[Vwdiesel] a2 Jetta rear suspension

[James Hansen]

depends on the spring Stephen.
What I would do in that case was measure how much the stock spring is 
compressed in inches at the desired ride height from free uninstalled 
length.  You can then use that formula to reverse engineer the spring 
you had, then go look for one that would fit the spring perches, and 
have 70 ish pounds per inch higher rate. This is just guessing on the 
installed length, but having say 3" compression, it would now support 
70# X 3" X 2springs= 210# more load capacity at the same ride height as 
stock

To go one step further, you need weight of the rear axles on the ground, 
then you know how much weight the springs support, and add how ever much 
you need to carry, divide by two (two springs). reverse calculate your 
spring rate from that point, using your compressed length at normal 
chassis height as an end point and you should be away looking for a 
spring that suits- or just order the right one from a supplier of rated 
springs.

sorry, not a quick answer... but it's actually no big deal once you've 
done it a time or two.

It's especially handy to know this stuff if wedging a big engine into 
the space where a small one once lived.
:-)
-james

Stephen Kraus wrote:
> Can I just ask a question to clarify:
> 
> Had I gone with my plan to take the springs off of a small pickup truck, 
> would that have worked? I'll need to know for my next Jetta
> 
> -- 
> ______________________________
> Stephen Kraus
> UB3RATL4Sf00 at gmail.com <mailto:UB3RATL4Sf00 at gmail.com>;