lowering blather

[rocco16 at sbcglobal.net (LEF)]

  How is lowering the spring perch with a welder *easier* than cutting the
  spring with a sawsall or a hacksaw to lower the front end? 

  I say it's "easier" because you A) don't have to buy new springs, with the comensurate worry about choosing spring rates, and B) you don't have to worry about buying new cartridges and matching damper rates to spring rates.


   You will still
  blow out your stock shock either way with the decreased suspension travel.

  That might be true if you keep the cartridges that were in it, with the (likely) 100,000 miles on them, but I've run with this modification for almost four years and the shocks show no sign of distress.

  Must be why you had to upgrade to the Bilsteins.  

  The Bilsteins were what was on it.  They still are.  Perhaps a set of KYB/Tokico units would not have held up, I can't say.  What I do know is that I've had completely satisfactory results.  Hey, if the other experts can recommend, torching, cutting, replacing, I certainly recommend another, different solution.

  Still waiting for the
  expert to reply. 

  So am I.

   When do you think Earl MacPherson, August Bilstein
  or Colin Chapman will be chiming in?  They are current menbers of this list,
  right Brett :)

   Enlisting a little backup from Brett?  :)

  As far as being more likely to bottom out, this is true...and I mentally debated this before I performed the modification.  Fortunately, through good VW design (excess stock travel?), good SoCal roads, and/or just plain good luck, only once since the change have I actually bottomed out....and in that one case, I was going WAY too fast for a dip I knew was coming up but didn't  get slowed down for: my fault.
   My experience says the chance of bottoming out is only slightly greater than with the stock setup.

  Hey, I know ganging up on Larry is a favorite pastime of this list...I don't mind, in fact I enjoy a good discussion.  If it bothered me, I wouldn't keep coming back for more!!  (some of you are so predictable)

   Merry Christmas, you guys, may your new year be the best ever.

  larry
  sandiego16v