California ocean lowered

[sidepod]

Perhaps as the HD bars have a different section they reduce the slump in the suspension and thus make the vehicle sit slightly higher?

Please go and study how an anti roll bar works. !!

It is phisicslly impossible for it to apply any load either positive or negative to the springs. In other words it can't affect ride height.

In a static condition it is completely unloaded.
It is attached, via bushes, to the chassis but free to move around an axis across the vehicle. Think about this - this makes it impossible to load the suspension.

Outboard, it is attached, via drop links, to the wishbones of the suspension.
In a straight ahead condition under bump loading, both wheels will move upwards together. The AR bar will simply rotate in its bushes across the vehicle, unloaded.

In a cornering condition one wheel will load up more than the other. This condition causes a tortional load to be applied to the AR bar. This load causes the unloaded wheel (inside of the corner) to follow the loaded one. Gravity takes over and counteracts the roll in the vehicle.

As far as a VW suspension package is concerned, perhaps the heavy duty bar is fitted in conjunction with modified springs. The latter causing the ride height change.

A stiffer AR bar will also affect understeer.

 

[Stuart]

Hi sidepod.

To Quote T4WFA on June 3 2016.


I thought we'd now established that these do raise the height of the Cali (TommyGun's Alison F's recent post comparing 2 x T6's. One with, one without heavy duty roll bars). Takes it over the 2m point, and makes quite a visual difference - but the added ground clearance is valuable for some.



Just quoting some info from the forum.
Perhaps as the HD bars have a different section they reduce the slump in the suspension and thus make the vehicle sit slightly higher?

The problem here is an assumption that VW have fitted the same springs to both vans.

The two owners really need to compare the codes on their build sticker. This sticker is either on your service book or stuck in the cab area somewhere.

From investigation on the T6forum it turns out that identical spec vans can have different springs fitted.

 

[goose]

Hi I do like the look and feel of lowering Betty but she has 19" ABT alloys (see pic) so not to sure if it would work.

Any help would be appreciated.

Goose

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

Please go and study how an anti roll bar works. !!

It is phisicslly impossible for it to apply any load either positive or negative to the springs. In other words it can't affect ride height.

In a static condition it is completely unloaded.
It is attached, via bushes, to the chassis but free to move around an axis across the vehicle. Think about this - this makes it impossible to load the suspension.

Outboard, it is attached, via drop links, to the wishbones of the suspension.
In a straight ahead condition under bump loading, both wheels will move upwards together. The AR bar will simply rotate in its bushes across the vehicle, unloaded.

In a cornering condition one wheel will load up more than the other. This condition causes a tortional load to be applied to the AR bar. This load causes the unloaded wheel (inside of the corner) to follow the loaded one. Gravity takes over and counteracts the roll in the vehicle.

As far as a VW suspension package is concerned, perhaps the heavy duty bar is fitted in conjunction with modified springs. The latter causing the ride height change.

A stiffer AR bar will also affect understeer.

Very informative explanation thanks SP. I must say my understanding has always been that HD anti-roll bars were to add torsional rigidity/resistance in a lateral direction not vertical...as you clearly explain.
You mention AR bar affecting understeer...does it reduce understeer a little?

 

[sidepod]

Very informative explanation thanks SP. I must say my understanding has always been that HD anti-roll bars were to add torsional rigidity/resistance in a lateral direction not vertical...as you clearly explain.
You mention AR bar affecting understeer...does it reduce understeer a little?

To reduce understeer soften the front AR and stiffen the rear.

So fit a HD bar to the rear only and you can enjoy 80s hot hatch style lift-off oversteer in corner entry.

 

[reserves]

Hi I do like the look and feel of lowering Betty but she has 19" ABT alloys (see pic) so not to sure if it would work.

Any help would be appreciated.

Goose

View attachment 18814

Not sure how the ride will be but crying out to be lowered.

I only have 17's but no regrets at all here, I don't think the VW springs are too extreme so guessing you'd be ok.

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

To reduce understeer soften the front AR and stiffen the rear.

So fit a HD bar to the rear only and you can enjoy 80s hot hatch style lift-off oversteer in corner entry.

Very interesting. Unfortunately I'm not sure how adjustable, if at all, the factory fit AR bars are.

Lift off oversteer might put my vital life saving stock of wine and Peroni bottles at risk of damage...I'll have another glass and think about it.

 

[Skinnee D]

Very interesting. Unfortunately I'm not sure how adjustable, if at all, the factory fit AR bars are.

