Moderate lowering

[Mr Orange]

Hi All! I have searched posts about lowering and there are a lot! And it's even in the sticky section.

I hope you forgive me for asking in a new post but I could not find what I was looking for.

I want to lower my 66 bus a little. Just a 2-3 inch drop. From what I found, and please correct me if I'm wrong, you can lower just that at the rear by changing it one spline at the suspension. And the extra camber you get is not a problem. Is this so?

And for leveling the bus I need to adjust the front beam by cutting and change the fastening bracket. If this is so, how many degrees does the drop at the rear call for at the front?

Excuse me if I don't use the proper words. I hope you get what I'm after.

Any input appreciated,
thanks in advance.
Jörgen
Sweden

[KevinAlbrecht]

[pondoras box]

I have had several lowered buses done various different ways. Back in the day the only way to do this was re-indexing the real splines and cutting and turning the beam or if you did it really good you put adjusters in the front beam.

Looked really cool but rode bad, real bad! Didnt matter then I was young and dumb.

Kevin is right, dropped spindles and straight axle kit in the rear. It is much nicer to ride in but you will lose the extra torque of the gear reduction boxes. Build a bigger engine
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Mr Orange]

Thanks for your input! I guess what pondoros box is saying is what I asked for. I just thought that just lowering it 2 inches would not affect handling that much. They aren't exactly great handling cars to start with

Am I totally wrong? What do you think?

//Jörgen

[pondoras box]

My cut and turned beam and my beam with adjusters rode rough! I guess it handled better but with a 40 horse out back I didnt really have much to base handling upon.

My dropped spindles and straight axle kit rode darn near stock, handled well and didnt beat me up. Plus after you go through all the hassle of cutting the beam or having someone do it for you youre better off flipping your spindles anyway.

The rear will cost you extra to do the straight axle because of sourcing the correct bug tranaxle and the modified spring plates, but you can sell off some of your RGB stuff to offset some of the cost. Plus you wont be destroying rear bearings if you are going to drive this thing a lot.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Mr Orange]

How much was your bus lowered?

And could you point me towards some 2 inch drop spindles for sale!

//Jörgen

[pondoras box]

My buses were all lowered about 3 1/2 inches. The cut and turned beam one was about 4 inches all the way around. I dont know where to look in your neck of the woods but I would suggest contacting either Old Speed in California or WideFive out of Ohio. There are numerous others on here that do it either on an exchange basis or buying them outright.

I am sure there has to be someone much closer to you as a lot of people are running them these days. Maybe post a wanted add on this site and hopefully someone close to you that provides that type of service will send you a PM or E-mail.

Also try a search of the classifieds under split bus.

I found these really quick
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1428240

http://widefive.net/front/?page_id=10
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[EmpiGT]

No one sales a 2 inch drop spindle. Unless you go thru a vender that cuts the shaft off and rewelds part of another spindle 2 inches up. Basicly needing two sets of spindles to make one set of two inch drop and makes the front end wider because of the added piece of spindle added on top of the old. A flipped spindle is a standard 3.5 inch drop. Much easier to make and has enough drop to make them worth the time. For 2 inches just find a 300 pound friend to ride with you..

[quartermilecamel]

[Mr Orange]

Ok, so that sounds like a lot of work for little effect. I don't want a bus that looks lowered. I just want it to get down a little bit.

Thats why i figured this would be an easy fix with the rear one spline fix and the relocation of the front beam fastener. Still an bad idea for a 2 inch drop?

Otherwise what do you guys suggest?

Anyone here who have made this kind of lowering and have the recipe for it?

Thanks for trying to help me!

//Jörgen

[EmpiGT]

[mandraks]

[Mr Orange]

I just want it to get a bit closer to the ground. I'm restoring it at the moment but when I had it original height it was a bit like on stilts. It is just a look thing, and I think 2 inches will do the trick. I'm planning to run my 14 inch original wheels with 205-75 tires.

And if I'm lucky, that would clear the garage too!

//Jörgen

ps. could someone direct me to a page where they show how the adjusters in the beam works. Thanks!

[mandraks]

[Mr Orange]

I'm sure it is a great look. But not the one I'm after for the moment.

//Jörgen

[DubStyle]

Put adjusters on the beam and you should be able to get 2", but with that you'll get a not so good ride.
_________________
Anthony

SBS #1
SBS #1 on FB

"The original & best lowered Split Bus website/club"

[kingodirtp3]

205/75 may be a little too big, a 185/55/14 is perfect for me with dropped spindles 3.5in and adjustable beam set at the highest setting. stock width beam. I shoulda used a 2in narrowed beam but too late now.
if ur going to keep ur reduction boxes then just get the adjustable beam and go down to a 185/60 or 195/60 tire, it'll have a little rake to it also with very little wheel gap.

[Major Woody]

If you think it rides bad at the stock height, the problem is probably that you have worn out components and crappy passenger car tires.
Keeping all that and lowering it by cutting and turning will make things worse, not better.
Dropped spindles will maintain the stock geometry but they drop the front 3-1/2. They are a stock spindle, reconfigured in a different arrangement and there is only ONE drop available. As a part of this, you will get all new tie rod ends and you probably should replace the drag link unless it is very tight.
A matching drop in the rear will require a straight axle kit which removes the reduction boxes and replaces them with modified beetle parts. This is an oversimplification but that's basically what you're doing. If you lower it less than what you lower the front, the bus will have a "rake" which changes the front caster and causes the steering not to center itself as well. This makes the bus wander, so you need to keep it level.
The last piece of the puzzle is good quality shocks and tires that either have a narrow and stiff sidewall, or a reinforced sidewall that will help the tall bus resist sidewinds and stay in its lane.
If you don't need a lowered bus, keep it stock height and rebuild everything and your problem will probably go away. If you are hoping that you can make it handle and track even remotely like a modern car, though, you are headed for disappointment.
If you still want to lower it, the answers to all your "how-to" questions are in the lowering thread in the FAQ.

[plane_ben]

My first lowered bus was done by lowering on spline in the rear. the axle tubes remained level, but it put the axle right on the rubber bump stop. Had to cut two knobs off the bump stop for a little suspension action.

For the front, I just removed all the torsion springs except for the three biggest ones. I know people here are going to crucify me about this, but I drove thousands of trouble free miles with this arrangement.

Both mods gave me 2" to 2 1/2" drop. Cost is nothing but your time.
_________________
I'm at the age were "fuck off", "fuck you", and "fuck it" answer most questions.

[Mr Orange]

Hi all and thank you for all input. I really appreciate it.

I bought this bus a couple of years ago and I only drove it from the harbour where I picked it up. It is full resto from day one.

I will replace everything except the springs all around. I will not lower it 3.5 inch because it is not the look I want to achieve. When I got it, it ran 185 75 14 tyres. I want a lot of rubber and will go for high profile. The tyres I'm getting is whitewalls and they are usually high profile. Maybe I settle for 195 75 14. They are usually used on 2.5 ton Cadillacs so they are pretty stiff.

I have not had any trouble with the bus handling simply because I have not driven it. I just want to get it a couple of inches lower. If that means to much money or sacrificing the handling too much, at this time I will postpone it and go stock height for a while.

I usually work with Mopar muscle cars. They also have torsion suspension at the front and they are really easy to adjust height. I just thougt a moderate lowering on a VW would be just as easy.

Thanks for helping me.

//Jörgen