Re[2]: lower (I think we need a FAQ...)

[Toby Erkson <Toby_Erkson@ccm.intel.com>]

Caster is what keeps the car from wandering, much like the wheels on a shopping 
cart or wheeled chair.  Okay, maybe the shopping cart is a bad example, but you 
get the idea.  When you let go of the steering wheel while driving the vehicle 
naturally wants to straighten itself -- this is the result of caster.  If you 
have no caster, or the caster becomes negative of what it used to be, you get 
very poor stability while driving and that results in wandering and (what I 
call) tracking (the car stays in the ruts in the road, like on asphalt 
freeways).

Lowering a T3 (or T1 or T2 or ...) will compromise the caster.  The more you 
lower, the worst it gets.  One notch isn't too bad, two notches will cause a 
noticeable, but not necessarily drastic, change in steering (mine is dropped two
notches), etc.  For the Bug crowd solving the problem is easy as they can put in
caster wedges on the bottom torsion housing.  The unique (but still lovable!) T3
doesn't have this easy option, mainly because our suspension is designed to be 
more rugged (something along those lines).  Also, when you change the suspension
you change the comfort of the ride.  Lowering creates a harsher (firmer for us 
sport enthusiasts :) ride because stiffer shocks are needed to keep the vehicle 
from bottoming out.

Some early T3s did have problems with caster (at stock height) so VW made a 
slightly thicker rubber collar for the lower torsion housing mount (mentioned 
and diagrammed in the Haynes manual).  This apparently solved a problem when all
other measures didn't work.

     Toby Erkson, air_cooled_nut@pobox.com
     '72 VW Squareback 1.6L bored and stroked to 2.0L
     '75 Porsche 914 1.8L
     Portland, Oregon, http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/8501/

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: lower
Author:  type-3-errors@umich.edu at SMTPGATE_MIME
Date:    12/10/97 12:02 PM

Many many years ago I nearly ripped off the entire front end of a buddys
Squareback because I flew through an intersection, as I did many times in
mine, but he forgot to tell me his was lowered...

WHAM!!!  Showers of asphalt, almost sent the car sideways, ripped both the
ears off the beam..

Not to mention that the handeling was TERRIBLE, it wandered all over
the road in the wind cause it had negative caster and you felt every bump.

1 Mans experience..

Keith