It IS time young ones

[burn_your_money]

I've always read that rear upper strut braces are for show only, no benefit on the street.

[8v-of-fury]

perfect, i will use this time money and effort in to making one of those front support braces that bfi sells thanks Ty.

[burn_your_money]

I would wait for someone to confirm or deny my statement before scratching it off the list...

[catlin_cava]

front upper strut brace Night/Day difference in handling on the street. It was to be good difference because Nat wants one lol

[8v-of-fury]

But.. Tyler.. You have 4 stars! Your word means more than gold I will look in to it further me thinks. but it will also hinder what i can have in my trunk.. and if its not REALLY needed then so be it. I was thinking of making the front upper from square aluminum.. anyone see anything against this?

[catlin_cava]

THe VW one I had for MK3, you needed to drill holes in your struyt towers to install it. lol. I race, Trust me Jeremy

[burn_your_money]

We are talking about the rear upper brace though Catlin.

4 stars... clearly I'm missing one

[catlin_cava]

Ahh...Stock MK3 Golfs Came with one, I never actually removed it, but from what I've been told it stiffens up the chassis quite bit in the rear end and keeps it from flexing.

But if your not planing on Track racing, I wouldn't worry about it.

[8v-of-fury]

track racing no, but street... quickness yes. Haha I kid I kid, I am not a street racer.. but there are those times when you love scaring your passengers. OEM suspension in my last 84 Jetta would lift the inside rear tire on the highway on ramps  That scared a few friends lol!

Hey Tyler, when Todd comes to see you, you need to relay to me how his Monroe's made out for his trip up .

As for the springs, the ones on the car ride OK, and they sit at a reasonable height. However the back two def have at least one coil broken off of them Been driving it for like 5 months no issue.. so maybe just clean em up and run em? I have not hit the stock bump stops in the rear with the car fully loaded with 4 people and A LOT of stuff, and spirited driving.. so i figure all is well with them. However finding good used OEM would be best. anybody got some laying around?

[rabbitman]

I have not hit the stock bump stops in the rear with the car fully loaded with 4 people and A LOT of stuff, and spirited driving.. so i figure all is well with them. However finding good used OEM would be best. anybody got some laying around?

Weird, with four people and some stuff in my rabbit the rear sat on the bottom until I got heavy duty's.

The rear strut brace for one is incorrectly named, there are no strut's back there. And I believe the term damper brace would be incorrect also.

When cornering hard the rear axle beam is trying to pull the floor sideways.......that's body flex, the brace simply keeps the axle mount (floor) centered with the rest of the body, the upper shock mounts are just a good place to bolt stuff. The only force on the upper shock mounts in up or down, never sideways.

I'd get one if only I raced a lot.

The front braces on a mk1 are a good idea though, with lower being most important and then upper. I believe mk2 is the other way around.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Hey Tyler, when Todd comes to see you, you need to relay to me how his Monroe's made out for his trip up .

The new Monroe Sensa-Tracs on the front are excellent.
They have been put to rigorous tests - unloaded, loaded, and overloaded.

I'm very pleased.

It may be worth noting for future searchers, I used the Monroe boot/bumpstop kits. Their front bumpstop is about 3.5 inches tall and made from a very dense urethane. Perhaps comparable or perhaps superior to prothane.
Monroe knows their business.

The damping and rebound is excellent.
But a high quality bumpstop is probably also a crucial factor.
Do not rely on the inferior factory-type front rubber bumpstops and plastic dust caps.
A full length protective boot is a small price to pay to prolong the life of your investment and your labors. Thats why the high dollar stuff comes with them supplied in the box - built into the price of course.

[8v-of-fury]

Todd, I am very happy to hear you made it here and back safe and sound and that you gave those Monroe's a good test before I dump some money on them .

Also for future notes, warranty is covered if you get a shop to install them or if you install them yourself. With our without the Boot/Bumpstop kit as well.

The warranty is limited to the original purchaser of the product so the receipt needs to be to the consumer. If a mechanic is the installer, it is his invoice to you with our part numbers listed that would be required for warranty issues in the future. We replace regardless of the mileage on the units. The limits are that it is a non-transferable warranty and only good for the original purchaser of the product and the vehicle it is installed. You are correct that we only replace the part but do not cover any labor or shipping charges. We do not exclude if the units are installed by the consumer but we will not cover the product if not installed properly (any issue attributed to installer error).

Little do they know how easy it is to swap front struts on an Mk1

Weird, with four people and some stuff in my rabbit the rear sat on the bottom until I got heavy duty's.

Maybe my PO put in some KYB Whites when he re-did the rears last Seriously haven't hit the bumps, with a FULLY loaded car.

Todd you have given me the confidence to order Monroe. I must now figure out where from! OH JOY.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

In the specs seems i remember they listed 6 inches of travel.
That is probably correct.

But fwiw - the actual length of the rod not including the taper or threaded sections - is 7 inches. So the top 1 inch is probably designed as dead space. And you won't get that far anyway unless your coil spring jumps completely off.

You could do the order deal and make payment in your name, then use a c/o on the shipping side of invoice and have them sent to a willing party in USA. As a consideration.

Might be another good question for the Monroe folks.