Anyone used Red 9 Design EZRIDER lowered kit ???

[two benders steve]

Hi , i did the same as some of you are doing and that is convince yourself that its ok after all i'd paid for it i'd got the trailing arms off my beem it would have been easy to fit it. I Jjust thought is it worth the risk ? i don't need to put it on . The differance with a wheel falling off and the wheel going up into the wheel tube would be massive ! but yes with the bump stops in it should stop this happening , in the end i looked at this way, i don't need to fit it because my adjusters have stuck or i want the van low it already is, i looked at other cars/van suspension to how many relided on ONE 30/40 year old bolt / stud to keep it all together ! Even if the bump stops are in IF the stud faled on a bend after a big bump would i be able to still have control of my van ? With my Mrs and kids in it i didn't want to find out. This is only me opinion. You should have seen how many replys i got on volks zone forum when i posted the question about the kit. I hopr that nobody does have an accident , but one thing that was interesting was some said your insurance company may say it was unsafe and you would have to prove it was safe at huge cost! steve

 

[LuAn]

Steve, it's cool that you came to the conclusion you did. It was the right decision for you. However I'm not convinced that there is anything particularly problematic about the Red 9 system.

I got a book of articles from VolksWorld a couple of days ago. There are a number of articles in there about lowering a van and the first one asks "are you really sure you want to do this?". The argument is that at stock height, the bumpers and stuff are all where they need to be. Lower the van and the bumpers are going to go underneath the other vehicle that you crash into and the front of your van will impact with their bumpers and chasis at the perfect height for crushing your legs.

I haven't mentioned the article to my mother-in-law because she's already a bit concerned that we're driving around in a vehicle that doesn't have ABS and airbags.

 

[LuAn]

Opinions continue to vary about this.

I was over at Wooleys Service Station yesterday and asked the guy who usually deals with lowering vehicles (he had my van up on the ramp and those avis adjusters are stuck, stuck, stuck). He said he had no experience of the Red 9 system but said he wasn't comfortable about the load it would put on the beam where the top of the damper connects, especially if the beam were not tip-top.

This morning I was ordering some bits from VW Heritage so I asked the guy I was speaking to. Again he had no experience of the Red 9 system but expressed a concern about the load it would put on the spindles where the bottom of the damper connects.

I also phoned my insurer this morning (Adrian Flux) and they had no words of warning or concerns about the Red 9 system i.e it will not affect my insurance and they are not aware of any problems.

 

[Lang]

I met Simon from Red 9 Design at Mach8 this year. Nice bloke very enthusiastic and his product looked well made, but............there's just that niggling doubt in the back of my mind about the amount of force going through those 2 bolts. I wanted to buy the kit but held back, Mrs/kids in van, can I take the risk? For me the answer is no & I'm having a conventional lowering job done by T2D at the end of the month.
Anyway everyone has their own path to take, choose wisely kiddies

 

[67 BAY]

Having repaired and modified vw's for 17 years, i've lowered loads by the cut n turn method,foxy adjusters,and the type for both tubes (csp,just kampers,schofields etc), the only time i've had anything to do with red9 was to remove them from 2 vans and replace using adjusters and torsion bars.My own personal view is that the mounting points are made to mount shock absorbers(to dampen the springing) not to mount the main springs(coilovers) to.You will still have the problem of premature wear of overstressed balljoints,bumpsteer,etc depending how low you go.With any lowered bus the impact zone in an accident is moved up to a single skinned area(frontpanel chrushed legs).At the end of the day yer pays the yer makes yer choice.Mine is SLAM IT ON ITS ARSE.

 

[Justin & Muttley]

...At the end of the day yer pays the yer makes yer choice.Mine is SLAM IT ON ITS ARSE.

:lol: :lol:

 

[LuAn]

Sorry for bumping this ageing thread but for the benefit of those who might be interested I just wanted to say that I've now fitted the shocks from the Red 9 kit.

I haven't fitted the torsion bar replacement yet and it's not certain that I will. If you will recall, my problem was that my van had been lowered and the adjusters were stuck at a height that was too low. The shocks have raised her up about 2.5 inches which is just what I'd hoped for. She is now riding on the shocks even though the torsion bar is still in place. Thus I'm not sure there's any point in replacing it.

It's too early to report on the effect that it's had on the ride quality as I haven't had chance to fiddle with the adjustment on the damping.

I've written up what I've done thus far on my blog and will write up any further thoughts and conclusions there rather than keep resurrecting this thread.

