I always put the same helpful reply. Eat more cake. Carry more stuff. Lowering for free. You're welcome.
T To be fair we have a twenty month old whom comes with loads of stuff so I think a few camping trips first to see how we go before any decisions!!
I'd been saving up for the red9 wishbones but i didn't go for it in the end, having read that ear1y bay thread on bevel boxes, plus when i came down to it i couldn't really justify that much spend on a vehicle that only does a few thousand miles a year. @charlene if you go "cheap and cheerful" you may end up with something that does not ride very well. i'll try and give you the options (apologies to the experts if i've missed/ got anythign wrong). 1. cheap and potentially dangerous: remove leaves from your beam. 2. cheap and cheerful but mignt not ride very well: cut and turned front beam, rear spline change, might need smaller front tyres depending on how much lower you go. 3. more expensive, but similar to above: add some adjusters to the front beam. 4. more money again but better ride potentially; dropped spindles 5. + £ dropped spindles and beam adjusters, can go much lower, or with a mild drop you can have adjustability and a good ride. 6. + £ again, as above but with either fixed drop spring plates at the rear, or horseshoe plates, or adjustable plates. Adjustables can you set the height as you want, plus makes changing rear tyre easier. 7. any of the above + narrower beam, tucks the front tyres more inside the arch giving you clearance on full lock/over bumps. 8. red9 do an "easy rider" kit that replaces the beam springs with coilovers = adjustable height but all of the weight of the bus on the damper mounts. 9. red9 wishbones; full bolt on new independent wishbone kit, owners report great ride and handling but expensive . includes rack and pinion steering. Mine; i have a slightly narrower beam, adjusters and spindles with rear adjustable spring plates (frenchslammer/vintage autohaus fitted by midlandearlybay) and at the same time i replaced by worn steering box with a new VARGA unit from VWH, plus tyres that are a smidgen smaller than stock at the front but still load rated for the bus. I've only done a few hundred miles on this set up so far but its riding well. more info on my build thread. HTH.
Thanks for all of that If we were to go ahead and I must admit would rather it done the best way red. 9... What sort of cost is that?
initially it felt great, but after 200 miles or so it had more play than the 37 year old box we'd just taken off... like the oe box it has an adjuster so its wound up tight again now and feels good - better than what i had before but its still nothing like a r&p setup.
if you include some rear spring plates also, and new rear dampers to match your fronts, plus fitting etc front and rear its going to be closer to £3k all in.
hmmm decding whether to buy a new box or try the spare one i bought. i have tightened mine a lot and it still has play going in to the top from the column, about an inch i reckon before it starts to move the output
We found, when Major was lowered, you have to consider the following: what do you plan on doing with a lowered bus? Living in Notts means we have lots of potholed roads to negotiate, nightmare! Motorway driving was spot on, we live close by the M1 but the mainstay of roads from home to Derbyshire & surrounding countryside are bumpy lanes! Campsites don't tend to cater for lowered buses, we found some (not all) tricky going when entering them & that caused issues..wheels scraping on wheel arches, steering snatching close on full lock. Since we went back to stock, we have had no issues at all.. Its horses for courses really!!
Lower it! i'm going to do mine this year. either red 9 wishbone kit or the french slammer beam from midland prototype bay http://www.midlandearlybay.com/#!products/component_71401 my old one was lowered using the red 9 coil over setup and the bars that replace spring leaves - ride was fine after i'd fiddled with the damper settings. its now owned by philntfc so might be worth asking him hows its fared over the years if this kit is still on it. handled so much better and less susceptible to cross winds. i could put drop spindles on mine and drop it by 6cm and out would still look like a synchro.
