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Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:34 am

vwbusride wrote: Looks good Kevin.
What did you do for the shifting coupler in this case? How much does this modification drop the motor?
Cool thread.

Aaron

Is this Aaron, aka SST Aaron&Em, aka Aaron with the "shasta patina" pirate bus (according to Volksworld, LOL)? If so, hope you all are well!

I used a beetle nose cone and had to drill a new hole for the grub screw where the front metal shift coupler is. This is what you start with:

Imagine the fun of a custom reassembly! After a TON of work this gives you a max 2" of clearance, but its the only way to go for a swing axle and well worth it, IMO (although, I hope this is the last bus I choose to do it to).

K

Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:35 am

Yep AKA Aaron&Em,
I've been throwing around some ideas and parts trying to get a bit more rear clearance. I dig your approch to building great buses. I watch from the side lines. So the engine drops 2" also, how is access to plugs etc... More pics of step by step if you got them. I still can't post a pic to save my life, so if you dont post them I understand.
What is your take on going IRS?
Take care Kevin

Aaron

Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:30 am

vwbusride wrote: Yep AKA Aaron&Em,
I've been throwing around some ideas and parts trying to get a bit more rear clearance. I dig your approch to building great buses. I watch from the side lines. So the engine drops 2" also, how is access to plugs etc... More pics of step by step if you got them. I still can't post a pic to save my life, so if you dont post them I understand.
What is your take on going IRS?
Take care Kevin

Aaron

Oh, c'mon! The vibe of the pirate bus with the bice was an inspiration for me :)!

Pic of the engine compartment of my kombi with a drop transmission:

One positive thing is that you can remove your alternator/generator with the engine in the car! Plug access is no issue, but as you can see, dual carbs can be tight. My type4 upright is even tighter, which is one of the reasons I opted for hard mounts. That and it sure sucks when this happens:

...out there:

Like I said earlier, I don't have step by step pics of the drop. They are on Richard's computer and even if he has gotten up and running the chances of retrieving them are virtually nonexistant. You know....

IRS would be the way to go for some serious lift, but I don't want to get my bus up so high it becomes tedious to avoid tipping it. It feels stable where it is right now. I also like the gearing and torue produced by the small nut redux box; its one of the lowest stock geared transmissions VW made. On the IRS tranny, not sure if you can drop the R&P size smaller than that which came in the 1600 early bays, but if so, that would be a plus.

I guess I'm torn on IRS/redux box, but I think my current transmission paired up with a no-hop conversion and the lift I've got will get me anywhere I would want to take a bus.

Decided to spend the weekend indoors and work on apholstering my flipseat instead of screwing with the beam again. Put the 225's in the front anyway and the 30's in the rear, and yes they fit with a drop tranny and custom bump stops!

K

Sun Jun 29, 2008 3:37 pm

oktr6r wrote:

Bad-ass

Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:36 pm

BugMan114 wrote: oktr6r wrote:

Bad-ass

Bad-ass was driving it out without a tow. Pull the rear wheel down to shift the weight, front tire slid down the hill, back on all 4.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:17 am

Kevin,
Thanks for the engine pic. I'm not sure what direction to take to get alittle lift in the rear. IRS has to many moving parts and I really like the RGB set up. I also kinda like being a bit higher in the front. I don't want to create more problems to fix later, plus after some years go by it gets hard to remember exactly what mix matched parts combination your running from one bus to the other. That ratchet strap picture is great and clever, A BUS will get you there "most of the time".

Aaron

Is there any spell check around here?

Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:09 am

vwbusride wrote: Kevin,
Thanks for the engine pic. I'm not sure what direction to take to get alittle lift in the rear. IRS has to many moving parts and I really like the RGB set up. I also kinda like being a bit higher in the front. I don't want to create more problems to fix later, plus after some years go by it gets hard to remember exactly what mix matched parts combination your running from one bus to the other. That ratchet strap picture is great and clever, A BUS will get you there "most of the time".

Aaron

Is there any spell check around here?

Seems many of the baja guys think the reduction box setup is ideal for offroad. The two issues I have with them is the hop you get when gunning it and that torque goes to the easiest axle to spin, but luckily both issues are solveable.

IRS may seem like it has more moving parts, but I've had problems with bearings going bad prematurely in my redux boxes. Hell Richard had two go out at only about 15,000 miles on the Shasta Trip. Its probably due to the lack of quality of the bearings. The original transmissions I've run never had that probelem. Richards bearings were from France, and mine was Chinese. I want to rebuild a transmission with quality bearings, a quaife and no hop kit. That would be the ideal setup in my mind.

K

Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:12 am

vwbusride wrote: That ratchet strap picture is great and clever, A BUS will get you there "most of the time".

Gene gave me that idea when he did that to his transmission to help solve a shifting alignment issue on our offroad desert trip the spring of last year. :)

K

Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:37 am

Quaife info:
http://www.autotech.com/prod_drive_diffs.htm

Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:09 am

That is the perfect combo for the rear. I would drop the trans, but I have a problem with the motor sitting lower. Plus I run deep sumps most of the time. Do you know anybody that runs a Quaife in thier split bus? Where do you get a no hop kit? The off road Forum is a good place to learn some tricks.

Aaron

Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:14 am

vwbusride wrote: That is the perfect combo for the rear. I would drop the trans, but I have a problem with the motor sitting lower. Plus I run deep sumps most of the time. Do you know anybody that runs a Quaife in thier split bus? Where do you get a no hop kit? The off road Forum is a good place to learn some tricks.

Aaron

I've learned most of the tricks from talking with people. I rarely get much of a response in the offroad forum about building an offroad split. Doesn't seem to be much interest.

