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vik
Samba Member
Joined: January 13, 2005
Posts: 204
Location: back in Czech
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 Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 1:29 am Post subject: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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Hi,
Thinking about the threads I have seen on Samba recently and off road/lifting seems still be the thing.
But what happened to the lowered Vanagons running 17¨ and larger rims? Is anyone interested in this way modification still? Looking at earlier buses low seems to be the way to go.
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T3 Syncro camper in progress |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32575
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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dougass
Samba Member
Joined: December 13, 2016
Posts: 300
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:45 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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There are a bunch of bagged vanagons in Europe, based on what I see on Instagram.
There is a lacking of vanagon specific lowering parts, and you quickly run into the bump stops then clearance issues if you drop any further.
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pnwkayaker
Samba Member
Joined: April 01, 2008
Posts: 919
Location: Sammamish, WA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:40 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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Honest question: what's the appeal/draw of lowered cars/vans (not just Vanagons)?
I've seen many pictures of lowered cars that are barely over the ground, some even with big wheels and skinny tires, and I kept thinking to myself "that's probably a very bumpy ride, and you probably are always afraid of scratching the ground".
Is my above thought correct? Perhaps I'm over-thinking the possible drawbacks and they're super-fun to drive? I admit it, I've never ridden in a lowered car/van, so perhaps it's the smoothest ride in the universe, with fun cornering.
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vik
Samba Member
Joined: January 13, 2005
Posts: 204
Location: back in Czech
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:54 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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Sure. Question is how low you want to go.
I do not really considered show cars on bags. Lowering HW (at least in Europe) is available. for example: https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/spring-set-t3-70mm-avo.html
I have seen several lowered T3s, even a 2WD westy. In many countries all land is private and it is prohibited to roam trough country lanes unless you do have a permission. And wild camping is simply illegal with high fines. Croatia as an example. Guy I know has lowered camper so he can fit in the garage.
So it can be bigger thing in Europe.
I found now actually the samba thread too https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...;start=140
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campism
Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2007
Posts: 4491
Location: Richmond VA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:57 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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They're around. I've met the owner of this van. Got a free gas tank from him which I turned out not to need so passed it on.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/471383340771403
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campism
Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2007
Posts: 4491
Location: Richmond VA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 6:07 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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| pnwkayaker wrote: |
| "...and you probably are always afraid of scratching the ground". |
What you need to fear is the ground scratching you. There was an intersection in my old neighborhood with a manhole in the center that was raised above the surrounding pavement. One morning I noticed a gouge in the metal and a huge splash of oil on the other side. I could just imagine some slammed Civic rubberbanding down the road (serious bass notes from the stereo) and getting rudely awakened. Hope the driver was able to shut down in time to avert further disaster.
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vwhammer
Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2006
Posts: 998
Location: Boulder CO.
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:01 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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There is no explaining the lowered vehicle thing to people that just don't get it or care to get it.
In many peoples minds a lot of cars just look better when they are low and many people are just fine not exploring the back country in their car, truck or van.
Maybe reworking the suspension to get the van down for working better on the twisty back roads is more their thing.
In the US I can think of plenty of paved twisty back roads that lead to some pretty remote and epic places that also happen to have campgrounds
Obviously there is a limit to how low you can go and still be practical but you can certainly get it down some and still have a decent ride.
Air is good for making a lowered vehicle a bit more practical but might not be the best choice for handling and obviously some super short profile tires have their limits as well whether you can get the van up higher to clear things or not.
I have been flip flopping back and forth with my van during its entire 2 year build as to whether I want to keep it lifted or rethink the suspension to drop it some.
As my van nears completion I have decided to stick with the lifted set up
I do have plans for building a lowered Vanagon and have even started my own thread to discuss the topic.
In the future I will very likely source a cheap Vanagon shell and start from the ground up on a lowered van build.
