Surely i need bump stops?

[grimmy 0]

I took my car to a local vw specialist earlier to book it in for a few things, one of which was fitting a lowering kit. I got new bump stops with the kit that i believe will need to be trimmed down by the 40mm the kit lowers the car.

 

I asked the guy about this and he said he wouldn't bother putting the bump stops on?! If you're hitting the bump stops then you've got a problem anyway. I was a bit taken back by this comment and thought i'd get some more advice, surely you need them incase you bottem out as it were.

 

Cheers

[ben16v 0]

i`m pretty sure they`r for a reason, i`d be a bit concerned

[herisites 0]

You do need them mate, especially on the rear as the car essentially 'rides on them' but you just need to cut them like i told you. I had the suspension on my car without the bumpstops and it was very bouncy and wollowy over bumps etc and i was told i definately needed bump stops which is why i bought them.

[grimmy 0]

Yeah thats what i thought, and as i've got a brand new set supplied by you with the kit, why the hell doesn't he just put them on? I might just get my mate to fit the kit really cos he'll do it cheaper, and he knows what he's doing. You'd expect an actual independant specialist to know what he's doing though...

[CazzaVR 0]

Which garage is it, mate? That's a bit concerning. Was he intending on keeping the old ones on 'cos they're in decent nick?

[grimmy 0]

No no, he hasn't seen the kit yet as the cars not booked in for a couple of weeks. It was Blakes Services. Very close garage and seems good enough for most things, but i was a bit dubious about what he said. He did also say sod anything but the bilstein PSS9 kits, he's never seen a kit as good as those. So i might get saving...

[CazzaVR 0]

Hmmm, Richard usually knows what he's talking about. Just ask him to fit them, whether he thinks it's necessary or not ;)

 

I've got Koni coilovers on the VR, and the ride is excellent. Not too harsh at all, but much better than standard for handling- car stays lovely and flat. Coilovers are much better than a kit (springs/shocks).

[grimmy 0]

Yeah i aim to get coilovers in the not too distant future, just as one of my rear shocks is leaking badly i needed something sharpish and this kit came up at the right time for next to nothing so its just a temporary fix.

[_leon_ 0]

have heard from a few people that they're not necessary. i'd check that with quite a few people first.

[davidwort 0]

have heard from a few people that they're not necessary. i'd check that with quite a few people first.

 

I've never quite understood the comments about them running on the bumpstops, I've had them off loads of times with different shocks on the car, and fitted new cut down stops to run with the 40mm lower springs I have on the car. I can't see what is meant by them running on them??

The car rides on the springs, and the spring top plate sits against the rubber mount not the bump stop. Only if the spring is compressed a long way will the stop hit the bottom spring plate, the idea of the stop is to prevent the spring from compressing totally and a pot hole taking out the top of your suspension turret! - at least that's how it looks to work to me :?

If you leave full length stops on the car with lowering springs, it will hit the stops all the time and they'll get smashed apart very quickly, seen loads of cars like that.

I guess you could run without them, I'd have thought you risk damage to the car though if you hit a big pot hole or something.

[_leon_ 0]

that makes sense to me david. how do you know what length of bump stop required for coilovers? is it as simple as assuming an 'un-lowered' coilover unit has the same standard length of compression available as original units?

[grimmy 0]

Hmmm I appreciate you probably can not use bump stops, but as you say the first pot hole you hit it'll smash the top mounts off? I know a guy who'll fit it for me now, and he'll do it properly ;)

[_leon_ 0]

andycowuk ran his coilovers without bump stops - no problems whatsoever - and i'm 110% positive he hit more than a few potholes around the shocking edinburgh roads. he said he had no problems. fit them if youre feeling unsure about it.

[corozin 0]

Coilovers have bumpstops already built into them.

[_leon_ 0]

Coilovers have bumpstops already built into them.

 

= educated. cheers :)

[corozin 0]

Hey, no problem. Sorry if my post looked a bit intolerant, that wasn't my intention at all

:)

[W3RKD 0]

Also thats what the disc is for on the top of a coilover shock.. they need to breathe. all coilovers come ready for instalation just attach the top mount and off you go..