Yeah, You can either cut off the largest 2 bulges or sand them on a belt sander, depending on how long your bump stops need to be.
The creaking sounds can also be from the top nuts being too tight. You don't want to squish the rubber bushings too much. I tighten mine until the rubber bulges out about an eight of an inch or so (less on aged bushings).
Also, if your running your car really low, the springs may be rubbing on the sleeves a bit. If this is the case, you may need to center the springs better or make sure your upper spring hat is holding the spring straight.

[TWFodor]

No, I didn't. I'm hearing creaking noises from the rear end so that may be the issue. Could just be too tight

[Wimp]

Did anyone else have difficulty getting the vw bumpstops to go in the spring? I basically had to force them in, unless I did it wrong. I just figured it shouldnt have been that difficult

Did you remove the largest lobe of the bumpstop? That may be your issue.