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Mon Apr 22, 2019 2:42 pm

jmstu76 wrote: VOLTWAGEN wrote: Stuartzickefoose wrote: Fronts will rub under full lock, and a tiny bit of rub at the back of the dogleg under compression (fast corners) or with a heavy loaded front seats (two passengers)

Would that be due to the ET or the tyre size?

Picked them up today, 4x ET 37, I got given 1x ET 49 as a spare, no idea if it will fit but will keep an eye out for some more ET37’s to use as a spare.

What vehicles are those wheels found on in the US?

Start by finding a passat from 2000-2005. I dont know for sure if the 4wd 4motion models had a different offset but i assume they did? B5 and b5.5 models are another way to find them.

Sun Apr 28, 2019 9:27 pm

jmstu76 wrote: VOLTWAGEN wrote: Stuartzickefoose wrote: Fronts will rub under full lock, and a tiny bit of rub at the back of the dogleg under compression (fast corners) or with a heavy loaded front seats (two passengers)

Would that be due to the ET or the tyre size?

Picked them up today, 4x ET 37, I got given 1x ET 49 as a spare, no idea if it will fit but will keep an eye out for some more ET37’s to use as a spare.

What vehicles are those wheels found on in the US?

These were from a Mercedes, no idea what model or if you got it in the US

Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:29 am

I was looking into a lift for my new 73’ but after putting 27” General Grabbers on, I can’t imagine needing more clearance. I plan on putting new shocks on as well which should lift it a little more.

Tue May 14, 2019 5:24 pm

For those that have changed to 28 or 29's did you change anything to the gearing of the transmission?

I'm currently looking to change to the biggest I can go without doing work to the van which I think is 29", i'm then thinking of using a 5 rib gearbox with a 3 rib r&p which means it should be approx the same as a normal 5 rib on standard rims.

Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:05 pm

Offroad tire gurus.

I am going to try to run 215/70/16's of the new Hankook Dynapro AT2s, which are just slightly larger than the 215/75/15's some of you are running with stock bus height (and I know different MFG's can have slightly different sizes so I am trying to get exact measurements from Hankook)

Size 1 Size 2
Diameter
27.7"
27.9"
+0.7%

Width
8.5"
8.5"

The question I have is in regards to the wheel choices. I was going to go with the ET 23 Gowesty vanagon alloys but I am wondering if there is not enough offset to run this size of tire.

https://www.gowesty.com/product/bundles-and-kits/3289/16-alloy-wheel-set-2wd-

The other option are these 16's which are ET30.

https://www.gowesty.com/product/bundles-and-kits/24091/16-steel-wheel-2wd-syncro-

Otherwise I didn't see many 16" options out there.

To those running + size tires, any opinions on this?

Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:23 am

Don't you worry those 16s are going to be too big?

I fitted New 15" Steel wheels to my bus (mainly for better tire selection) I'm not sure I'd want to go much bigger than this after hearing some reports of people's wheels binding in the wheel well when on rough roads.

Campervan Culture bought up all the remaining MEFRO wheels (ET30) as they are NLA, supply is limited . https://campervanculture.com/shop/15-mefro-steel-wheels-set-of-5/

They bolt right onto the bus and the clearance looks good The tire is 205 / 70. Michelin Latitude Cross. not as beefy as the other ATs but better fuel economy and much better grip in the wet.

Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:45 pm

Air bags installed

Thu Aug 29, 2019 10:13 pm

Hey guys, I'm a recent convert from the "Lowering your Bay FAQ" and now I'm over here with you guys, playing for the other team.

7 years ago, I put 2.5 inch drop spindles on the front of my 78 and lowered my back by 1 inner spline. Great. It was cool. But I spend too much time in the backcountry for that nonsense, so I just put stock spindles back on. And then I raised by back up by 2 inner splines. That's +1 to get back to where it was before and then +1 to level it out a bit better than before - it was always so saggy in the back.

I know, I know, the spring plates are supposed to be something like 22˚ and the back is supposed to be a tad lower than the front so that it levels out when you sit in there. I get it. I'll probably crack it back open and do some more careful vernier adjusting with the outer splines, etc. Maybe shoot for 27 degrees or so on those plates. But for now...

Is it a total disaster that the back is now about 1 inch higher than the front (spring plates about 29˚, unloaded)? Or no big deal? Can I drive around like this for a bit? Maybe 100 miles or so? Will I ruin anything while I'm trying to find the time to adjust it again?

I'm specifically asking:
1. Is this way too much angle for the CVs? Or is it within an OK range? Is there a specified angle of CVs that can be looked up? I can measure them...

