My Caddy Van

[Preen59]

Nice Preeny.

Look forward to seeing them fitted & also the stance you set up on the van.

You'll have to do a write up on your thought's of KW's & if there worth it or not.

I reckon they are & you won't be dissapointed one bit.

There's some twisties about 5 K's from the workshop. Aydan has been up them, i took him in his car when he came down. So I'll do a full write up on them compared to the standard suspension.

This will include:

Bump stability.

Braking stability and performance.

Entry grip on/off brakes/throttle, high and low speed.

Midcorner grip and stability on/off throttle aswell as midpoint balance control.

Exit corner grip. I'm hoping for an improvement in power exit understeer due to a lower centre on gravity.

And i'm guessing the shocks are stiffer, probably with more rebound resistance, which would also improve the power understeer issue.

All that said, i'd say that the van should have more grip all round, because i'm guessing the shocks are more handling oriented and less of a ride/handling compromise. Also, if you haven't noticed, the front springs are rising rate.

[DubSteve]

Nice work Preeny good to hear you went with the KW's I haven't driven the mk3 in 3 months so I can't remember what they are like

[Preen59]

Nice work Preeny good to hear you went with the KW's I haven't driven the mk3 in 3 months so I can't remember what they are like

Yeah they were by far the best kit available if you can afford it.

Yeah well i haven't driven my mk1 in about 2 years! So don't complain!

[DubSteve]

Yeah well i haven't driven my mk1 in about 2 years! So don't complain!

**** good point you win, also...

[99gti]

There's some twisties about 5 K's from the workshop. Aydan has been up them, i took him in his car when he came down. So I'll do a full write up on them compared to the standard suspension.

This will include:

Bump stability.

Braking stability and performance.

Entry grip on/off brakes/throttle, high and low speed.

Midcorner grip and stability on/off throttle aswell as midpoint balance control.

Exit corner grip. I'm hoping for an improvement in power exit understeer due to a lower centre on gravity.

And i'm guessing the shocks are stiffer, probably with more rebound resistance, which would also improve the power understeer issue.

All that said, i'd say that the van should have more grip all round, because i'm guessing the shocks are more handling oriented and less of a ride/handling compromise. Also, if you haven't noticed, the front springs are rising rate.

Very nice. Look forward to hearing what you think of them. I know I was stoked with mine as has every one else been...

[evorobin]

I don't want poverty pack stuff. I'd rather pay the extra.

I wouldn't be too quick to rule out cheaper alternatives. When I bought coils (weitec) they were just a company (also made by KW) that I'd heard good things about. Because you want damper adjust etc I'd say you would be in the minority. Having driven Weitec next to hottuning the difference is zero.

Those KW's look the dogs I'll say that. When are you fitting these coils I can't wait to see how you go

[Preen59]

I wouldn't be too quick to rule out cheaper alternatives. When I bought coils (weitec) they were just a company (also made by KW) that I'd heard good things about. Because you want damper adjust etc I'd say you would be in the minority. Having driven Weitec next to hottuning the difference is zero.

Those KW's look the dogs I'll say that. When are you fitting these coils I can't wait to see how you go

I didn't mean I only use "brand name" stuff or expensive stuff, I just mean I don't like buying crap.

Those hottuning coilovers seem pretty good even though the name screams supercheapauto type stuff. (not that all super cheap stuff is bad but you know what i mean).

Fitting them this saturday. Can't wait.

[Preen59]

Heh, a few of the guys that have come into the workshop were like "Oh, you've got some new suspension for the golf.."

So i say "Nah, it's for the caddy, i'm lowering it."

And they said "Nah piss off stop having me on."

And I say "No, i'm serious... Seriously"

And they look at the old man and they're like "Is he serious or what? He's kidding right?"

Dad's like, "No, they're for the caddy..."

And then they're impressed.

[99gti]

[Preen59]

Ok well here it is AGAIN then.



And here's whats going in it!

[Preen59]

Started on the caddy tonight. Got the fronts done.

FYI: Before you start jerking around, drop the control arms off on the inner side. 4 bolts and it saves a lot of jerking around when you get the strut all but 10mm out and figure out that it won't go any further.

Fairly straight forward swap. Obviously we did it on the hoist so there was no crawling around on the ground, but I don't think it would be THAT much harder if you were doing it with jacks and stands.

First up we had to remove the scuttle panel to get to the top strut bolts.







Then to get the strut out, you need to put a lever into the slot where the front upright claps around the strut. Lever the slot open to give enough clearance to slide the strut up and out of the upright. You may need a rubber mallet to whack it up and help it move. (Two man job. )





You need to get the strut bearing assembly off the old shocks to use on the new ones, so once you've done that, you can reassemble the new struts with the original bearing.

I set the perch at 10mm off bottom (10mm off lowest) to start with.

[Preen59]

Then its time to put the new strut back in. The new struts are a heap shorter, so there's no jerking around to get them back in. Lever the slot open and the strut slides straight in. Easy..

It's basically just the reverse of how you disassembled it.



Then you just have to do the other side the same.

Once the other side is done, you can THEN re attach the control arms and the sway bars.

Then you can drop it down and realise that the hoist is stuck under the car!
So we had to put some blocks down under the front wheels, wind the hoist pads down and then lower the car down..



And here's a shot outside the workshop. Pretty crappy, my phone's camera isn't much good in that low light.





More info and pics tomorrow after i've done the rear. Oh, and a review on the handling/ride quality.

[Jarred]

hahahaha that's awesum!

needs to be lower though! hahaha

[Preen59]

hahahaha that's awesum!

needs to be lower though! hahaha

Dad reckons it needs to be 10mm higher in the front to centre the wheel in the guard.

I said we'll do that back and then decide..

[99gti]

I like the way you work Preen. Next on the agenda is bumper colour coding!