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Pretty normal daily driver build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=708418&highlight=
4x4 build
https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/volkswagen-vanagon-4x4-conversion.162055/ |
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Squidfish
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2004
Posts: 336
Location: 95519
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:04 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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It's very popular in Europe (and Britain)
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Ahwahnee
Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2010
Posts: 9797
Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:21 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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| Squidfish wrote: |
| It's very popular in Europe (and Britain) |
So is Marmite. |
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valvecovergasket
Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2018
Posts: 1491
Location: pnw
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:23 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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| pnwkayaker wrote: |
Honest question: what's the appeal/draw of lowered cars/vans (not just Vanagons)?
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it looks better. often times, anyway... but i suppose thats subjective!
| pnwkayaker wrote: |
I've seen many pictures of lowered cars that are barely over the ground, some even with big wheels and skinny tires, and I kept thinking to myself "that's probably a very bumpy ride, and you probably are always afraid of scratching the ground".
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the bumpiness really depends on the suspension.
often times adjustable coilovers will ride better as the ride height decreases as you remove a lot of the preload required to raise the car.
similar story with air suspension as you firm it up/pressurize to raise it up
this thing was on air, it actually rode really really well just a hair taller than this
that said, id have a harder time doing that to a camper van as its really nice to have the clearance to get places to camp. if it was a tintop, sure! id be tempted to try air on a van if i was looking for maximum low - as youd have some of the creeping-over-obstacles ability, but still get the look. and the van has lots of places to tuck compressors and tank/valves.... plus the ride comfort on the highway when the bags are spec'd properly can be incredible.
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Last edited by valvecovergasket on Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:27 am; edited 1 time in total |
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GoEverywhere
Samba Member
Joined: December 13, 2020
Posts: 516
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:27 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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People do them, mine is on air ride and 18's.
It rides great as long as I don't drive it in full lowered position at which point its sitting on the control arms and rides HORRIBLY. AND since its adjustable ride height I can still go to 1 inch above stock height if I want to take it out into the woods for camping. Best of both worlds!
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valvecovergasket
Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2018
Posts: 1491
Location: pnw
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:28 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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^^^ sharp!
is that all the way aired out?
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GoEverywhere
Samba Member
Joined: December 13, 2020
Posts: 516
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:31 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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| valvecovergasket wrote: |
^^^ sharp!
is that all the way aired out? |
Yes in the front, there's still a little farther to go in the back in that photo. |
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valvecovergasket
Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2018
Posts: 1491
Location: pnw
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:34 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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is it hanging up on the wheels up front? seems like some of the static vans look lower but theyre likely running 15s or something
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GoEverywhere
Samba Member
Joined: December 13, 2020
Posts: 516
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:36 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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| valvecovergasket wrote: |
| is it hanging up on the wheels up front? seems like some of the static vans look lower but theyre likely running 15s or something |
No, they tuck into the wheel wells at full drop but I still have full turn radius like that. They surprisingly don't hang up on anything even that low. |
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ZsZ
Samba Member
Joined: December 11, 2010
Posts: 1645
Location: Budapest Hungary, Europe
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:42 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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In the UK it is a common thing. together with the rat style.
In the states "overlanding" is the buzzword nowadays.
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MarkWard
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 17112
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:52 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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As long as you can maintain the camber, caster and toe, either direction from stock ride height is fine. You do need to pay attention to bumpsteer changes and have an idea where your new roll center has moved to.
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Squidfish
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2004
Posts: 336
Location: 95519
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:04 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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Brickwerks UK seems to stock a lot of parts for such endeavors, as does T3 technique on our side of the pond.
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Squidfish
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2004
Posts: 336
Location: 95519
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:06 am Post subject: Re: Lowered Vanagons - no more? |
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| Ahwahnee wrote: |
| Squidfish wrote: |
| It's very popular in Europe (and Britain) |
So is Marmite. |
Fully off-topic now -- Just don't try to get it in Denmark 
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