[Vwdiesel] Spring Notes

[Roger Brown]

James Hansen wrote:
> No, in normal usage. Harder than normal usage will cause them to wear
> faster, but loss of rate in a spring is normal over time.
> Well, I think they were designed to last for one purchase.  Trouble is, the
> designers were not allowing for a diesel engine, and extreme longevity.
> Similar gas cars are rebar in China long ago.
> -James

I think they are going for the soft cushy ride impression on that first test drive in order to sell the vehicle.  My 4WD Toyota 
4Runner is the same way, they all have spring sag some number of years down the road.  I would imagine in their early consumer 
testing, they probably get 100 comments about the how the ride could be smoother to the one comment wondering how the soft 
springs will hold up over time.

One nice thing with leaf springs (like the rear of the VW pickup) is you can add leaves on to them, likewise on my Toyota, I did 
the same.  In fact on my front axle, I am running a "worn out" set of stock leaves from the rear of an '83 pickup and the "worn 
out" stock leaves from the rear of my '85 4Runner and the combination is a wonderful spring:
	http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_suspension-III.shtml#Front

Can't really do a lot with coils.  I do run a pair of old "heavy duty" coils on the front of my '82 pickup and added a rubber 
coil spacer twisted up as high into the soft part of the coil as possible and they do pretty nice.

-- 
    Roger