can I keep my tranny if I want to lower my 67 bus??

[firzout]

I'm new with the buses, So, I've been asking a lot of questions. But, I've been learning a lot also. I want to lower my 67 13 window dlx. 1 reason being because I like the look, but I also want to be able to cruise on the highway. I'm not sure if I have to change my tranny and use a 68 bug tranny in order to cruise at 60 - 70mph. I just learned my tranny is a large nut which has the 4:12 ratio.

My question is can I keep my tranny or need to change it?
Second , if I keep it how do I lower the rear ?

PLEASE HELP


P.S. I'm using aftermarket 5 spokes on 195/50/15
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[rizzag]

you can keep your trans but you will need to have a professional trans guy flip the ring and pinion

other parts you need

68 bug axles or any year type 3 axles
straight axle kit
short axle bug bearing caps
brakes of your choice
outer bug wheel bearing spacers
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flossin, tossin, dippin, and trippin

[firzout]

my question is, if I can keep my tranny, can I lower the bus without making changes to my rear end? If I'm going to need all that stuff should I just go with a conversion kit?

I want to know if I can lower my bus by keeping my factory setup?
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Why use a car when you can take a BUS!

[rizzag]

[firzout]

Okay, lol how do I lower it 3" from the rear? I'm going with a 4" narrowed beam with drop spindles in the front.

I will eventually put an IRS kit in the rear, but not for a while I rather do other things to the bus with that money.
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Why use a car when you can take a BUS!

[KombiMonster]

[Yellowbeard]

The bus in my avatar is lowered 4 inches in the front and 3 in the rear on 195/50/15 rubber. My estimate is 7- inches lower than stock while keeping RGB rear end setup. Cheap way to go. If you want to go faster, have the 4.12 changed out for a 3.88 and reinstall. If all that doesn't float your boat, you haven't wasted a bunch of cash before deciding to go straight axle.
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[firzout]

what do you mean by " flipin the boxes" ? is that a lot of work... something I can do or need an expert ?
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Why use a car when you can take a BUS!

[firzout]

I still don't know how to lower the rear ? what do I need to do to lower the rear ?

what does flipn the boxes do for me ?

how much does it cost to change the gears from 4:12 to 3:88 ?
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Why use a car when you can take a BUS!

[Yellowbeard]

Lowering the rear can be done up to about 3 inches by adjusting the spring plate settings on the rear torsion bars.
Flipping the reduction boxes lowers the rear. Lots of work and mixed reviews on oiling the gears.
Cost to change r/p to 3.88 varies from about $130 to buy a kit to do it yourself to a few hundred for a mildly built 'freeway flyer' special to thousands for a super-trick racing trans...
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[love child]

don 3751 and rizzag, my question is almost the same as the thread author,how long have you had your rear redux boxes lowered? ive asked all around about this method, and half the bus people tell me that it works quite well, and the other half tell me that it will burn out my redux boxes. and one person told me that each spline lowers it by 1 inch only i do some hiway driving with some wieght in the rear ,if i lower it by 2 splines will this add too much negative wheel camber and will this burn out my boxes?

[Andrew]

[Yellowbeard]

I've had mine that way the past 50k and no problems. Just don't go ape-shit lowering and maintain your oil level.
The inner splines and the outer splines are different gears, so by turning the torsion bars in the housings and turning the spring plates on the bars, you can come up with combinations in fractions of inches.
2 inches of lowering won't make any difference. Mine is twice that and still running. How much difference loading weight in the rear makes depends on how much weight we're talking. If you routinely run a certain weight, make sure you've got good shocks for the job and do your lowering job with the weight in the vehicle.
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[love child]

man, thanks for the fast reply so what you guys are saying is that if i reindex my splines and my tires rest at a perfect 90 deg or a little less i should be fine. ill even throw some lbs in the rear to see how it sits just too make sure. i want to keep my redux boxes cause i tow my quad dirt bike on a trailer and the lower gearing helps.a local shop that does good work will charge me 180 to do the job, but i would like to know how to do it myself, do i have to remove the drums completly off the axels to do the job, or will they swing out of the way, and how long would you say the job will take me to do myself for the first time

[rizzag]

DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK

remove e-brake cables
unbolt reduction boxes
unbolt springplate retainers (torstion bar covers)
unbolt shocks
swing axle out of the way
mark spring plate to torsion bar for reference
pull spingplate outward and make sure it is coming off the outer splines and not the inner
turn the spring plate upward ONE outer notch.
put everything back together

its really easy, this should put you down around three inches. this is as low as i would ever want to go if i was going to keep the reduction boxes for a long time.

should take 2-3 hours for a first timer
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flossin, tossin, dippin, and trippin

[LittleThunder]

Which is the coarser spline, inner or outer?

[love child]

thanks rizzag your directions make it sounds easy,will the plates come out freely or will i need a ruber mallet

[firzout]

is there any pictures showing any of this ? I know mechanics but never worked on a bus, so I'm not sure what any parts look like. I don't even know what the reduction box looks like let alone the other things!lol

anyone with pictures??? lol

If I understand correctly all I have to do is change the spring plate up one notch?
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Why use a car when you can take a BUS!

[Yellowbeard]

No pictures here, I'm sure somebody on the site does. One notch on the outer spline should do it.
Difference in outside diameter between stock tires and 195/50/15s =3-1/2 inches. Combine that with 3 inches of lowering from the spring plate adjustment for a total of about 6 1/2 inches of lowering from stock. More than this and you'll need to start getting exotic...
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[firzout]

Well, stupid me. I put a search for reduction box on samba and found what they look like. All this time I thought they where attached to the tranny on the end like a transfercase LOL!!! STUUUPID!! know I see... I think I can handle it.. Is there any dangerous spring tension I need to be worried about???
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Why use a car when you can take a BUS!