how low is your bus?

nemobuscaptain · Samba Member Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 3875

>its a kit where the coilovers mount in place o the shocks, and the torsion bars are replaced with tie rods.

Put the entire weight of the van on the shock mounts? What a hack job. I cannot believe a company sells this.

No thanks. Not on my bus.

nomis · Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:17 pm Post subject:

probably not, i have been keeping a very regular check on everthing since i fitted the kit, and there seems to be absolutley no signs of the mounts flexing at all!

I have been looking at some similar street rod set ups, and those hold the full weight of a V8 and gearbox Shocked

I will keep you all updated on how this kit does over time.

P.S.
Double door vans are extremely rare over here!
I wish i could afford one Rolling Eyes

(mine is a single door, but the door is on the other side 'cos its right hand drive).

2jmotorsports · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:13 am Post subject:

Nomis, are you going to beef up your coilover mounts at all to improve bearing strength?

nomis · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:04 am Post subject:

i've got the extra low kit, on it's highest setting (!)

due to the exchange rate, i would go for the narrowed beam with adjusters if i were you!

It's just that over here, a replacement beam, with adjusters works out far more expensive than the red 9 kit! And you still have to fit the thing Shocked

busrocker71 · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:39 am Post subject:

nomis...which of the two options did you select for your bus...the 2-4" or 4-5.5"...im thinking about the red9 suspension...with the conversion into us$...it's what...roughly...$500-600 closer to 6 with shipping? for that price...i could get a brand new welded and narrowed beam for no shipping. how low did you drop your buses front end from stock?
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shiningstar76 · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:26 pm Post subject:

nomis, are double door buses common in the UK? Do they have belly pans like the sunroof buses?
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KK4NTP
96 Tacoma
86 4Runner
My bus caught on fire and is now on the other coast with someone who gave me money for it.

nomis · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 3:13 pm Post subject:

obviosly, it goes without saying that all suspension components must be in absolute top condition before doing any suspension modifications.
As i said before, if you are not 100% sure, don't do it!

I am convinced (from my own research) that my van is safe, don't just take my word for it, don't take a salesmans word for it. Find out for yourself, your car has potential to do yourself (and other road users) serious damage if any modifications / reapairs are not properly carried out properly, and with good quality components.

Also, with suspension, make sure that you don't have a single point of failure. Those bump stops are there for a reason, if your suspension fails for any reason (modified or stock) they will prevent you from losing control of the vehicle, and will enable you to stop in a safe manner. I see too many lowered vans with the stops just cut off completely!

Also, a van with a cut and turned beam (and no stops) has a single point of failure, as if one group of torsion slats breaks, or the centre mounting fails, the second set will not catch the van before the wheel hits the top of the wheel arch.

Lastly dont go much lower than i have at the front!
If one of my front tyres were to blow out, i would be left with 1.5" of clearance under the beam, so i can still "drive" to a stop. Without this, if a tyre were to blow, the beam would dig into the road, probably spinning the van, and possibly rolling it Shocked

As i said, suspension is serious business!

jberger · Samba Member Joined: November 17, 2003 Posts: 2476

Supporting the vehicles weight on two 10mm (aprox) studs on each side, especially in a bus that is prone to front end dive (suspension loading) under breaking. Thats a chance I don't want to take with my family in tow. If you are going to do it, do it right and fab some new boxed shock mounts. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

nomis · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:42 pm Post subject:

the rear tyre wear is fine as the tracking is all good, the small amount of camber makes very little difference.

dropped spindles are by far the best way to lower a bus, but are severely limiting on actual drop. About 2.5" is all you will get, but they are they strongest, and best riding method.

Supporting the weight on the shock mounts generates far lower shear stresses than the conventional albatross style adjusters (or the beetle sway aways), neither of which are known to particularly weak!

Trust me, this subject has been well thrashed out, and i did not purchase any parts until i was completely satisfied with the safety of the system, suspension modification is not something to be considered lightly. If you are not 100% certain about fitting a part to your car, DON'T DO IT!

Rocknrod · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 12:55 pm Post subject:

How do those rear tires wear?

Cool

2jmotorsports · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:08 am Post subject:

I have an ME degree as well, although no suspension expert by any means. Of the choices out there Im thinkin the drop spindles to be the most reliable method, where you get a few inches of drop for cosmetic purposes & still somewhat maintain original suspension geometry. Ill probably keep researching & hearing peoples experiences though before I do anything to my bus... Wink

jberger · Samba Member Joined: November 17, 2003 Posts: 2476

As a mechanical engineer I would think you would have an issue with supporting the weight of a vehicle on mounts designed for nothing more than damping the suspension movement. Shocked

nomis · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 3:06 pm Post subject:

i don't know about in the U.S. but over here there has been a lot of debate about the safety of these style of kits.

As someone who will (hopefully) be recieving a degree in mechanical engineering in the next few months, i can see no reason why these systems are any more likely to fail than conventional adjusters.

I don't want to scare you, but just to warn you that there are a lot of people out there with very strong opinions on these things! Rolling Eyes

Also i only know of one case of this type of system failing, and that was because it was installed incorrectly, the person who owned the vehicl openly admits this, and tells his story to avoid it happening to other people.

The ride with this system is much better than adjusters, or a turned beam, and can be adjusted for height and damping individually (side for side), this means that you can get you van set up just as you like it Very Happy

nomis · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 2:59 pm Post subject:

sorry, i'm not the same simon as the one who runs red 9!

i'm a 21 year old student, not started my own business just yet Rolling Eyes

i'm a pretty well satisfied customer, thats all.

The only draw back with the kits that i can see is that they introduce a "single point of failure" problem. This can be avoided by welding the bump stops back on, but rotated up from their stock positions, so as they can still "catch" the suspension if the worst were to happen Shocked

With the bump stops on, the system is as safe as factory equipment.

Simon from red 9 does not mention this. Confused

MAF240 · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 2:06 pm Post subject: hey simon

nomis · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 1:14 pm Post subject:

i know what you mean!

every little job means getting the bus up on axle stands Rolling Eyes

I took it for a good drive last night (about 80 miles), and it was great! There's no heat yet, and it was below freezing outside, but the thing is so well insulated, and non drafty, it wasn't cold at all!

Plus did the whole trip on about 2 gallons of fuel Very Happy

60mph all the way, up hill, down hill.

It's so much more stable on the motorway than when it was "high", and there's enough give in the suspension to just soak up the bumps Laughing

2jmotorsports · Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 9:29 am Post subject:

I love the look of a dropped bus, but the only thing I would hate sacrificing is the ability to crawl under my bus easily with its stock height. Rolling Eyes

Schmooey · Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 9:23 am Post subject:

Nomis,
Nice bus.
The height of your bus looks quite reasonable to me. Not like the ground-scrapers common in my town. Being in SUV land, it's interesting to hear about the tight parking spots in the UK. My Westy is the standard 6' 4" height, and fits about everywhere.

nomis · Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 8:23 am Post subject:

its a kit where the coilovers mount in place o the shocks, and the torsion bars are replaced with tie rods. The whole kit is fitted without removing the front axle, and the parts just swap in to replace stock parts.

have a look at www.red9design.co.uk

2jmotorsports · Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 8:01 am Post subject:

Nomis, what kind of coilovers? Do they bolt right in or did you have to do any modification?


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