Dougs951S

I was playing around on this site that carries cheap solid torsion bars up to 28 mm http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails....de=C12-6569-28 ( for a VW based dune buggy ) that are the correct size for our cars for 150 dollars, and I came across these. http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails....CC-C10-4075-CH They are designed to replace stock super beetle rear shocks and seem like they might be a good fit for our cars in conjunction with torsion bars or possibly as a way to use a higher spring rate up front and still keep the stock torsion bars. I dont know anything about the lb/in rating of the spring used or the damping of the shock and its safe to say they are not adjustable but if they fit it might be a good idea. At 85 dollars I might just try them to replace some aging koni yellows in the rear and combine them with 27 or 28 mm T bars and 250# coilovers in front for a nice street/occasional DE car.

Will Feather

I work at Advance Auto Parts on the weekend and we sell various shocks like that for multiple vehicles that carry heavy loads or to compensate for weak springs. Always thought about trying them as a cheap way to coil over the rear on an early car...

Dougs951S

Seems like they could be made to fit late style trailing arms as well with some simple mods to thr mounting bushing. You would need to make a spacer since the mount on the beetle suspension is narrower than on the 944. I don't know if the length is correct, I know the rear shock length changed in 85.5 but I can't remember by how much so they may only fit early cars.

mikey_audiogeek

I posted some info here:
https://rennlist.com/forums/7195804-post14.html
Good luck!

Mike

Dougs951S

GREAT info Rob, that was exactly what I was looking for. Any chance this would work with KYB rear shocks? I ask because I have a brand new set still tied with the plastic tie in my parts bin. One more question, when these are installed, will I have to reindex the T-bars to bring the rear height back to where it was before installation, or is it not dramatic and something that can be taken care of with the eccentrics? I ask because if a reindex is required, it would change the spring rates I would choose as I would simply opt to delete the bars at that point.

murrayg

Can anyone confirm this? I thought only the lower mounting bolt diameter changed.

chrenan

Ground control sells a custom eccentric with greater offset that can be used to lower the car more than the stock eccentric adjustor allows. It came with my rear shock and coil over kit - they provided since I told them I'd be running the kit as a helper to the torsion bars.

Van

Having recently taken apart both a steel-control arm and aluminum-control arm car, the mounting locations are indeed a little different. The early cars take a slightly longer shock. But I spoke with Chuck at Paragon, and he said the late shocks fit both cars. Just that the shorter late shock will limit the movement at full droop.

Dougs951S

chrenan, what lb springs did your coilovers come with, and how much did they raise the rear? Are you running stock Tbars? I'm trying to avoid pulling the rear suspension at all costs but if I have to, I only want to do it once. I dont want the car that low anyway since it is still driven on the street. How is the ride with say, 450# springs in the rear and no T bars vs stock T bars and 225# springs? The overall wheel rates should be similar but obviously I'm guessing the T bar delete car would be more compliant and responsive?

chrenan

I've got 250 pound springs in the front and stock torsion bars (1987 model) in the rear with 200 pound helper springs. I did all the math at the time to work out the effective rates front and rear and this gave me a reasonably balanced outcome. It's not that stiff, a good street/track compromise. However my street driving has just been to and from track events the last few years, so I'm going to redo everything and go much stiffer with a 95ONE torsion bar delete.