MMMmmmmm, the more you buy, the cheaper they are, huh? Well just tell
him to keep making them till their free  8^)

Just a thought.

Ron Semko
Orlando, Fl.
Too much Mickey, around here

Steven X. Schwenk wrote:

> Here we are thus far...thirteen, including me.  Plus,
> Mark D. and Bruce W. want two sets....which means a
> potential of 15 sets of springs, which likely will
> bring the price down under $50 a spring.  If we ordered
> only two sets, the price would have been $117.35 per
> spring.  5 pairs were $55.74 per spring.  Yesterday
> they quoted price for 7 pairs at $51.25 per spring.  I
> suspect that if we dpouble the order, the price will
> drop at least another couple dollars.
>
> We have enough people to get two or three different
> springs made for different applications, if necessary.
> We need to break down into groups.  Westy & Non-westy
> is one possible group.  Some want taller and firmer
> than others.  We need to get a handle on what everyone
> wants.
>
> My goal is approximately 10% stiffer (but there is some
> confusion on whether the Marshall tall springs were 17%
> stiffer or 11.7% stiffer....and we are basing the 10%
> on the assumption that the Marshall springs were too
> stiff....hopefully we can get one of those springs over
> to Betts for testing).  As for height, I want vehicle
> height to be what VW determined the best height for
> suspension performance (so we get full use of available
> travel without premature topping out or bottoming
> out)...and will be doing some measuring here and on
> other non-westies to nail this down, but right now it
> looks like an inch or less above what the typical
> syncro westy is.  Now is the time to voice your
> preferences.
>
> HOMEWORK:
>
> Everyone please wrtite back and tell me
>
> (1)what van you have...westy or non-westy, double cab,
> etc.;
> (2) what is your preference re % of stiffness and
> vehicle height;
> (3) what is the current amount of sag on you van at the
> front?
>
> To get the sag, place van on level surface and measure
> from the bottom of the wheel well to (1) the center of
> the dust cap and (2) bottom of wheel well to the bottom
> inner lip of the wheel/rim... (not sure which one we
> will use yet so please take both....the top of the
> inner lip of the wheel is easier to measure but we may
> have steel and alum wheels to deal with.
>
> Vehicle weighs would be helpful, too....even if just
> the VW specs....for westy, non-westy, double cab, etc.
>
> Bear in mind that you will not get full performance out
> of the new springs unless your shocks are working
> good.  the shock and spring do very different things,
> but work closely together, so one will affectr the
> performance of the other.  Shock brand will not matter
> since we are only increasinbg stiffness a modest
> amount.  If you increase stiffness by any significant
> amount, you have to change re-bound damping, but that
> will not be a problem here....have already discussed
> this with the engineers and will address it more once
> the data comes back from everyone.
>
> Please do the homework, and then we can determine
> whether we need to get more than one type of spring
> made.
> steve