Suspension, Wheels and Brakes

The suspension has been powder coated (June 13) and raised by about 40mm to accommodate 16” ZCW Force Shadow (used to be Merc alloys) alloy wheels. The front suspension has been fitted with 2wd HD springs which are longer than the standard syncro springs and uprated shocks. The rear is standard but has had an aluminium spacer fitted at the top of the springs to raise it to the required height. The shock absorbers are AVO adjustable jobs (supplied by Brickwerks). All of the bushes were replaced with poly bushes and the van rides lovely. The ball joints and bearings were done at the same time (June 13)

If you interested in raising your syncro then check out Campervanculture.com or search for jedthespread on Youtube as he has a video about fitting spacers and other good stuff.

The ZCW Force Shadow rims are rated at 1050kg corner weight so exceed the original VW specification. Remember when selecting wheels for your van that the cornering weights of these vans are considerably more than a lot of the cars out there so make sure the wheels you choose have the correct corner weight.

The tyres are HANKOOK RF10 DYNAPRO ATM - 225/75R16 106T TL. I have run BFG All terrains before and think these are every bit as good but considerably less in cost. The BFGs come in at about £107 each and the Hankooks at around £70 each.

The front brakes are the bigger 277mm vented brakes fitted to the late South African models which were fitted with the Audi 5 Cylinder engines. The rear brakes are standard.