ok, heres the suspension question - again!

**gldgti** · 09-06-2005, 09:47 AM

I've posted the same kind of question on vortex, vwdiesel, aussieveedubbers and probably somewhere else.... but i have a feeling i'm gonna get best results here.

We all know that all mk1's handle well, and will out corner most other cars as standard.

those of us with diesels apreciate this prabably more than anyone, as we dotn have the power thing happening, cornering is our biggest enjoyment.

this said, just about everyone wants more.

Now, you can rave about shocks, springs and bars forever, but never actually say anything about being nice to the wallet, and to practicality.

This is my current suspension set up:

stock front springs, worn shocks.
king springs in the rear, original shocks (290,000km)
front lower stress bar

its not much, but its works ok, the kings in the rear eliminating a little bit of roll and the lower stress bar does a great job for response etc.

the shocks are a small problem - the car is great on roads that are nice and smooth, but tends to be a little happy on bumps. however, im not overly concerned as the car still brakes extremely well.
I will get new shocks, but only after i've sorted out the springs...

my one and only wish, is to fit some good, solid springs in the front, to drop the front so its level with the rear (about a 1" drop, no more), that wont bottom out and that will leave me with a practical ride. i frequent rough, unsealed roads, but i want the car to look nice, handle a little better and retain its "go anywhere" abilities, mostly.

i talked to king springs of australia, and they told me - "Do not fit the petrol golf lowering springs to the diesel on the front - rear is ok, not the front!"

so my options were - look elsewhere, get them custom made, or fit mazda 626 ones to the golf which the engineer at king told me would "probably" fit.

what i need to know is: have any of you guys modded the diesel suspension like this, just a little. anyone can drop her down 2" and drive it only on weekends on flat boring roads and avoid corners, but this is my daily driver go everywhere car, my pride and joy, throw around the bend and grin car. i want it practical, but jsut a wee bit better. and i want the 1" max drop.

i hope someone can give me some advide to this end, its been bugging me for about 18 months now

cheers everyone,

aydan

syncro · 09-06-2005, 10:35 AM

Why not fit petrol lowering springs? What is the difference?

I had Boge Turbo Gas on my '78 and it handled great.

imported_brackie · 09-06-2005, 11:24 AM

I reckon the guy who told you not to fit petrol springs to a diesel doesn't understand the Golf situation. The diesel's unladen weight is 830kg against the 1.5 petrol at 805kg. 25 kg isn't really much and is probably composed of the injection pump, extra alloy in the head, heavier battery and the air box. Lots of people just assume that a diesel engine is much heavier than a petrol engine of the same displacement, but both Golf engines have the same block, crank, cooling system and transmission (OK, slightly different in the last parts, but not heavier) and 25kg is really nothing as it's 3% of total vehicle mass. Put in petrol springs and don't worry about it! Automatic Golfs also weigh 830kg and to my knowledge have the same springs as the manual. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!)

**Golf Loon** · 09-06-2005, 09:09 PM

Ive cut em before and chucked em in corners and they work great.

Dont cut too much off, just one coil at the top and one at the bottom max.

Make sure the cut is level with the cup to hold the spring securely.

I took apart the front of a 1995 seat cordoba and the front struts bottom and insert is the same as the golf. Same height, but stronger looking. Top is different, but can be interchanged. I might stick some springs on and see how they go, as they have very low kms on them.

**gldgti** · 11-06-2005, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by brackie

I reckon the guy who told you not to fit petrol springs to a diesel doesn't understand the Golf situation. The diesel's unladen weight is 830kg against the 1.5 petrol at 805kg. 25 kg isn't really much and is probably composed of the injection pump, extra alloy in the head, heavier battery and the air box. Lots of people just assume that a diesel engine is much heavier than a petrol engine of the same displacement, but both Golf engines have the same block, crank, cooling system and transmission (OK, slightly different in the last parts, but not heavier) and 25kg is really nothing as it's 3% of total vehicle mass. Put in petrol springs and don't worry about it! Automatic Golfs also weigh 830kg and to my knowledge have the same springs as the manual. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!)

thankyou!

I'm new to suspension, but im not stupid, and when the guy told me that the petrol ones would not work, i was perplexed. i figured the weight was going to be really close to the same, and i knew the actual struts to be the same, so i was quite confused. however, him being an engineer at king springs, i thought i should listen

(actually, maybe i should have known better - im a sudent doing mechanical engineering and i should have know that half the engineers around have little practical knowledge... :roll: )

i'm not into coil cutting for the reasons i mentioned about bottoming out etc.... so it looks like some aftermarket lowering springs will need to be found....

do any of you guys know how much difference im going to notice with a 1" drop as far as practicality goes?

cheers
aydan

**Golf Loon** · 11-06-2005, 10:34 AM

1" drop is ok no more than 40mm. is best.

Anonymous · 11-11-2005, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by Golf Loon

1" drop is ok no more than 40mm. is best.

so just a quickie,
how can i tell how much my GLD was lowered pls

any luck with the spoiler loon ?? price air vent levers also pls
karmen in Qld

imported_brackie · 12-11-2005, 05:34 AM

You usually measure the ride height at the highest point of the wing (front or rear) on the curve directly above the top of the wheel. The problem is that over the years as springs and shockies wear the ride height goes down, so it would be difficult to say how much the car was lowered by. So it would be a waste of time me going out and measuring ride heights on my diesel as they woudn't be that of the car when new. Also, tyre sizes may mave been changed and even the tyre pressure will be a factor.
Difficult one!

syncro · 12-11-2005, 06:30 AM

I'm new to suspension, but im not stupid, and when the guy told me that the petrol ones would not work, i was perplexed. i figured the weight was going to be really close to the same, and i knew the actual struts to be the same, so i was quite confused. however, him being an engineer at king springs, i thought i should listen

(actually, maybe i should have known better - im a sudent doing mechanical engineering and i should have know that half the engineers around have little practical knowledge... )

I work with engineers all the time. Too much theory and not too much intelligence. Always ask these dills for the full story. He obviously is a dill.

**gldgti** · 12-11-2005, 06:54 PM

hey synchro,
im doing a mechanical engineering degree at the moment - actually this semester just pas we did a HEAP on spring/damper systems etc which was really interesting.

however... there are oodles of guys in our course (75-80%) that just dont seem to get it....so what i'm saying is, i can definately see where your coming from...

i, being a car nut and having always worked on things myself, built things etc have always been involved with the practical side of things... but it amazes me that there are guys in my course who havnt a clue about the practical applications of all the theory we do.

i have a few mates like myself (we ended up being friends for this reason i guess) and we're always filddling with our cars, thinking up ways to improve stuff...

so anyway, i hope i dont become an all theory, no application engineer. in trying to acheive this, i have vowed not to have any other car than my mk1 diesel until i can afford to buy a new diesel golf without taking out a loan.

wish me luck

aydan