Visitor # 25541 since 19.SEP.2001
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The Caddy has a rather unique (to VWs anyway) suspension. MacPherson struts up front and a leaf spring over axle rear suspension. The main leaf is approx. 52" long, with a long second leaf and a shorter overload type leaf on the bottom of the pack. A conventional spring shackle is in back to accommodate the flexing of the spring. Two shock absorbers mount between tabs on the tube axle and brackets on the bed sub frame.
After getting tired of the rear end bottoming out over bumps, I first picked up a 1500lb.-rated helper spring to attach to the rear leaf spring. This helper attaches to half the spring, clamping to it near the spring perch and then it lifts under the stock leaves.
After running the helper spring for a number of years, I decided a full length spring leaf might work better. So, armed with an ample supply of left-over leaves from my Toyota, I found an ideal add-a-leaf for the pickup was the 3rd or 4th leaf from the front spring pack, of an 1985 or earlier Toyota truck. To install it, I jacked up the rear end, removed the lower shock mount, pulled the nuts off the u-bolts and removed the spring center bolt. I slid the Toyota leaf in between the 2nd and 3rd VW leaves (I applied a good helping of axle grease to the leaves while they were apart), spring clamp forward (spread open to fit the slightly wider VW springs) and installed a new, longer spring center bolt. One thing to watch for is the VW tube axle perch has a hole drilled into the axle for the center bolt head. If not supported the bolt can (and will) drop down inside the axle. Reassemble the u-bolts and shock and you'll not enjoy a much firmer, yet not harsh ride. By lifting the main leaves off of the overload leaf, your ride will be smoother than stock. I found the 3rd Toyota leaf restored equal front ad rear ride heights.
An advantage of the stiffer rear springs is that the lack of a rear sway bar is minimized. Until I stiffened the springs, I was looking for a sway bar that could be adapted to the Caddy, but I don't think it is necessary now.
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These add-a-leaves are good for everyday driving and occasional heavy loads. I usually have a few sets of these leaves available. I disassemble the spring pack, sand the rust and dirt off the leaves, then apply some paint. Folks have reported anywhere from 1-2" of lift, depending on how bad your current springs have sagged and how much load you carry. In only one case has it been necessary to replace the stock u-bolts, however, longer center bolts are almost always required.
I used to run a set of 1500# overload springs. If you routinely carry heavy loads, these are ideal. The ones I used are similar to the following JC Whitney 87ZX5964Y. These are a lot easier to install than the full length springs, too.
When I purchased my '82 Caddy, it had a set of Rancho add-a-leaf springs that were installed by the pervious owner (see image #1 below). He apparently hauled a lot of hay and horse tack as part of his business. Anyway, I found those springs way too stiff for the Caddy, even with a shell on the back. Also, he had installed some KYB shocks that were about 2" longer than the proper ones and without the stiff AAL, the shocks yould bottom out fairly easily. I decided to play around a bit with the rear springs and shocks to improve both the load capacity and ride.
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First thing I did was to get some longer u-bolts, I used a 1/2" Rancho u-bolt, and redrilled the spring plate for the larger bolts. I then fabricated some new leaves to replace the lower overload leaf (see image #2 above). I staggered the length of the leaves for a nice progressive rate and bolted them up into a 5-leaf pack (see image #3 above). For the shocks, I fabricated a bracket to move the top end of the shock farther away from the axle (see image #4 below). This places the shock at a shallower angle which both allows the longer shock to fit without bottoming and it also reduces the damping rate a bit, which is nice since I find the KYBs are a bit stiff.
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So, how does the new setup work? Great, my first test was to drop a 1200 lb. milling machine in the bed (see image #5 above). No problems at all as I hauled the mill about 15 miles to my garage. I found the rear end settled about 1.5" under the load (approx 400#/in per spring) and I still had about 2" of clearance at the bumpstop. Surprisingly the ride was quite nice with that weight, no wallowing, it was smooth and solid. I get about 1" of lift over my front end (which itself may be 1/2" - 1" higher than stock). Ride is very nice unloaded, it greatly reduced the "pitching" I used to get on uneven pavement, where the rear end would pitch the front end down as it went over bumps.
Also, you can see the rear sway bar I had previously installed in image #4, above. It was bought used, unknown mfg. Along with the front Neuspeed bar, I get very little body roll, even with my tall "Caddy Shack" in place. Handling is quite nice, despite the skinny 13" all season tires I run.
Two vendors make rear sway bars for the Caddy that I know of:
I had the stock rear shocks on my 1981 pickup replaced with KYB Gas-A-Just shocks in 1992 (model KG5449). They held up very well and seem to be as firm as when new when the pickup was totaled in early 2000. The shocks have 10mm (3/8") diameter mounting bolts top and bottom and measure 10-7/8" collapsed and 17" fully extended from center to center at the mounting holes. I find that the 17" length is slightly short and the spring wants to drop a fraction of an inch at full droop. With my helper spring, I find the shock is compressed 2" (of its 6" travel) at rest and there is about 4" of axle travel to the bump stop. So, it appears this is a decent length shock for this application.
My 1982 pickup had a set of KYB KG4012 shocks installed when I bought it. They are about 13.5" compressed and approx. 21.5" extended. As such I found they tended to bottom out easily with any load in the bed. To correct this I moved the upper shock mounts out about 4" from their stock location to allow them to fit without bottoming. These shocks would be a good addition to a 2" to 3" lift block setup, since they have the extra length needed for that application.
There are some interesting Rancho shock applications that might be adapted to fit the Caddy. From my shock selection table, I see:
Several other RS9000 models are of similar length. The RS9000 shock is adjustable and can be fitted with an in-cab remote adjuster too. The RS5000 models come in similar lengths but are fixed rate and typically are very stiff, equivalent to the 9000 at a 4 or 5 setting.
Another interesting rear suspension option is to use Gabriel Air-adjustable Hyjacker shocks. While Gabriel lists no VW pickup application, evidently, the VW Beetle rear shocks are almost an exact fit. The air-over-oil shocks are supposed to add up to 1000lbs. of load carrying capacity to the axle, depending on air pressure. Couple that with an electric air compressor and you could have an in-the-cab ride height adjustment, way cool!
[Last updated: 24.January.2008]
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