softer ride suspension

the ride in my 1985 1600 cabby is a bit harsh for me, ime looking for a smoother softer ride, can anyone advise me what i need to change, ie which shock suspension setup?

depends what it already got on it? standard Boge or Bilstein dampers and factory springs are very comfortable and give a nice ride
it may be the suspension on yours is just worn out? or is it a lowering kit

ime prety sure the origonal setup is on, not lowered, ive just been out to have a look, but cant find any makers name on the shock absorbers, its not long past its mot so ime tthinking that the shocks should be ok, or do you think they can still be warn and still pass the mot?. do the bushes in the wishbones etc make much of a differenct to the ride if they are on the way out?

Hi,

    what sort of gap on the top mounts have you got and what condition are the front bump stops in? Take of the caps if still in place to check top mounts.

    just replaced top mounts, bump stops and dampers, all where the original equipment and kept the original springs. Has transformed the ride in terms of harshness, especially holes in road and speed bumps. Had to go to a crawl before so as not to clatter your teeth.  

    but to be honest its never going to give as smooth a ride as a 3-5 year old family saloon.

pic of bad top mount


pic of newish topmount

hi, my top mounts look about the same as in the picture, so it seems i need to change them, can you explain to me what the bump stops are?, do you think it would make a big difference in the ride just changing these and leaving the shocks as they are, ime reluctant to spent 250-300 quid on new shocks if its not going to make that much difference, on the other hand i dont mind if it will make a more comfortable ride

Hi,

    see this thread, the bump stop is on the first picture, the black plastic bits. comes in two parts the bump stop and the dust boot, the dust boot looks like a small plant pot. It is possible bump stops might have be perished so little left.

http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=30872

The shock absorbers are not that expensive, just slip inside the original struts once you have taken out the originals. Also remember you will need to get camber and tracking adjusted at a garage after the works.

I used avs for parts
http://www.vwspares.co.uk/g1cab.php

the lot comes to about ?80 delivered so as long as you can DIY the only extra cost is the camber and tracking.  And these are for febi top mounts and decent sachs shock absorbers. I had the help from a friend and took about 1 and quater hours per side, but thats mainly cause I aint done anything like this before and was being shown. Reckon someone used to working on a car could do in under an hour per side.

hi again, thanks for the info ile send for the parts and have a go at changing them, one question would you go for the gas or oil shocks, whats the difference?

Hi,

    I was advised to go for gas.

    from my little knowledge they both have oil in, its just the gas ones are presurised with gas as well. This increases boiling point of the oil and so therefore reduces fade, So they therefore have to get hotter before the performance suffers. The heat is generated by the shock absorber going up/down all the time, so its not just about having to drive the car hard to generate fade, if that makes sense.

     remember with AVS to get the right parts for your car, I think the page I sent you too was for the cabriolet, just because thats the one for my car, so double check.

     good luck with the swap, any questions just ask.