If you are interested, my blog is at:
http://www.lunaticantics.blogspot.com/

 

[kempy]

Sorry for bumping this ageing thread but for the benefit of those who might be interested I just wanted to say that I've now fitted the shocks from the Red 9 kit.

I haven't fitted the torsion bar replacement yet and it's not certain that I will. If you will recall, my problem was that my van had been lowered and the adjusters were stuck at a height that was too low. The shocks have raised her up about 2.5 inches which is just what I'd hoped for. She is now riding on the shocks even though the torsion bar is still in place. Thus I'm not sure there's any point in replacing it.

It's too early to report on the effect that it's had on the ride quality as I haven't had chance to fiddle with the adjustment on the damping.

I've written up what I've done thus far on my blog and will write up any further thoughts and conclusions there rather than keep resurrecting this thread.

If you are interested, my blog is at:
http://www.lunaticantics.blogspot.com/

Great news. Read the blog also and very good.

Please keep us informed how you get on. I'm still going to lower my bus but can't make my mind up as to the best option.

I'm really like to go the dropped spindles route so that i'm not messing around taking the beam off, however 2.5" drop may not be enough.

I could do with dropping the bus around the 3.5" mark to fill the gap.

Mike

 

[Justin & Muttley]

Nice write up on your blog - it looks like a good result!

 

[Guest]

I'm really like to go the dropped spindles route so that i'm not messing around taking the beam off, however 2.5" drop may not be enough.

I could do with dropping the bus around the 3.5" mark to fill the gap.

Mike

there are 4.1" dropped spindles with long play ball joints available from slammedpanel.com, its another option if you want to go abit further without touching the beam

nice blog the coils look surprisingly good. I think if and when i get to this stage i'll fit new narrowed end plates and go for the red9 kit to be extra sure the towers are strong enough.

 

[LuAn]

I think if and when i get to this stage i'll fit new narrowed end plates and go for the red9 kit to be extra sure the towers are strong enough.

In the course of investigating, prior to making my purchase, a few people expressed concerns about the towers while others were more concerned about the bolts. Others were concerned about the lower mounting.

It's worth pointing out that the image on my blog shows the shocks without the lowered bump stops in place. I bought a set of Red 9's lowered bump stops at the same time as the EZRider kit and intend to put them in place. I will definitely put them in place if I do removed the torsion bars.

My point is that if you are concerned about the towers, then you probably ought to be concerned about the bolts and the spindles, and you should fit the lowered bump stops in order to easy your mind about what would happen if something does fail.

 

[Guest]

I agree. The unknown entity in my setup would be the towers as i have no idea yet what condition they are in.

Brand new dropped spindles, new endplates, bolts and R9 bump stops and ill definitely be driving along with alot more confidence that i'd have a comfortable, adjustable low ride and some semblence of safety.

 

[Guest]

I just noticed reading your blog that you said the boots on the ball joints were torn up. I would definitely check wear on the BJs as it would be better to get new ones pressed even go for longer travel ones or they will fail alot quicker.

 

[LuAn]

The ball joints are something I need to read up on as I don't know what to look for at the moment. I'll check my books when I'm planning to do it and if I'm still in the dark I'll start a new thread.

 

[angus]

Nice blog, and useful info - keep us posted as you get used to the feel of the ride.

 

[Guest]

if your planning to go lower than 3" then you would be better to replace the standard ball joints with longer play ones as standard joints will wear out alot faster. Theres not much difference in price.

I would guess that the boots were ripped becasue of over excessive play on the joints and the joints would definetly be damaged as well?

 

[Joval]

Bump. Just ordered the Red9 kit, I've driven beetles on; spindles, dodgy single adjuster beams, 4" narrowed beams, with shocks, without shocks etc etc

For my new bus I'm going to try something different. I'll report back when I have something to report. :wink:

 

[Joval]

Just arrived at lunchtime, coilovers are heavier than expected, no instructions included but I have these in an email from Red9.

bars to replace torsion leaves -

centre dimple -

Coilover -

 

[Camperdan]

if your planning to go lower than 3" then you would be better to replace the standard ball joints with longer play ones as standard joints will wear out alot faster. Theres not much difference in price.

I would guess that the boots were ripped becasue of over excessive play on the joints and the joints would definetly be damaged as well?

So does anyone know where you can get long travel ball joints for Bay's and how much? I thought these were only available for beetles and don't think I've ever seen any for buses?

 

[ant]

Joval - have you fitted these yet? very interested in any updates you might have as i'm thinking about getting some.