Lifted busses ( not big meats under stock suspension)

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Mine in original lift. Has come down some due to axle issues in the rear.

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I'm at the age were "fuck off", "fuck you", and "fuck it" answer most questions.

[Big Bill]

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That just looks BAD A$$ !!!!!!!!

[64 ragtop volks]

got my lifted suspension from wagens west (early bay lifted spindles and raised bearing carriers for the rear. going with 002 trans with 091 guts with the erco intermedate bearing housing( supposed to let me use early bus nose cone) about a month till trans is ready to ship. hoping the irs setup will work as well as my redux box have off road. after i do the rear i think it will get front bumper to about 20"

[64 ragtop volks]

finished up the 002 conversion,( early bay spning plates, trailing arms and raised bearing carriers from wagens west) rides like a caddy now, the hi angle 002 cvs were binding, went with stage3 loose fit 930s, cv savers from all german motorsports, and bates style boots on 22" 930 axles.( using a 50/50 mix of swepco red and belray blue molylube anti seize to grease up cvs) i didnt like the negitive camber that the early bay suspension had, so i made 3degree blocks which widened track and help reduce driveline angle a little. leaving for bbb friday will be intersting to see how well the cvs and boots hold up. thr pics are before i mounted the rear shocks. (front is early bay beam with lifted spindles from wagens west as well) in few days ill clip off zip ties and re torque cv bolts and put on the clamps.

[WideFive]

[sled]

Ok I am not fully understanding these huge lifts. I drove the fuck out of my lifted 58 kombi and it did NOT like high speeds or winding highway roads. How much are these buses actually getting used both on and OFF road. If you are really taking your bus to the extreme, you will find that the large lifts will actually hamper performance. A mildly lifted bus (3") has an incredible approach and departure angle, and a ton of roll-over clearance (ability to clear a bump between the front and rear tires). But, with more lift comes substantial instability when on off angle terrain or trying to articulate over objects.


maybe most of these buses are just built for looks?

all the lift and gnarly tires in the world wont help if you don't have a limited slip diff or an ability to lock the rear end.
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drive your split.

[64 ragtop volks]

the same could be said about lowered buses i guess, especially lowered campers. i drove bus on several cross country trips with just a bay beam and re indexed spring plates, the off camber turns can be little tricky but i found that keeping to posted speed signs will keep you out of trouble on the highway if it says 35mph do 35mph ( in modern cars you can do 15+ mph over the sugested signs usally without issue ). lifting with the re dux boxes is hard on spade end of axels, fulcrums and the side gears. no one seems to make aftermarket re dux axels that was biggest reason i went irs. bus had bay bay beam when i got it. drove it several 2500+ trips, alot of off highway trails and really liked how re dux boxes handled off road, we will drive about 1300 miles to bbb getting there few days early to camp and trail ride in dez just before you hit havasu. a friend had the all terrains and got stuck in sand and the mud/clay out here when the buses with gnarly tires did fine. some of it is looks for sure same as lowered buses. will be interesting to find out how bus preforms with new set up

[WideFive]

Yeah, there's a lot of things people do that I don't understand either. Usually it's the lowered or stock folks that boggle my mind.

Mine is lifted 4" and I haven't experienced any issues at speed or with winds. Actually feels a little more planted than a stock height Bus. I'd assume that's due to tires and increased front track with. Drove it all last Summer, my daughter loves to ride in it, so it's the pick of the litter. It's not perfect by any means, but still drivable and yet more capable than a stock height Bus. My biggest complaint is the wheel hop if I get on it hard from a stop. But that's fixable and all part of the learning process.

I've yet to take it on any legit off road trails. It's a good 2-3hr drive to get to anything. Not like there's something in the backyard. Hell, I've had a lifted 4Runner for 7yrs now and only took it off road once.

To a certain extent with some people it's probably as you suspect. Just a novelty item or a hey, look at me type deal. On or off road very few Buses get driven as often as they should.

64ragtopvolks seems like he's trying to mega lift a Bus and make it still super usable, while still keeping it VW. I know he drives the balls off all his shit, on and off road.
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Aaron D. Badertscher
Click here for ALL my links.

[sled]

well, I guess if its for looks, then performance is not that much of a consideration. Looks gnarly for sure!!



as far as all the slammed buses...we KNOW this is just for looks, they drive like shit regardless of what anyone tries to convince you of. If you wanted a street-performance bus then it wouldn't be lowered that much, and it sure as hell wouldn't have a beam with king/link and a straight axle in the back.

maybe the same could be said for a lifted bus? the IRS rear is a great improvment, but the beam is still a significantly limiting factor.
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drive your split.

[64 ragtop volks]

i want the "looks" and prefornance, you seem to be like a wet blanlet on the idea of a lifted bus, so why bother to post up in this thread? if no one ever tried to push the envolope and try different things the world be a boring place. one of reasons i dont post much on samba is all the negitive nancy folks, and will try to post up some results good or bad when we get out to BBB and hit the dez for few days. i do a ton of posting on the gram for anyone interested

[oakman]

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^^^I'll be there. looking forward to seeing 64 ragtop volks' too. Saw it last year and was impressed. Can't wait to check out the new IRS setup.
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I'm at the age were "fuck off", "fuck you", and "fuck it" answer most questions.

[sled]

[cdennisg]

Funny, I had searched earlier today for some of your kombi photos in the gallery here, to no avail. I intended to share a post like what you just offered.
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nothing

[Long-roofs]

Hey Jake, I have a couple pics of your meat-head Bus 2010

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I have been on a treadmill drinking vodka, maybe more than once.

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[oakman]

Jake's lifted 58' is sweet! I remember seeing pictures of it when I first started coming to this site. I want to lift my sc about that same height if I ever get to it.

Lift, lower, tubs, big meats, stock, whatever. Just do it because it's what you want to do. Think about how many decisions we make in life based on how something or someone looks. Nothing wrong with it, it's human nature.
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Brandon

['64cal lookdub]

I remember that '58 too, I thought it was pretty neat.

[64 ragtop volks]

tried a few differnt ideas and finally came up with something similiar to the 75/76 sa fleetline setup. converted the redux boxes to acept 930 drive flanges, seems to be working so far. i tried going full irs set up but kept blowing up the loose fit/high angle 930 cvs, i tried using custom slip joint axels instead of the cvs but viberated crazy past about 45mph. using the redux boxes dropped driveline angles to under 25degrees. its about as high as you can go without dropping the trans, or going with huge 934 cvs. next will be replacing the hard lines from the drums with some shorter lines

[j.pickens]

'55 Baja Barndoor.
Spingplates extended with "No Hop" kit Six rear shocks.
Front end modified for lift.

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[zehbeh]