2. Is this too much torque on the torsion bars? Or do people do this all the time and it's fine?

Thanks for your input.

Fri Aug 30, 2019 6:11 am

Good questions. Check out the off-road forum for CV angle discussions. There’s so much info there it makes my head spin. It’s the inner axle that extends the most during hard cornering, so you may have to take measurements with the tires JUST off the ground

I doubt you’d damage anything in a hundred miles, especially if you keep the off-road jouncing to a minimum.
Robbie

Fri Aug 30, 2019 10:17 am

That doesn't sound bad at all. Are you going to upgrade to lifted front spindles next?

Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:33 am

Here's a good read on the differences between CVs in models
http://blindchickenracing.com/How_to/CVJoints_Axles/cv_joints_101.htm

Measure your axle angles, not the spring plates.
Max angle on T2 CVs is about 17 degrees. After that, the cages explode and your balls go all over the place. Been there, done that and got the greasy t-shirt.

People go up a few clicks all the time, so my first thought is you're fine. If you're really really worried about snapping your torsion bars, get some new ones. They're not cheap, but they make some thick ones.

Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:16 pm

Thanks for the input, guys. I had sniffed around for some info but wasn't finding it. Late last night, I hit on some info about CVs and found that same 17˚ number. I see that there are ways around this problem (924 & 944 CVs, etc.). I measured my CV shaft angles and at +1 inner spline notch (spring plate at 30˚ unloaded) and the shaft was sitting at exactly 17˚ at rest (loaded). So I know it would be more than that when cornering, etc. So I gave up on counting splines and rotations and clicks - that's all meaningless. I started using the digital protractor that comes native in my iPhone and nailed the spring plate angles first try after that. I highly recommend that everyone abandons this "1 inner, 2 outer" double talk and just measure the damn spring plate angles. It's the only thing that matters and you can save yourself the trouble of marking the torsion bar rotation and/or worrying that you won't know where it used to be because who cares... just know where you're trying to get it, measure it and when it's right, you're done.

So this morning I took it all apart again and - using my phone as a protractor - got my spring plates to 25˚ (unloaded) which puts the CVs at 10˚ (loaded). That's great. It's very close to factory settings but just a *TAD* less saggy in the back end. Perfect.

It's very tempting to lift it (with spindles and all that), but I'm going to roll stock-ish for a while.

Thanks again for the help.

Done:

Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:22 pm

Looking great. Your joints are feeling great. Your gumption is great. Not much else here to say.

(Other than, you’re lucky the late bays have notched spring plates to allow quick adjustments without disassembling the brake hydraulic lines!)

See you on the road!
Robbie

Sat Aug 31, 2019 12:42 am

I got some old pics in my gallery of my lifted bus and you can see the 930 cv's installed on it. The axle has so much movement, you can pull one cv off and remove it to service both boots and grease without removing the other side. :lol: Running a automatic trans out of a 84 vanagon. OBD II 2.4 l ecotec.

Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:47 am

Daverham wrote:

So this morning I took it all apart again and - using my phone as a protractor - got my spring plates to 25˚ (unloaded) which puts the CVs at 10˚ (loaded). That's great. It's very close to factory settings but just a *TAD* less saggy in the back end. Perfect.

It's very tempting to lift it (with spindles and all that), but I'm going to roll stock-ish for a while.

Thanks again for the help.

Done:

I think that is the perfect stance. Looks great, your joints will thank you, and I love the color combo

Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:06 am

asiab3 wrote: Looking great. Your joints are feeling great. Your gumption is great. Not much else here to say.

(Other than, you’re lucky the late bays have notched spring plates to allow quick adjustments without disassembling the brake hydraulic lines!)

See you on the road!
Robbie

Last couple of early bays I had torn down to that point got a slice and dice with the angle grinder just to rectify that issue.

Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:29 am

So long as my gumption is approved, the rest is just details.

Yes, very happy about those notched spring plates. I hate messing with brake fluid.

Tue Sep 03, 2019 12:29 pm

Inhabor, that bus us a beast! Looks amazing. How are the airbags working out? So... that means you can raise or lower on the fly, right? Flip some switches and she goes up or down? On-board, 12v air compressor?

Now that I recently welded myself a hitch receiver, that job actually looks very doable. What's the advantage here? Disadvantage? Why go adjustable? Why not use U-plates and leave it lifted at one height? How you like it?

Got more pics of that bus?

Fri Sep 06, 2019 7:22 pm

The new shoes are on 8)

They fitted perfectly, I only had to remove 2 bolts from the rear drums, which I believe hold the cover on before the wheel nuts are tightened

Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:18 pm

Looks sick!