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california beach suspension improvements

gileswater

gileswater

Messages
3
Location
uk
Vehicle
T5 Beach
>i have also posted this on the beach bouncy suspension thread <

i would value any opinions regarding my beach on this suspension topic.
i own a t5 2015 Beach van .
Almost immediately after purchase i started to try and improve the sloppy suspension,
I had no concrete advice as how to achieve this ,uniquely forums etc,,,,,
firstly by fitting Eibach springs which are sold as a VW option in the cali/beach catalogue .
(These springs apparently reduce the ride height by 30mm.)
at the same time i also fitted a set of sports line wheels (18" 255/45) also from VW options
with the intention of increasing tyre > road surface area (and also because they look good )!
then a a bit later ,fitted a set of H&R rollbars (2or 3mm ( cannot remember precisely) thicker than OE)
And the result ?
the h& r bars were the single biggest improvement to handling preventing the vehicle from swaying all over the place around the bends and sharpening up the steering ,
As for the rest , i found the eibach springs to be mismatched to the oe dampers ,the suspension would occaisionally bottom out (over speed bumps for example )... and unfortunately /strangely produce an uncomfortably stiff/hard ride .

So maybe i made too many mods to quickly , but
After living with that set up for a year and still not contented with the result i deciding to seek further improvement and have replaced the OE dampers with a set of bilstein b8 dampers and in combination with the eibach springs this has resulted in much better damping and no bottoming out
but it is still delivering a hard ride whicjh becomes quickly tiring .
is this due to the wheels or springs ?

i suspect the springs
the bilstein dampers appear to have always been highly recommended for the t5 in combination with a shorter spring . and the ride was hard before fitting them.

but there do not seem to be any short lengths /softer options out there ? maybe H&R
as for the wheels I havent yet fitting back on the OE wheels to compare the difference .

So the next step ???

I have several thoughts and would appreciate any advice

a) return to 16/17 "wheels
b)H&R springs as mentioned above (softer ? with 40mm drop) in combination with the B8 dampers (or other spring )
c)OE springs in combination with bilstein b6 dampers,raising the height
d) return to the OE suspension ,retain only wheels and rollbars
 
First off, search and read all of the similar threads.

Bin the 18" wheels and it'll greatly improve ride quality.
Doubtless many will swear blind that their 18s ride like a Rolls Royce. Only you can decide. I've got that T shirt and I run 17" as a result.

Change one thing at a time and try it.

In my opinion, standard springs, Billies and 17" with heavy duty AR bars will get as close as the builders van you're driving can produce without throwing big money at it.
 
Ha, ha, I'm sure if you go on the T6 forum, someone will mutter *air ride*...

No clue myself as husband won't let me change anything else!
 
First off, search and read all of the similar threads.

Bin the 18" wheels and it'll greatly improve ride quality.
Doubtless many will swear blind that their 18s ride like a Rolls Royce. Only you can decide. I've got that T shirt and I run 17" as a result.

Change one thing at a time and try it.

In my opinion, standard springs, Billies and 17" with heavy duty AR bars will get as close as the builders van you're driving can produce without throwing big money at it.



thank you for your advice ,sidepod
Damper/springs..........your suggestion would require purchase of B6 bilstein . to replace the B8,s
Initially i would be keen to try out some different springs as replacement for eibach,s
do you have any recommendations ? do you know if the h&r springs are a softer option ? or possibly another make .
regards
 
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