Rear suspension info needed

[hawkeyefxr]

I have had my VW trike since February this year, i have been working my way through various things to get it as i want it.

I have just replaced the rear motorcycle shock mounting bushes, these are normal motorcycle shocks with springs.
While doing this i noticed that the eye to eye measurement is 14 1/4 inches while the mounting bolts are 13 1/4 centre to centre. This is with the VW rear torsion bar suspension in a neutral position.

To my way of thinking the with the motorcycle shock and spring with it's preloaded spring pressure plus the one inch of extra pre-load from the difference between the shock eye to eye measurement and the bolts mounting centres this is an incredible amount of spring pressure especially as VW suspension is designed for a whole car.

Now it could be argued that the stiffer suspension is because there is no anti roll bar fitted. All i know is that riding down the road and going over manhole cover that have sunk or are raised is nor a comfortable ride.

Any one have thoughts or better still any suspension wizards out there. If i remove the spring from the shock and just run with a damper would it wallow about on corners.

 

[Fowler]

I am by far not a suspension wizard!!!

But I had what I believe was the same issue you are having now.

I have the coil over shocks on my VW Trike. They are adjustable (3 settings) I have mine set in the middle

I must have adjusted the torsion bars and shocks 5 or more times before I got the suspension to feel correct, but then after that the rear end was lifting to high.

I ended up using limiting straps to pull it down to a little over the Bump stops.
As a backup to the limiting straps I have added little longer logging chains in case one of the limiting straps breaks.
But they make some rattling noise so I plan to replace them with another set of longer limiting straps

 

[hawkeyefxr]

Thanks for the quick reply.
My ride height is ok it's just the stiffness, since i posted my original post i have removes the motorcycle shocks and removed the springs, i am midway through putting them back on minus the springs. I am hoping to take it out tomorrow, i will post my findings though i doubt it will .be as easy to rectify. I still think an anti roll bar it the way to go but want to make sure before a go that route

 

[Fowler]

What year was the VW?
Is it a Swing Axle or IRS

Mine is a swig. I tried using a caber compensator but that made my ride to stiff (not sure that is what you are talking about or not)
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/VW-Camber-Stop-Kit-VW-Camber-Compensator-p/camber-compensator.htm

I took mine off and if I remember correctly I made a few knifes from it

I guess if you can get a good balance between the torsion bars, Shocks and the compensator that would work OK. Mine just seem to work better without it

Like I said I'm no expert. I just spent time trying to figure it out on my trike.


If I was to build another trike from a VW I would go with a IRS and set up my suspension different.
But the next trike I build will be a Subaru (if I can kick the Ol'Lady's car out of the garage for I can have the space)

 

[vw driver]

I installed air shocks, run them at 50 PSI with a full load. No rear suspension issues at all.ThumbUp

 

[hawkeyefxr]

A Subaru Trike thats going to be an animal lol, will look and sound good though.


What were the make of the air shocks

 

[Fowler]

I have heard Air shocks work well.
I may consider that when it gets time to change my coil overs

I met a guy at a Trike In that put springs where his Bump stops go.
He said they worked real good

He used the springs form the coil over shocks and cut them down to size

 

[vw driver]

A Subaru Trike thats going to be an animal lol, will look and sound good though.


What were the make of the air shocks

I don't remember the make, ordered them at an auto parts store. They made a world of difference. I messed around with different pressures and fount 50 PSI works best.

 

[hawkeyefxr]

Well, removed the springs and reinstalled the dampers, took it for a ride and the difference is really noticeable. Where as before you hit a divot in the road it would come straight through as a harsh jolt. Now it rides a lot smoother over these divots, it still needs some tweaking so adjustable shocks may well do this.
There is a slight roll now but the grip is better, i think it must have been skipping over the divots before.

 

[drumdoctor]

I had an IRS with coil-overs and it just did not feel right.

I asked the guy who owns the VW store in Orlando (and who has a great VW trike) what he had on his trike.
He told me that he had air shocks and that he got them at AutozZone.

I went straight there and bought them.
They were $60.
They were "Gabriel" air shocks.

The difference in the ride was amazing!

 

[Loner]

I personally am a believer in the VW designers. The number of unique operations built into the various years of the aircooled Beetles were tremendous. In this case, the Beetle was designed with a torsion bar suspension and a simple shock absorber to act as a damper. Worked perfectly for all their Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3 models. Again, for me, I find it difficult to see why we would want to change that setup by adding spring shocks or air shocks. Both will only stiffen the suspension action and distort the ride.

As my Dad used to say, why fix it if it ain't broken?

Again, to each his own, but just my humble opinion.

 

[Rsw]

I personally am a believer in the VW designers. The number of unique operations built into the various years of the aircooled Beetles were tremendous. In this case, the Beetle was designed with a torsion bar suspension and a simple shock absorber to act as a damper. Worked perfectly for all their Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3 models. Again, for me, I find it difficult to see why we would want to change that setup by adding spring shocks or air shocks. Both will only stiffen the suspension action and distort the ride.

As my Dad used to say, why fix it if it ain't broken?

Again, to each his own, but just my humble opinion.

100 percent agree!! ThumbUp

 

[rrunner]

After riding my v8 trike all summer have to admit I miss my vw trike. Took it for a ride yesterday and was really aware of the difference in ride. Boy the vw ride was really smooth and comfortable than my v8. I now have plans to change my v8 suspension to somehow smooth out it's ride.

 

[vw driver]

I think some people are confusing air shocks and air bag suspension. No one is suggesting that the torsion bars be eliminated and no one is questioning the VW engineers. Air shocks are just adjustable shock absorbers that mount where the stock shock absorbers would mount. Instead of using trial and error to find the right shock stiffness, air shocks allow a person to simply adjust the air pressure to get the ride they desire. They work very well on my trike.ThumbUp

 

[Rsw]

 

[hawkeyefxr]

Late reply i know but can you tell me which model you bought, there a quite a few....cheers