JVAB's own 50mm Soooper Bitchin Suspenders

John, is the address on your rallyrace site the one I should be sending stuff to?

Quote
aj_johnson
John, is the address on your rallyrace site the one I should be sending stuff to?

If you want it to get here it's probably best to send it here---same address since 2001

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

My wifey likes soy so that might work..so I guess the question is what makes a damper need rebuilding every year or every race or whatever... And is that rebuild interval lengthened with better seals,scrapers etc.. I know at least in mtn bike set ups more or " better " seals can take away small bump sensitivity and increase stiction. I get it that this whole site is about performance or performance/$.. I'm just some guy who puts ice racing tires on my car every winter and goes and plays on Georgetown lake... So... spend $2500 ish once on some super dooper waaay overkill for a daily ( uh and support the rally community ) but also have to have my car down for a week every year. Or buy bilstein hd's and king springs and toss em as needed... What do you Guys do? Make fun of me as necessary. I'll standby

Quote
derkahn
Make fun of me as necessary. I'll standby

Where to start....where to start. Subaru....engine....something something...reliability something something.

If you're just wanting good performance out at Georgetown, swap back to the OEM suspension for moAR body roll. It'll help with finding more traction...even though I know you do run proper studded tires.

As for the rest of the year....wagon suspension is umm, soft.

Dave

uh guilty as charged... valve died.. so new motor.. and short circuit between right arm and left leg.. so rebuild tranny ,, but I got to put a lsd up front which is fun...
im sure whatever I get will be good but this jvab guy seems to know a thing or two about suspension and if im going to spend the $ anyway why not get something as good or better than coilovers that only lower a car and lessen the travel.. or maybe I need to get me one of those squished bmw's like you have..

Quote
DaveK

Quote
derkahn
Make fun of me as necessary. I'll standby

Where to start....where to start. Subaru....engine....something something...reliability something something.

If you're just wanting good performance out at Georgetown, swap back to the OEM suspension for moAR body roll. It'll help with finding more traction...even though I know you do run proper studded tires.

As for the rest of the year....wagon suspension is umm, soft.

Dave

Dave is spot on. If I made anything for serious below freezing work it would be like SOFT cause SOFT+ serious cold means that 2.5 to 5W oil in the shock becomes like soft pooooo and valving become stiffer..
You want to have a hint when the little subtle steering input has done something (weigh shift) so you valve soft and spring just a tab firmer or same as sporty stuff so you FEEL the car settle and hunker down

You want some serious above freezing stuff gimme a call but I know cold too, hell the year I started modding Bilsteins we got snow EVERY DAY from like 5th of October to late March and sometime we were out in -20C weather on bikes.. ATF mixed 50-50 with diesel, that was the ticket.

OEM and doesn't even have to be fresh when its cold cold cold.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Quote
derkahn
uh guilty as charged... valve died.. so new motor.. and short circuit between right arm and left leg.. so rebuild tranny ,, but I got to put a lsd up front which is fun...
im sure whatever I get will be good but this jvab guy seems to know a thing or two about suspension and if im going to spend the $ anyway why not get something as good or better than coilovers that only lower a car and lessen the travel.. or maybe I need to get me one of those squished bmw's like you have..

LSD up front? Usually that's the last step with subaru diffs. I don't remember, but does your car already have a good rear diff? Upgraded fronts without the others has been known to promote understeer.

If you do get the JVABs, I will need for you to arrange a time to meet up with Josh and get some pictures with lots of air under the wagon.

There's certainly something to be said for having a dedicated car to beat up on and there are other options besides the squished BMW - possibly Open Light since you need AWD to run with Our Gang?

Dave

Quote
john vanlandingham
Dave is spot on. If I made anything for serious below freezing work it would be like SOFT cause SOFT+ serious cold means that 2.5 to 5W oil in the shock becomes like soft pooooo and valving become stiffer..
You want to have a hint when the little subtle steering input has done something (weigh shift) so you valve soft and spring just a tab firmer or same as sporty stuff so you FEEL the car settle and hunker down

I swapped out the 40mm shocks for the OEM shocks that came on the 4cyl compact. Super soft with the 6cyl lump I've got up front, but I think the turn-in on ICE/SNOW is much improved...good thing we don't have jumps out at BWDS or I'd be testing the hell outta my skidplate.

