Hi Dennis, what shocks do you recommend for a syncro Westfalia? I'm on my
second set of Old Man Emus, they seem fine to me but I wouldn't mind trying
something different. I don't do much in the way of off road travel, just
the occasional Forest Service roads.

Regards,
Mark

On Wed, Apr 29, 2020 at 9:33 AM Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> The Bilsteins are a favorite for me except for price. The difference
> between the B4 and B6 series is incremental I have the Old man EMU on Fun
> Bus and I have installed them on a few others. Hate them. I keep thinking
> of an excuse to replace them. I have also had a number of them fail,
> (locked up). Overall this concept of suspension stiffness is over rated.
>
> There is nothing better that the right tools and a few tricks to get a job
> done. My air tool collection is getting big. Practice defiantly helps.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alistair Bell [mailto:albell@shaw.ca]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2020 9:16 PM
> To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
> Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM; Eric Caron <ericcaron96@comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: Bilstein B6, 16” Syncro shock install
>
> Dennis,
>
> I didn’t think of that , good tip. It’s funny how my attitude towards a
> job changes when the best laid prep goes pear shaped . My excuse is I’m
> working on the van in a gravel driveway with one ye on the weather and an
> old body that ain’t as quick or strong as it used to be :-)
>
> After some miles on the less than perfect rural roads here. Van feels
> firmer, but yet the feeling is muted. Not harsh, I mean the small bumps in
> road aren’t sharply felt. But over all it’s not a pillowy ride. Which is ok
> by me. I was worried the shocks would feel too harsh, but that is not the
> case.
>
> Alistair
>
> > On Apr 28, 2020, at 9:50 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > A trick to install the lower end of the shocks in the pressed steel
> arms is to use piece of 1/2" threaded rod with 2 nuts. With the nuts inside
> the mount thread them out to push the sides out again.
> >
> > Eric, Syncro shock replacement requires dealing with the spring as the
> lower perch is on the shock, not the control arm. A different job indeed
> from the 2WD.
> >
> > Dennis
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> On Behalf Of
> Alistair Bell
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2020 12:17 PM
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Subject: Re: Bilstein B6, 16” Syncro shock install
> >
> > Eric,
> >
> > At the best of times the Syncro front shock install is more difficult
> than the 2wd. You know, I might have missed some obvious technique with
> these latest shocks, but the strong gas charge on them, and no way of
> keeping them compressed, really really ruined my weekend :-)
> >
> > I hope the effort was worth it :-)
> >
> > Ab
> >
> >> On Apr 28, 2020, at 8:37 AM, Eric Caron <ericcaron96@comcast.net>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Wow!
> >>
> >>   I know I had it much easier doing the shocks on my 2WD.  And thank
> goodness this list talked me through it before reading this post.  I might
> never have tried it!
> >>
> >> I’m looking forward to your further rides and experimentation.
> >>
> >> The 4WD is very cool but man I am good with my simpler 2WD.  But I
> won’t be following Alistair to his favorite camping spot!
> >>
> >> Eric Caron
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>> On Apr 28, 2020, at 11:13 AM, Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I managed to get the front shocks in this last weekend. I’ve had
> shocks in and out of my and other syncros before, following the Bentley
> instructions and using home made version of the guide rod tool shown in
> manual.
> >>>
> >>> But these shocks were a real bear to install.
> >>>
> >>> Two reasons.
> >>>
> >>> One: the shocks are gas charged very very firmly. I couldn’t compress
> them, if I could there was no obvious way to hold them compressed and
> install. Top of shock cylinder does not have the metal cap with slight lugs
> as other shock have. This means you cannot install the lower shock bolt and
> swing the shock and spring up and under the upper mounting bracket. The
> extended shock prevents that.
> >>> The shock has to go thru lower arm beyond the bolt hole.
> >>>
> >>> Two: the shock lower bushing was a very tight fit into lower arm. Old
> shocks measured 53.95-54.00 mm. New shocks were 54.25 mm. That was enough
> to make things very difficult. I filed off 0.25 mm of bushing. I suspect
> that perhaps the lower arm, this is the presses steel kind on my 86, was
> compressed a little by the mounting bolt.
> >>>
> >>> I took off the radius rod, and the brake caliper, to allow the lower
> arm to drop as far as possible.
> >>>
> >>> Got the shock thru the lower arm, compressed spring and bump stop on
> shock, then tried to swing the shock up and under the upper shock mount. It
> took a lot of mucking around with a bottle jack under the lower arm, pry
> bars, wedges , cursing, to get the shock under the upper mount and the
> shock up thru the lower arm.
> >>>
> >>> The home made guide rod I made was very much needed to get the shock
> rod up into place.
> >>>
> >>> This was one of the most annoyingly difficult “easy tasks” I’ve ver
> done on my van.
> >>>
> >>> I did use the smaller of the two sizes of spring perch spacers i made
> for the shocks. And I did remove the previously installed upper , top of
> spring, spacers. End result was same ride height as before. I’ve got 19.25”
> fender lip to wheel centre.
> >>>
> >>> The old shocks, boge, I’m thinking they might even be original,
> actually felt ok when I pulled and pushed the piston. I was expecting
> worse. The new shocks installed and road test, are slightly firmer, not a
> heck of a lot firmer though. Haven’t driven on any rough stuff yet.
> >>>
> >>> Alistair
> >>
>
>