What Tyres to get Lower????

Hi there,
I 'm new to this forum, but I am looking for some advice...I have a VW Baywindow Westfalia '78 and want to get 'lower' tyres as the ones that came with it when I imported it from California are pretty chunky...I had it lowered with an adjuster on the front, and dropped splines at the back, but the chunky tyres I have spoil the lowered look I'm after? It already rides rough..and I have to anticipate the skips in the CD player...but I can live with that...from reading in forums it becomes a mind field about what you can and can't have, and I'm not very knowledgeable on tyres ...A friend of mine has a 68 splitty on 185/55 on 14 inch rims which is the look I like...but everything I read tells me I need radial tyres that are commercial weight bearing etc...Any advice would be appreciated as I'm sure you out there have some great recommendations ! cheers M

 

Mines lowered on adjustable beam and splines at rear ,but i also have adjustable shocks so i can soften the ride .
I have 185 55 goodies and they are not comercial either and the ride is nice and only gets a bit nasty on horrible farm typre roads when going up to camp sites.
I dont carry tons of gear so i think i am ok with the tyres .
I am now ready for the slap on the back of the hand because of the tyres , forgive me for i am sinning

 

Cheers, thanks for that..I think I need some of those adjustable shocks you have...Last campsite I had to drive so slow the chickens were over taking me...shocking..to pardon the pun...What shocks are they? Is there a garage in London you recommend? cheers M

 

also are you on 15's rather than 14's? Does that effect me getting 55's or should I go for 65's?

 

I'd advise keeping bigger ones on the rear to preserve the gearing, you can always adjust the rear height again if it's too high after fitting smaller front ones.

 

Guess it depends where you are in London.

 

West London. I was wondering if there was a garage that is specialised in lowering VW's that may be able to help with my Shocks/Tyres?

 

So, it rides like Marmite already and you want to put lower profile tyres on? Isn't that just going to make it worse?



Have you looked at dropped spindles for the front? That seems to be the preferred option combined with the adjusters to try and put back some ride quality..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/se...owered&search_forum=5&search_fields=titleonly

 

The trick with the tyres is to go for 15 inch rims (or larger) as otherwise 14 inch with skinny tyres may tend to look like shopping trolley wheels .. If you search on the Samba there are a few extreme cases where somebody has put what looks like old Mini wheels on the bus...

Basically the suspension is too soft if the bus is lowered so you will keep banging and rubbing.

Despite coilover shocks being frowned on slightly , my bus is currently running with coilovers and lowered 4 inches and raised 1 inch by coilover on the front and with 185/65s on 15 inch wheels. I can go over most speed bumps at 20 mph and even in France 30kph limits I dont need to hit the brakes every speed bump. I also lost the antiroll bar in an argument with an Irish pothole.

I used to have Yokohama 88 rated tyres but these wore out. So I now have Pirelli Cinturato 92 rated tyres (630kg per wheel)

 

If any help dropped rear by 2 splines with 165/65/15 and front dropped with spindles and 155/50/15. Dont get any tyre rub and speedo has become male as it reads bigger that it is

 

Cheers for the link...I'm used to the ride now...I just have to be more vigilant to spot upcoming pot holes...but I think in the future I may need to dip my hand in my wallet for dropped spindles ...

srs

 

Cheers...I'm a fan of the look with stock rims, so I'm stuck with 14...also are the Westfalia berlins heavier than other Bay Campers so I need to take extra load bearing into account ? I'm thinking maybe 185/65 r14s all round?

 

Load rated yoko's at the back 185-65-15 with non load rated yoko's 165-55-15, a spot on set up, my bus will go no lower, unless I put on 165-50's or 165-45 which I have run before on different busses, but they were not really a very good ride.

Here is a quality pic of my bus in the dark to poorly illustrate my current set up.

 

wow thats low. what's your setup?

 

^^^ as I'm always tweaking it I never tire of talking about it!! Up fronts it's 3.5" flipped t2d dropped spindles, 4" narrowed scratch built slam beam with adjusters, and extra drop lift arms. The rear is adjustable CE spring plates and chopped bump stops. I have 4 corner airlift system with Gabriel hi-jacker air shocks all round, 2 way front and rear adjustable.

In the above picture the front is on full drop and the rear is about halfway down with approx 100psi in it. Perfect ride, and I can level up at campsites too. And pump up for extra load. So practical and cool at the same time!!

 

did you need to tub/notch to get that low?

 

No rubbing or notching at all to get like that. It's likely to be on the cards for the future, but won't serve any practical use, I'd just like the chassis to actual sit on the floor on full drop!!

 

Whats that lot set you back? Im also considering air ride but no idea where to start