Dave

Thanks john, I will give you a ring.
so can i ask you and the hive about what makes a damper last a while (or not last a while)before it needs rebuilding.. surely you have seen hundreds of em ... so what goes wrong..or what wears out that they need rebuilding?

Quote
derkahn
Thanks john, I will give you a ring.
so can i ask you and the hive about what makes a damper last a while (or not last a while)before it needs rebuilding.. surely you have seen hundreds of em ... so what goes wrong..or what wears out that they need rebuilding?

Keep trying, I may be heading for the hospital tomorrow....again...(shit.)


call maybe around 0900.

As for what wears out..
very little.
Mostly its battle damage. Stuff gets bent...Everybody watches Loeb and Solberg and Lathund ram into anything --it seems--- and they ram into all kinds of stuff and usually its a insert body, or a shock shaft..

I've done a couple of hundred cars and as far as i know I've had one bent tube and that was my dear friend Tom Burress who--and this is a compliment---is a freaking savage animal---he bent the pin at the top an=bout 30 degrees and the steel was mushroomed over, and bent the lower tube which is 4130 Chrome Moly thick wall stuff...

Me: Sweet bleedin' Jeebuz , amg what the fawk did you hit with my poooor innocent struts to bend them like this?"

Tom B, with big deer eyes all shucks innocent:
" Uh I don't recall anything...heh heh
Then again we had a broken header so I couldn't hear anything, so i have no idea what or when i hit anything...Only noticed at service..

(Big silly smile) but we won the stage!!!!

Eventually after trillions of cycles there a piston ring made of Teflon impregnated flat nylon that sits on the piston head, they eventually can wear.. Internal guide bushes can eventually die...
With crap service the strut guide bushes can show some wear..but with some fresh grease every 2-4 events some guys have gone 4-5 years and everything was purdy as can be..

I did have one poor guy so some Rally X thing inside the city limits of Calagary like in Novemeber, and the guy parked the car and 6 months later in the spring the chrome of the insert and the rods were eaten up with salt damage..If you imagine sneezing a wet one, everywhere the spittle landed, it rusted..and that included on the shaft or rod..
It was terrible and I felt bad but it was brutal salt..nothing I could do..I sent them down to Bilstein, lost money on that and sent them back, lost money on that too, they said SALT DAMAGE

Naturally the rust damage from the salt was my fault, the guy complained all over what a hard guy to deal with I am..
another Calgary problem..seems like can't make anybody happy in just that one part of Canada...

So you've been warned, watch for salt.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Just found out I bent my second insert at Olympus after hitting a !!! rock flat out on a straight on Nawhatzel. I have to admit both times I've bent a strut I was completely at fault and I believe the first time it was from hitting some low cattle crossings at....whatever the fastest speed we could hit them at was

Thanks John, your suspension is one of the few things I was actually surprised that I bent, and also one of the greatest parts of the car. I'll be calling to order up a new insert soon!

---

-Tom
DemonRallyTeam | Fine Tuning | CTS Turbo & RP Turbos | RalleyTuned | JRM | Meister Autowerks
Spitfire EFI | Product Apparel | JVAB Imports | NLS | AP Tuning | USRT

Add us on Facebook | Next Event: 2013 Olympus Rally June 22-23 Olympia, WA

I have always wondered why people don't use something like this on their high zoot dampers...
damper cover
especially if they live in salty places...at least in the winter.. and you can get camo for street cred!looks like they zip off if you need to inspect em and keep everything clean...JVAB that's it! you need to market damper snuggies... warm ones for the winter and cooler ones for the summer, to keep those oil temps in check


looks like they zip off too for easy inspection, lubrication....so what you were saying before, for a DD car in a non salty place I might be able to go a few years w/out needing to remove,refresh dampers barring Kern jumping my car at core?

More steel to make some longer tubes for those who have long things is on the way---like those Blue Sub-a-rats rear and the BMW fronts, and 7 more "donor" suspension units have been shipped..

Soon it will be time for some deposits.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

That's some serious droop travel!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2013 06:15PM by DaveK.

John, what was it I needed for the rear suspension conversion? I think you said a section of truck exhaust pipe? cant remember. I was going to start gathering stuff.