Lift off oversteer might put my vital life saving stock of wine and Peroni bottles at risk of damage...I'll have another glass and think about it.

You've got Castle Combe nearby to test it out

 

[sidepod]

Very interesting. Unfortunately I'm not sure how adjustable, if at all, the factory fit AR bars are.

Lift off oversteer might put my vital life saving stock of wine and Peroni bottles at risk of damage...I'll have another glass and think about it.

Not at all adjustable. You could always just weld increasingly long lengths of bar to it till you get it right.

 

[Ron]

I had mine lowered at the dealers before I picked it up. So ok to book it in once it gets delivered to your dealer.

Well worth it in my opinion as ride is better - it's more planted on the road and again the aesthetics are improved even on the standard wheels.

It was the first thing my wife noticed when we went to pick up the Cali that it looked less like on tip-toes as a normal Transporter or Cali. See photo we took at the dealers on day of pick up. 17" standard wheels + 30mm lowering kit.

View attachment 18729

Mine is 2WD and the ground clearance has not been an issue. I don't intend doing off roading in mine so it's fine on grass around campsites as are the big wheels I've since fitted. I don't have the HD roll bars. I've read that they increase the ride height so from my experience I'd advise to just have the 30mm lowering kit. See current set up below.

View attachment 18728

Off topic I know but what bike rack is that and where can I source it?.

TIA

 

[Days out]

Off topic I know but what bike rack is that and where can I source it?.

TIA

Hi. The bike rack is the VW T6 rack bought from my dealer.

 

[Ron]

Hi. The bike rack is the VW T6 rack bought from my dealer.

Thank you, I think I prefer that to my tow bar mounted bike rack

 

[Popthetop]

We had the VW lowering springs fitted just before xmas, and the HD rear AR fitted afterward. Springs made a big difference, flatter during cornering, doesn't feel so prone to wondering in cross winds - daughter doesn't look green.

The AR bar had a more subtle effect, feels more rigid through sweeping corners. All in all worthwhile.

Both mods added an extra £10.00 odd to the annual insurance premium - non factory fit.

 

[Skinnee D]

Good point about insurance Popthetop. Although Comfort didn't charge us for the VW lowering springs (they were already fitted pre-policy) they did still record them as a mod. Our uprated anti roll bars were a factory option so didn't need to be recorded.
Very interested too in your experience of how much improvement the springs alone make, not having had the opportunity to compare that. Thanks

 

[zerofour]

We've gone for factory fit HD roll bar and the dealer fit VW lowering springs with 17" wheels. I'm hoping this will gives us the best compromise for handling and comfort.

 

[swizzle]

Can anyone confirm the part number for the VW lowering springs, or is there anyone had them fitted by a dealer outside the UK?

We've searched and seen this thread:
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/lowering-springs.2223/page-3

We would like to have these fitted here in Switzerland, (on our 2016 T6 beach 4motion) but so far are drawing a blank with our dealer. According to them, the part number quoted in the above thread doesn't exist, and we can't seem to find them listed in the Swiss VW accessories catalogue... :-/ For warranty etc. We obviously want to make sure we get the right VW listed ones, rather than buying ourselves over the internet.

Is it the same lowering kit, regardless of Beach/Ocean, 2WD/4motion etc.?

Any pointers much appreciated...

 

[Skinnee D]

Can anyone confirm the part number for the VW lowering springs, or is there anyone had them fitted by a dealer outside the UK?

We've searched and seen this thread:
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/lowering-springs.2223/page-3

We would like to have these fitted here in Switzerland, (on our 2016 T6 beach 4motion) but so far are drawing a blank with our dealer. According to them, the part number quoted in the above thread doesn't exist, and we can't seem to find them listed in the Swiss VW accessories catalogue... :-/ For warranty etc. We obviously want to make sure we get the right VW listed ones, rather than buying ourselves over the internet.

Is it the same lowering kit, regardless of Beach/Ocean, 2WD/4motion etc.?

Any pointers much appreciated...

Mine's a lowered 2WD Ocean and definitely had the part number listed in that thread on the spring box - UK though. I was advised by VW that they didn't recommend lowering if 4WD. Hope that might be some help to you

 

[swizzle]

Thanks for your response Skinnee and for pointing out the potential 4WD limitation. We've read both cases, that it is an isn't possible! Hope we can get to the bottom of it.

The reported improved handling with the lowering springs on what is our daily driver is really what is drawing us to this (we've already got HD roll bars as a factory fit).

