It's 10 PM, do you know where your spring helpers are?

[blacksambo]

This ia all very nice discussion, but the fact remains the VX did things very differently "by design". We are applying conventional suspension science to a vehicle that defys all that logic. As recalled with the Eldorado stability control, and if you can recall how Detroit inexpensively solved the traditional V-Eight balancing problem (a pulley with rubber bushing integrated...a la harmonic balancer etc.) the VX wanted to offer a new ride sensation for a pretty tall tipsy body (remember the Troooper / Consumer Reports fiasco), thus the invention of the spring helper or the redeployment of the bump stop to address a new issue ....sound level and body roll, by keeping it engaged in the coil and shock motion mix. Believe me it works well with monotube shocks, both with sound and anti -roll resistence. If they wanted a bump stop it wouldn't hover above the axel and would have been called a stop like it is on the front suspension. It's a whole new job it performs.

[LittleBeast]

Mr. Fist, meet Miss Palm.....

Trust me I know what you are saying, but riding on your bumpstops causes a very rough ride compared to not riding on your bumpstops. Riding on your bumpstops dramatically increases the force required for compression, and thus if you are riding on your bumpstops your ride will actually be rougher, hence when people's suspensions sag over time because of components (shocks/springs) wearing out, the quickest fix for a softer ride would be to cut the bumpstops shorter so that you would no longer be riding on the more stiff bumpstops, or get longer springs or a spring spacer to not ride on the more stiff bumpstops.

Basically the more things you put between the tires and yourself the more stiff the suspension will be. If I just have shocks this is VERY soft, then when the springs get involved it becomes more stiff, but then you add a bumpstop in the way and it becomes even stiffer. Basically the more meat in the sandwich the more you will feel in your pants :-) Just ask any low rider who is riding on his bumpstops how soft his ride is ;-)

There are actually charts to tell you how much more force is needed to compress a suspension when the bumpstops make contact, many bumpstops are known to increase the stiffness of the suspension by well over 1,000 lbs during cornering, this is important to know for racers who do not need to be surprised by their suspension all of a sudden becoming much more stiff once the bumpstops make contact.