lowered suspension

Hi,
My golf has previously had its suspension lowered before I got it, and low profiles fitted. The ride is incredibly hard - if I drive over so much as a frozen pea the car bangs.
Is this normal - or do I have a crap conversion?

My suspension is lowered but the ride is only slightly worse than a standard GTI.

Can you give us details on the ride height, size of wheels, and size of tyres and also which model (hatchback or cabby and trim spec), since all these factors affect the way the suspension works.

hi mine is just about on the floor and the slightist  bump go's with a bang so i think its normal

Hi everyone I'm new to this club, I don't even know if I'm on the right forum, I have a mk1 cab 1992 1.8. Clipper, karman edition.
I recently put 40mm lowering springs on it.
I new it would affect the ride, but it's alot worse than i thought, I'm struggling to live with it.
Is there anything I can do to make the ride a little more barable? Other than putting the old ones back on ?
Really need some help on this!!

Harvard said

Hi everyone I'm new to this club, I don't even know if I'm on the right forum, I have a mk1 cab 1992 1.8. Clipper, karman edition.
I recently put 40mm lowering springs on it.
I new it would affect the ride, but it's alot worse than i thought, I'm struggling to live with it.
Is there anything I can do to make the ride a little more barable? Other than putting the old ones back on ?
Really need some help on this!!

What wheel size and tyre size do you have?

Did you change the shock absorbers at the same time as fitting the new springs?

Thanks for the hasty reply.
The wheels are 15 inch and the tyres are 195-50,
I changed the back 2 shocks,  just used standard ones.
The ones on the front I didn't change but they were in good condition.
Cheers jake

Tyres too low profile, and mismatched shocks, will give a poor ride.

There are all sorts of possible issues when lowering a car. Springs alone are usually a bad idea, especially with worn dampers.

When you lower using springs and standard shocks you are running with the piston in the dampers lower than the intended operating, therfore the damping is compromised. Hence the harshness.

TBH lowering a car is always going to compromise ride, the lower you go, the stiffer you need the suspension to be, otherwise you would bottom out the car!

When I replaced my suspension all top mounts, and bolts were changed, after nearly 20 years they were worn out!

I run very low on cheap coils, but overall the ride is ok, only seems harsh on very poor roads or at slow speeds. Can't really remember the original suspension, other than it wollowing around corners!

Oh yeah, forgot to say that bangs are not normal under normal driving on average roads.

So a bang so hard all the dials on the instrument panel stop working is not a factory feature then?

Harvard said

Hi everyone I'm new to this club, I don't even know if I'm on the right forum, I have a mk1 cab 1992 1.8. Clipper, karman edition.
I recently put 40mm lowering springs on it.
I new it would affect the ride, but it's alot worse than i thought, I'm struggling to live with it.
Is there anything I can do to make the ride a little more barable? Other than putting the old ones back on ?
Really need some help on this!!

try putting some caravan rubbers in the springs, u can get them from any motor discount store for about a tenner, they make the ride harder and help dampen the springs stopping it from bottoming out, its a cheap option and best part of the time works

Something's very wrong there mate! How has the car been lowered?
Sounds like a bodged lowering job or an issue with the dampers.

Mine is the white one, as you can see, it's lowered a few mm. No bangs, just a smashed arb from time to time.

So plain and simple, what would you guys do in my situation? Didn't think my tyres were very low profile ? They don't look it, what sort of sizes should I be looking at?
Obviously my ride will never be tip top, just want to try and minimise the banging?
Thanks

I think everything on this car has been bodged.

On the bright side, putting it all right is the best way to learn - so apologies in advance for the questions I'll be asking in the coming months.

I went for the cheap option , very foolish i now realise, all I did was replace the old springs with -40mm spaxx ones, I did replace the mounts on the front because the old ones were knackared ,

For the record the rest of the car is great, I use it everyday, it's not tucked away In a garage, but this suspension issue is a real pain.

Personally i think -40 is too much, if you still want some comfort then - 25 ish  is i think better. some members will say mines got -60 and its fine but i doubt it is.

i run eibach -35 springs on mine with boge gas shockers,ride is good,BUT i used smaller foam bump stops from a fiat panda  :mrgreen:  if you use the standard bump stops you will get a bumpy ride,also good quality top mounts will help like genuine or febi ones
Bert

i have the exact same problem with rock solid lowered suspension on my gti. ive recently bought a set of adjustable coilovers which are being fitted tomorrow so hopefully that will sort things out

adroy… Just take your time dude and take your time with the project and ask as many questions you want, I have been doing that for the last 3 years and the car hasn't turned out too bad so far.

Havard… you have learned a lesson, but keep it real, I haven't spent a fortune so far, shop arround and see what secondhand bits are about, there are some bargins to be had, but on the flip side "rare" parts aren't always rare!