lowered supension

[myvwpuma]

Hey guys.fitted some old shocks and it made no difference.i dropped the car on the suspension and saw that there is very little room for travel between the lc arm and the bump stop. is this normal?there's almost no clearance on the left, on the right i can get my finger in between the two but i dont know if the car is perfectly level.i took pics but my pc is faulty so cant transfer

[Ron&Gill]

Hi, I am coming a bit late to the conversation, but I think the PO must have removed some of the "blades" out of the H-beams. I can't imagine why else the suspension is so soft.

[myvwpuma]

hi ron & gill. thought about that too. There is 8 blades in the tubes(I counted the ends)4 wide ones in centre and then 2 narrow ones side by side on top and bottom of the 4. Is the blades maybe just worn out? I am still going to load those pics.There is no beetle in my vicinity to compare.I have another puma but that has carman ghia suspension and a bug with superbug suspension.

[Ron&Gill]

It's Ron... Gill's at home, hahaha!!

You can't tell from looking at the ends, they cut them and the ends are there, in the control arms, but the rest is gone.

[myvwpuma]

Hi Ron. Now that sounds if it could lead somewhere. I didn't know that the ends were left behind.Armand advised that I pull it apart and replace whats missing from the other beam I have.Some guys have said its tricky so I was a bit hesitant to tackle it. I can see the space is limited to work in to replace the complete beam but I still want to. MY anti roll bar has come adrift on the left and the mounting bushes are damaged and they look like a chore to replace so that's why I want to replace the beam that's complete.here's the pics

[Tony Z]

it looks like your bump stops are in their stock location...
your suspension is definitely WAY too low for stock, that said, I would put money on the leaves being removed.

[RICKY-R69]

Agree with Tony. On my beetle I lowered it by cutting and turning the H-beams, but left the bump stops in original position. Makes for a perfect stance,but a very bumpy ride. Also needs to get shorter shocks as they tend to bottom out!

[myvwpuma]

Thanks to all the guys who responded. The advice was usefull and knowing you were there to assist was great.I have fitted the other H-Beam and it's taken care of all the problems.It wasn't such a bad job and I did it all alone.I've got the bounce , a softer more comfortable ride, much better handling and much lighter steering. My anti -sway bar is now fully attached and I am sure that's also making a difference. She's obviously lost her aggressive stance and might be a bit too high now but that's for later.At least my wife is now able to turn the steering and feels much more comfortable taking the puma for a spin.Now for the next job.

[Tony Z]

good show, glad we could help

[retrovan]

Hey!!! thats

I like it like that, after all its not a Paint scrapper.....

Herman

[Bugger]

Hi Ron. Now that sounds if it could lead somewhere. I didn't know that the ends were left behind.Armand advised that I pull it apart and replace whats missing from the other beam I have.Some guys have said its tricky so I was a bit hesitant to tackle it. I can see the space is limited to work in to replace the complete beam but I still want to. MY anti roll bar has come adrift on the left and the mounting bushes are damaged and they look like a chore to replace so that's why I want to replace the beam that's complete.here's the pics

If I look at these Pics of your Previous Suspension then I get to the Conclusion that the PO Have Put a Huge pipe over the trailing arms and bent/Pulled the Spring blades to lower the Puma as was done by some of the older Generation guys I used to know as a Quick fix for lowering a Bug but it makes the ride very hard
As you mentioned that your ride was very hard and when I saw the Pics this comes to mind as I can seethat the side Grub screws do not alighn with the center ones
And if torsion springs were cut and replaced the Suspension when Jacked up would have hanged much to the other way as it is hanging to that Pics

Have you stripped the old suspension to investigate if it were cut or Bent ?

[Ron&Gill]

Yes, I would also be interested to know what was done to it.

Bend the spring plates? Nooit! Seker n klomp voor-ry-spelers... Magtig...

[myvwpuma]

I haven't stripped it but I can to satisfy our curiosity. Will let you know as soon as I have a chance.I hope the PO made a mistake when he did what he did because the difference in the driving and handling is huge.

[retrovan]

I haven't stripped it but I can to satisfy our curiosity. Will let you know as soon as I have a chance.I hope the PO made a mistake when he did what he did because the difference in the driving and handling is huge.

You will find, that some okkes, go for looks, NOTHING else, that is why they lower the car, with no consideration for safety or ride comfort.....

May be old, but BOY do I love my comfort.....

Herman

[vader]

If i look at The DarkSides H-Beams the previous owner bent the blades as Bugger said but then removed 2 blades to soften up and further lower the front. Removing blades makes it soft and not harder as the there is less torsional rigidity in the beams. The front was too soft so I installed Gabriel adjustable shocks, they have 3 settings, hard, soft and sport and work very well. Tire pressure on fiberglass cars is critical as to hard and there is no side wall compression. If you look at F1 cars most of their suspention play comes from the side wall of the tire, the best way to see this is when they show a super slow motion shot of a car riding the curbs. Play around with the pressures as find one that has the best compromise for you car, driving style and comfort levels.
Deep dish mags normally push the wheel out and like Armand said a set of diskbrakes without adapters will pull the wheel back into the wheel arcs and give you superiour stopping power plus do away with the constant brake shoe adjustment which is a ballache at the best of times.