Whats the best way to lower the front of my 65 bus?
Ive got a 68 beam to do the work on so that I can put 72 disks on as well.
Cheers:thumb
[Edited on 10-11-2002 by twobus]
Talk to either of these 2 places
Custom Bugs & Busses 02-4722-9313
or
Indian Automotive 02-4731-6444
Simplest way is to put adjusters into the torsion bar tubes. This will gain you about 2" comfortably, but you can get even more. You don't
want to go too low though because it will end up sitting on the bumpstop rubbers.
The other method is to get some lowered spindles, which doesn't affect the amount of wheel travel you have, or the steering geometry, but they
are expensive. There are also some issues with build design and quality.
Fitting the later ball joint beam does have plusses and minuses. Big plusses are that
(1) you can fit later disks, and (2) parts are generally cheaper and easier to come by than for a king and link pin front end.
On the minus side the ball joint beam will raise the front of your splitbus by around 3 inches.
Thus you have to drop it 3 inches to get it back to stock height. If you want a lowered stance you have to drop it another 3+ inches, giving a total
drop of 6+ inches via adjusters.
Buses dropped this far on adjusters ride and steer like ABSOLUTE CRAP (my opinion of course….. a bit of extra money for a kidney belt and a
mouthguard and you could be right though…)
Ideal would be dropped spindles plus adjusters if you want to go low. I don’t know anyone in the world doing dropped spindles for ball joint front
ends…. (but I’m guessing it will have to happen sooner or later, probably CNC machined like CB Performance’s for beetles).
Another possibility could be Mike Kristen and bugs and busses. They fit all later beams to splitbusses by replacing the bay mounting plates and
welding in flat mounting plates to suit a splitbus (ergo any later bay beam not just the 68/69 will bolt in…). Now if the torsion tubes were
rotated in the mounts (as opposed to rotating the leaves in the tube which is what an adjuster does) you should still maintain orig
steering/suspension geometry……..there may be a reason why this would not work (would effect shocker length, drag link angle) ……….. I’ve
only just thought about it and not really investigated it…
RobK
http://www.splitbusaustralia.com
[Edited on 11-11-2002 by splitbusaustralia]
Nope - thought about it some more and the rotating the torsion tubes would not work. Might have a bit more spring left in the front end but the
geometry would be equivalent to that produced by adjusters
....that's why I like dropped spindles on standard splitbus beams.....
RobK
talk to mike at custom bugs and buses.
he did my '62. i've heard people always talking about how hard. mine is fantastic. handles great feels smooth. and also he slipped on 4
wheel discs.... didnt that make a difference.
for indian was charging mike gave me more and change in my pocket.
there in penrith nsw.:thumb:thumb:thumb
Thanks for the opinions guys, I saw (on the net) foksy adjusters, but it seems that they are only fitted to the top tube, I don't like the sound
of this much, although it's simple and would give a type of rising rate I don't like the Idea of having the bottom torsion leaves do most of
the work and be wound way past standard!
What do YOU think?
Cheers
hey
mike is expensive but have talked to lads with both his swing axle and irs conversion etc they both liked what he done. it is a hard decision i dont
know which way to go but indian is more likely for me as im on a tight budget!
cheers
rhys
Just guessing, but wouldn't adjusting one set of bars only create a variable rate on the front end? I would think this would be kind of
desirable, wouldn't it?
Ps. Hey Rob, couldn't castor adjustors be used to reverse the effect of rotating the torsion tubes?
[Edited on 11-11-2002 by KruizinKombi]
dont get drawn in to much with kimm unless youre a real close 'buddy'.if not i feel he makes up for his buddies on others
my bus spent a lot of time there and money for very little quality result. i ended up pickin her up and taking her over to mike to get the job done
right and fairly.
my bus has done a lot klms since and is driven every day every where and hard. i suppose its personal the choice.. but hey ive been there.
Twoguns.
How're'you'doing?
Question - just to make sure we're talking apples with apples here. CBB fitted your bus with a ball oint front and and dropped it 6" with
adjusters?
I'm a bit surprised if so. If driven buses dropped this far with adjusters and never been impressed. I'd just about made up my mind the
3" was about the comfortable limit for adjusters...
RobK
hey robk.
mine is dropped a little over 4". and she isnt stiff bumpy or anything. but i can also adjust it further for effect. but on top of the beam i
also have extended sills all round and that makes the bus seem even lower. as it is now i just get over speed bumps etc. and when you park i have to
be carefull not to scrap gutters or touch those little concrete things they put in to tell certain people that if they go back any further they will
modify their tail lights.
the extensions look great and very few people pick it...
:sandrine a little wave of a wand does amazing things..
You know Col.......maybe!
I'll have to think about it some more. Can't use castor shims a la beetle cos the beams are mounted differently. But if you moved the
location of the bolt holes in the mounting 'brackets' or 'plates' you'd get the same effect?
A lowered ball joint beam beam with no adjustors compensated for castor...hmmmmmm...
hey
so can u give me the specs of your beam???? just to give me an idea?
i know kimm is a bit on that side but when ur on a pretty tight budget he has alright kits bolt in ones! but mike does good work i imagine as i hjave
talked to guys with both swing axle and irs conversions of his and both loved them! but he doesnt offer DIY kits and work he does is there set and
cannot be pulled apart easy! i wont to lower my bus but i dont want to weld anything in standard things so if one day i wonted to take it back i
can!
whats your thoughts?
cheers
rhys