New Volkswagen Setup You Have

[skoty]

I see that you guys have a Volkswagen setup coming soon for the 98-03 Jetta. I am glad to see this actually, I was about to e-mail you guys and see what setup I would need to go with for my MKIV Jetta.

But my question is, I have a decent knowledge of how to work on and fix cars. But I have never dabbled in suspension except for a few times on friends cars. Personally suspension scares the crap out of me. I get in there and its like...uhhhhh... So my question to you is, is a setup like you have coming for the MKIV VW' s fairly understandable to install? I figure with a good set of destructions I could do it myself.

My main issue is that I don' t wanna go to a shop here in Indianapolis and get screwed over. So what is your guys input on this? Should I give it a shot myself or should I save up the cash and have a shop here do it? And if so what shop would you recommend? Considering you are from Indiana I figure you deal with a lot of shops.

I love being the one that is terrified of suspension. [:@]

[SpArX]

It' s pretty straight forward, no worries! On your car I believe you' ll have to pull out your old strut assemblies and completely replace them with some sort of airbag struts similar to the shockwave setup. So you shouldn' t even need to disassemble the strut which is the most complex part or hazardous safety wise at most. The rest is pretty straight forward, and the instructions will show you through any tricky part. Unloading the suspension is always the most dangerous part, and you shouldn' t have to worry with what I had just mentioned not having to be taken apart. Plumbing the lines and everything is pretty straight forward, same with the wiring and all. Just read over the instructions and follow them to the T and your good to go, bout a weekends worth of work...

[skoty]

Right on man. My biggest worry is mainly just the alignment issues but I should get it aligned anyhow. I figured it was pretty straight forward, plumbing would just be the meticulous part IE sharp edges and what not, but I have done car audio for 1 1/2 years so its just like running wires. Now would the Jetta Kit come with compressor and all that or just the shock / strut replacements?

I have always been interested in Air Ride and since you are from Indiana I won' t go with anyone else. I was wondering if you guys could kinda show me a decent set up. I dont want the car to hop but I would like the rise time fairly quick and the dump as fast as possible.

[SpArX]

I' m not with ART, but I have installed some of their items on my truck. I' m no rep or professional installer by any means. But going as you having stereo installing experience your on a good start! You are right, that will make you plumb the lines better, just take your time, and your already there with the wiring. There is no per se kits as everybody wants different speed settings. But if you want to dump as fast and rise as fast as you can I' d go with 1/2 lines on the Big Red setup on the RideProE package. It give you the best techonology has out there for digital readouts and adjustability as wel as quality in products at the same time. I don' t know enough about all ART' s products and what exactly you' ll need for the VW, but I' m sure Darren or BJ will step in to help you out if you say you' ve seen a specific setup for your car on their website. Normally a car like yours runs a strut bag setup front and rear, pretty easy install, and I thought mine was easy! Yours is really easy. Nothing to worry bout, plus in the future when you dump the pressure in your airbags you never have the preloaded suspension hazard I mentioned before. It' s really safe to install and work on thereafter! I' ve changed out the spindle on my truck in 1 hour both sides because of this ease of use! Just dump your bags and tear apart the suspension, no jacks or safety chains needed after the install! Gotta luv bags! Will never go back! :D

[skoty]

Ahh sorry for thinking you were with ART. Thanks a lot though man, that boosted my confidence a lot. I figured it cant be all too hard to do. Just a weekend and some beers.

I do have one concern even though I have seen it has been brought up in another thread is the reliability in the Winter time. I figure I am gonna run the lines through the interior of the car anyhow just out of safety of wear and tear. But just curious on the reliability of everything during winter. I figure with colder air PSI will drop a lil just curious about condensation.

Seriously though thanks a lot you have helped me tremendously.

Now just waiting for Darren or BJ' s reply about the VW setup. And what to go with.

[SpArX]

Yeah, a reputable tire shop will take care of your alignment. You just have to tell them the ride height you want them to align it at and your good to go. Some of the boys here mentioned running an antifreeze in the system to help with the condensation problem in winter. I' m not sure how much to use or where to introduce it though? Wouldn' t hurt asking someone driving a semi with bags how they go through winter. I wouldn' t worry about anything else in winter though other than freezing up the valves or solenoids due to moisture. I' m sure you' ll enjoy your install, the results will make you want to bag another ride! I can' t wait for my next project!

[darren@ridetech.com]

Actually we don' t have a kit for the front yet. Probably won' t either. The front suspension has some problems keep us from making a kit for it.