 

[smudge07]

Hi there - I hope you don't mind me asking a question about lowering springs. You posted in a thread and thought you might be able to help. We lowered our beach with VW before we picked it up in May. So far I have been a bit disappointed and wondered what your advice might be as you had done a few miles before you swapped.
I find the suspension a 'crashy' and slightly jarring over bumps/potholes - I know it is a van but not finding it very comfortable and thinking about switching back.
We live in rural Scotland so lots of small poor condition roads - nearest Motorway is about 3 hours drive away!!
We added the HD roll bars and wondering if this might be enough and we should go back to the bigger springs - appreciate your thoughts? Could have been installed wrongly?

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

Hi Smudge
We had HD anti roll bars from the factory order and then had 30 mm lowering sprigs fitted by an official VW Van centre 3 days after it arrived in the UK. This in my opinion has given my Cali...204 PS 4 Motion the perfect balance of handling (including fully loaded or not) and ride comfort.
One important thing I was told by the Van centre was that there are 2 types of lowering springs (with different part numbers) for either the 2 wheel drive or the 4 Motion...the latter,which they fitted to mine being stiffer to balance the added weight of the 4 Wheel system.
Maybe they fitted the stiffer ones incorrectly to your T5?

 

[WelshGas]

Hi there - I hope you don't mind me asking a question about lowering springs. You posted in a thread and thought you might be able to help. We lowered our beach with VW before we picked it up in May. So far I have been a bit disappointed and wondered what your advice might be as you had done a few miles before you swapped.
I find the suspension a 'crashy' and slightly jarring over bumps/potholes - I know it is a van but not finding it very comfortable and thinking about switching back.
We live in rural Scotland so lots of small poor condition roads - nearest Motorway is about 3 hours drive away!!
We added the HD roll bars and wondering if this might be enough and we should go back to the bigger springs - appreciate your thoughts? Could have been installed wrongly?

Hi Smudge
We had HD anti roll bars from the factory order and then had 30 mm lowering sprigs fitted by an official VW Van centre 3 days after it arrived in the UK. This in my opinion has given my Cali...204 PS 4 Motion the perfect balance of handling (including fully loaded or not) and ride comfort.
One important thing I was told by the Van centre was that there are 2 types of lowering springs (with different part numbers) for either the 2 wheel drive or the 4 Motion...the latter,which they fitted to mine being stiffer to balance the added weight of the 4 Wheel system.
Maybe they fitted the stiffer ones incorrectly to your T5?

I think the biggest difference between your 2 vehicles is where you live and the roads you regularly travel.

When I was in Norway, particularly up North, I saw lots of T5's and a good few T6's on Norwegian plates. A lot were very well looked after with many customisations but the one thing they weren't was lowered. With the roads up there I can understand why. Bad enough with standard suspension.

 

[JohnnyP]

Hi sidepod.

To Quote T4WFA on June 3 2016.


I thought we'd now established that these do raise the height of the Cali (TommyGun's Alison F's recent post comparing 2 x T6's. One with, one without heavy duty roll bars). Takes it over the 2m point, and makes quite a visual difference - but the added ground clearance is valuable for some.



Just quoting some info from the forum.
Perhaps as the HD bars have a different section they reduce the slump in the suspension and thus make the vehicle sit slightly higher?

Just to be clear about the "takes it over the 2m point" comment quoted earlier in this thread, I have standard suspension with factory fitted HD anti roll bars and my van has plenty room to spare (at least several cms) while driving under 2m height restricted car park barriers.

 

[RoB5urf]

I would think a Beach (especially the 2-seat bench version ) is quite a bit lighter than an SE/Ocean (unloaded anyway). Could that explain jarring that @smudge07 is experiencing (with HD roll bars)?

 

[zerofour]

I had the factory fit HD roll bars from new and then had then the VW 30mm lowering springs fitted a few weeks later on our 150 Ocean. The van was quite crashy before the springs were fitted and I haven't noticed it to be any worse after. I think the wheel/tyre combination also makes a difference. I stuck with 17" rims for this reason. We also have poor road surfaces down south too. I hope that helps.

 

[smudge07]

Thanks all for the replies - big help. I am going to check the part number when I get back home make sure they are the correct ones.

I wonder too with it being a lighter Beach it might not need them. It was the family turning green in the back - but as in Norway I think the roads aren't up to it. In fact the roads in the UK are terrible 3 billion a year on road tax and they only spend 1 billion on the road (I read this in the Daily Mail..). IN New Zealand the road where amazing only 5 million people live there..

I still have the springs and might swap them back - when/if I do I will report back - I have done 1,700 miles now so will be able to offer a decent review..

Thanks again.