The motor doesn't sit lower, the body sits higher ;). I know, i know... it depends on how you look at it. My plan is to run a skid plate from my rear (hard) engine mount to my new beefy bumper, thus protecting the engine and muffler.

There are only two guys I've heard of running a limited slip diff. One is "tilden" on the samba, but he has since sold his bus and no longer answers PMs:

Another was mentioned by my transmission builder, Bill Shanks. He had heard of a guy that installed a VW ZF thing l.s. diff into his single cab to get up the long, steep, muddy country road to his house. I guess he use to have trouble with the power transfering to the easiest wheel to spin, but after installing the lsd, he could climb up it as if it was solid concrete.

Not sure where you can get a no hop kit, but they are out there. Ronnie (Old Volks Home, type2parts.com, bustorations) has one installed into his 58 dd panel:

I plan on just fabricating one that's of similar design. Should be easy enough.

K

Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:34 am

Tacked in a fender skirt last weekend. Raised it an inch over stock so my 30" tires don't hit it when they swing down.

Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:53 am

aussie offroader:

Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:13 am

I followed that Tilden single cab thread a couple years back. A cool truck for sure. Didn't he have some issues with the trans blowing apart or something? I got some big nut axels that have the sleeves on them to hook up Beetle spring plates for the no hop kit, "I think that's what they are for". My current beam is turned 1/4" I also got some spindles raised by Nate that I have yet to use. Just need to get the rear up before the front goes up anymore.
Your bus is looking real good, you did some amazing work on that bus.

Aaron

Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:45 am

vwbusride wrote: I followed that Tilden single cab thread a couple years back. A cool truck for sure. Didn't he have some issues with the trans blowing apart or something? I got some big nut axels that have the sleeves on them to hook up Beetle spring plates for the no hop kit, "I think that's what they are for". My current beam is turned 1/4" I also got some spindles raised by Nate that I have yet to use. Just need to get the rear up before the front goes up anymore.
Your bus is looking real good, you did some amazing work on that bus.

Aaron

Thanks Aaron. I don't see why you can't just weld some some gusseted tabs on to the axle tube for the springplate instead of using the sleeve method so long as you use a wide footprint to distribute the stress. Any idea why they use a sleeve?

I also have some of Nate's welded raised spindles and am very happy with them. They've been beaten around on washboard, loaded down (drove from Missouri to Arizona with ALL of my belongings!), etc. Haven't had an issue yet, so I figure they've past the test.

The front is easy, its the rear that is difficult. When you do the rear, gearing is also a big issue. Thats why I went with a small nut trans.

Tilden did have some issues with the quaife the first time around due to error in the machine work. They replaced it for free, but he still had to pull the trans apart. If I remember correctly, I think when he thought his trans "blew apart" was the time he got stuck on the trails. Later he found out it was simply due to the bolts pulling out of the axle cover:

K

Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:53 pm

That looks like a bitch of a road side fix. I lurk this Forum for the guys that change swing axel Beetles to IRS using the 3 or 6 rib center section then mix match all the other components till it works. I figure that is simular to our old buses. I try to learn from other people's examples to save myself some time and $$.
Seems you should be able to sleeve your axel with the method you plan. My sleeves have a couple of greese fittings for some reason, "I think, havent looked in awhile". I can't think of why the axel would need to rotate in the sleeve.

Aaron

Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:25 pm

vwbusride wrote: That looks like a bitch of a road side fix. I lurk this Forum for the guys that change swing axel Beetles to IRS using the 3 or 6 rib center section then mix match all the other components till it works. I figure that is simular to our old buses. I try to learn from other people's examples to save myself some time and $$.
Seems you should be able to sleeve your axel with the method you plan. My sleeves have a couple of greese fittings for some reason, "I think, havent looked in awhile". I can't think of why the axel would need to rotate in the sleeve.

Aaron

I do my research, but I'll admit that I don't have the patience to wait for things to be figured out!

Don't know how I overlooked the zerks, but I bet that is the other half of why the "no hop" kit works?! It looks as if the swing axle pivots within the sleeve as the spring plate moves up and down (its the sleeve that is attached to the spring plate) and the heim joints must be restricting movement of the axle. Looks like it prevents the spindle from swinging in front of the axle. Maybe this causes hop? In a swing axle bug the spindle is the axle, but in a bus the spindle is under the axle. I'm just guessing here. Never really looked that close at the pics until now. Interesting...

K

Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:01 pm

i was just sitting here looking and thinking about all the work that you've done to get the bus that high. is it all worth it.
i will say it looks great. but can you go any more places that you couldnt before, or were i couldn't go? i sure would like to try and go were i am not supposed to though :twisted: see ya, hope all is well.
neal

Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:34 am

neal wrote: i was just sitting here looking and thinking about all the work that you've done to get the bus that high. is it all worth it.
i will say it looks great. but can you go any more places that you couldnt before, or were i couldn't go? i sure would like to try and go were i am not supposed to though :twisted: see ya, hope all is well.
neal

I am sure I can go everywhere I want to take my bus now. Neal, you'll probably join me in a few adventures as you have in the past, but you know what happens if you do.

Is it worth all the work? To each their own! Some people think its worth the energy/money to lower a bus. Yes, a lifted bus is worth it to me, but it probably isn't to most. I certainly don't have to be as careful about smacking my nose on a rock or whatever. More fun, less worry. I'll romp through what others crawl, scrape, and bang past.

Ask Gene if a raised bus has less trouble offroad. He told me last time in the kombi I'm not allowed to lead anymore :wink: .

Neal, I look forward to you getting your panel finished and the fun we will have!

K

Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:46 am

This thread is pretty cool. I am eventually going to turn my '78 westy into an offroad machine (with a winch and camo paint job too... :lol: ), and at some point I want to do an offroad split as well. But I got to find the right one first...