Quote Originally Posted by Ralf View Post
Gordon,
I already have new 1257's on hand, so will have to go with those. What do you feel is a safe compressed distance so that they don't "top" out? Looking at the strut bodies threads, I could cut off about 1/4" to 3/8" without having to machine more threads.
As a rule of thumb, I go with about 0.5" above the center of stroke to be safe (including the length of the bumpstop in this measurement). For the 1257, this ends up being about 3-3.3" of rod showing at ride height.

As for the VW strut housings, don't shorten them as you don't really need to. Even with the housing at full length, you are already effectively 1" shorter with the spacer on the tower. Even an inch is almost never needed if you're trying to set the car up with level lower control arms.

If with the new setup you're hitting the bumpstop, you can cut these in about half (start at the bottom and go up). You do need to run them with the 8611s though as there are no internal bumpstops.

Gordon