Over the past few weeks I have been revisiting a pet project. On paper it's technically possible and a few chaps overseas have had a go. My situation is that I love offroaders. I currently own an 84' Merc G-Wagen, a 94' Isuzu Trooper Bighorn and a '90 VW T3 Syncro van. All these are great but are expensive to run as a daily. Also 4wd is not always required so the extra weight and expense is a pain but come winter they do earn their keep. The Syncro was one of the few cars in the area able to escape the villages last year. The car will be used primarily by my wife to transport equipment and children for work. I'm wondering if something a)smaller b)2wd c)diesel and d)lifted would be a viable alternative to the Trooper/G-Wagen as a winter daily/summer fun vehicle. I'd like something like a TDi Golf Country but the purchase price would be out of my reach as they were never factory produced and the fact they are LHD makes them a bit of a fail. Golf Country I had considered a Syncro as I had owned one before but the 1.8 petrol (weedy, thirsty) and initial purchase price put me off. VW also offered a heavy duty suspension kit for them which I was told 2 years ago was still available. On VWVortex some chaps have lifted cars on the Mk2 and 3 platform with success. On the Mk2 they use Mk3 front and Passat (estate I believe) rear suspension and uprated bushes, plus some 'choice' spacers. Lifted FWD Mk2 Golfs: I'm not sure how safe/sensible the lift practice is but modifying something like a Mk3 Golf TDi seems more practical than most options. Cheap to run, maintain etc. By all accounts with the right tyres it would also be quite capable offroad. Kamei messed with the Syncro and came up with this: There is also a Mk4 2" lift kit on the Vortex. I think it looks good and with a Golf TDI would make for great winter mode transport. Opinions and technical thoughts very welcome.
Bumping this.... No comments because you lot don't like/laugh at the idea? Got a tidy 5dr GTD now which I think would be a good candidate.
I can't see any reason why you couldn't space the front and rear of a mk2 so it sat higher. Probably would be a good idea to raise the engine & box the same ammount as you lower the subframe.
you could put some longer springs in the suspension or some lift rings under the springs which could give you a couple of inche but you couldnt go more without more modification due to the way the front wishbones are on a golf. wouldnt be a so much of a problem on the rear you could lower the subframe and engine to create a body lift but it would still be the same ground clearance on the front.and to do that you would have to extend the steering column so it could still connect with the steering rack.and shorten the exhaust downpipe.
The Country uses different parts than a normal Mk2 as it is Syncro based. It's also fitted with a subframe system offering what is effectively a body lift, rather than a pure suspension upgrade. There are chaps in the US using the Golf/Passat setup effectively. Here's one fitted with a 1.9TDI [video=youtube;iFw9ZINupzU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFw9ZINupzU[/video] I'm just toying whether to try coilovers at low adjustment first to see what difference that might make.
mk4 golfs have spacers that can be added under the front top mount bearing they should fit the plus axle mk3 strut and top mount 1J0412311 and 1J0412311A one is 20mm the other is 10mm you can stack them up to give any hight plus the rase the piston up in the shocker at the same time
I thought the syncro had big lumps of metal between the subframe + axle so essentially its a body lift and ground clearance stays the same? Sounds like a fun idea and Iv seen a sirocco mk2 lifted right up for field trials and 5th gear used a Mk1 golf with a 7" lift for an episode where they did field trials.
i would cut the strut towers (front and rear)down by 4 inches to raise the suspension height without losing any suspension comfort or shock movement. then i would drop the subframe shouldnt be too difficult to make some blocks to fit between the chassis and subframe with some extended bolts. then some engine lifting spacers to lift the engine back into its normal place. could give you 4 inches of lift with the engine in it proper place so you wont hit the sump on anything. lowest point would be the subframe which are strong enough to cope with hitting anything you drive over. you may get away without dropping the subframe but i dont know if the driveshafts will clear,and i dont know if the wishbones will be pushed too far.
Today I've been thinking of a cheap winter car(again), when I bumped into this thread.. Those guys in the states really suprised me, cause they didn't used a syncro golf, but a regular fwd. The tdi engine swap is reasonable and not that complicated, but if you don't own a garage like myself, it might cost you a bit too much. The best option from my opinion would be a gtd model. For a car that old, has just enough of a diesel power, good fuel economy, cheap to maintain. Most of the mk2 and mk3 syncro's were available only with a 1.8 90hp mono-jetronic, to me known as a no good for nothing gas burners. As a kid, I saw this one time a Golf Country Chrome edition in a grandma's wet dreams soap opera called "Forsthaus Falkenau", and really love it. The smooth-ish mk2 at that time. Anyway. Golf country? Yeah maybe one day for a car collection, but actually use it as a daily? Thanks, but no thanks. Those cheap *******s actually raised the whole body from the subframe, so the ground clearance is actually maybe a good cm higher than on a normal basic mk2. They even lowered the whole engine. As you can see it from here, the poor ground clearance: And the cheap trick-lowered engine: The "home made" lift conversion and it's clearance: Anyway pt2. Theory: -Front mk3 tdi shocks and springs + top mounts -Rear Passat 35i variant shocks and springs, top mounts are basically the same as the mk2's -Nice "big" chunky tires from a smaller offroader like a Suzuki Samurai/Jimny Practical problems: -The gear ratio with bigger tires? -Fwd? Honestly, as a big fan of an older Vw's, syncro isn't actually that good. It does the trick, but this isn't quattro torsen sistem with diff lock. For a daily use, you could solve the problem with new good tires, and the fuel consumption would still be better then at syncro's. Oh yeah and here's a friend's mk2 cheap shock replacement (I have no money for new pair of shocks but I realllllllyy need to replace them) with Passat 35i rear shock and springs. As you can see it for yourself, the rear ground clearance is decent. Tires 195/50 on Sebring rims. @retrowhore: Any progress?
bump, any progress on this? i too love off roading, being brought up with them day in day out on the farm. a lifted mk2 would be awesome fun.
