French Slammer Products from Midland Early Bay

[dublicious]

between the 8 and 11 cm is there much difference in handling, turning circle ... ?

Cheers

 

[Graham L]

We've got the 11cm on our bus and no chassis fouling and still get full lock, no problem at all.

 

[Graham L]

OK and yes I know its a late but thought it was worth posting these as you dont have to go mega low but narrowing helps when you are fitting 16" rims, we've working on Robs 78 Westy for a couple of weeks now and here are the results

Front
French Slammer 8cm Narrowed Ball Joint Beam
French Slammer cast late bay dropped Spindles
KYB Gas Adjust Dampers 410-265mm
Caddy 2K Steels (narrowed to 5")running 185/55-16's
Rear
French Slammer Adjustable 72-79 Rear Spring Plates
Stock Dampers
Caddy 2K Steels (6") running205/60 -16's
Rob didnt want to go mega low but wanted a usable family camper and had the vision for the wheel & tyre combo which we think works really well.

 

[moj_dub]

Hi Graham. Do you know if 2.5" drop on the spindles with standard 14" wheels/185R14C tyres will work? I don't want to go any lower than that but can't really justify buying a new beam...

 

[dublicious]

Hi Graham. Do you know if 2.5" drop on the spindles with standard 14" wheels/185R14C tyres will work? I don't want to go any lower than that but can't really justify buying a new beam...

They work but you will have to cut the threads down on the ball joints, use a slimmer bolt on the bottom and I found I had to use wheel spacers, sourced from buttys bits my bus also has a stock beam if the helps.
If I was to do it again I would get 15's

 

[Graham L]

Hi Graham. Do you know if 2.5" drop on the spindles with standard 14" wheels/185R14C tyres will work? I don't want to go any lower than that but can't really justify buying a new beam...

As per the comment above they will work, as you have a 72 its not as bad as above as theres more clearance on narrow 5 wheels than there is on wide 5 wheels, you might get a bit of arch rub but its minor. A lot of it depends on how worn the leaf springs are in your beam and how its currently sat. With the 71/72 spindles you will need to remove the bump stops on your beam to avoid them fouling the revised caliper position.

 

[BJ1]

Hi Graham. Do you know if 2.5" drop on the spindles with standard 14" wheels/185R14C tyres will work? I don't want to go any lower than that but can't really justify buying a new beam...

They work but you will have to cut the threads down on the ball joints, use a slimmer bolt on the bottom and I found I had to use wheel spacers, sourced from buttys bits my bus also has a stock beam if the helps.
If I was to do it again I would get 15's

I noticed you have a narrowed beam on your bus. Would you have to do all this on a stock width beam?

With the 71/72 spindles you will need to remove the bump stops on your beam to avoid them fouling the revised caliper position.

Would this apply to a stock width beam? If so, couldn't you just move the bump stops inwards a tad by cutting the end off the strut and redrilling the holes for the stops?

 

[Graham L]

In answer to the questions.

Yes on the bottom balljoint as because the dropped spindle effectively moves the wheel up but the balljoint stays in the same place so the bottom balljoint gets closer to the wheel rim. We supply shallow nuts and washers when people fit these themselves.

On a stock width beam you need to shorten the bump stops as the calliper moves to the forward position again to give clearance on the wheel and in turn moves where the brake hard line/flexibles sit, if you leave the bump stops full length it then catches as you turn, we tend to remove the short hard line and just use the longer flexible off a 68-70 bus direct to the back of the calliper.

Hope that makes sense

 

[BJ1]

In answer to the questions.

Yes on the bottom balljoint as because the dropped spindle effectively moves the wheel up but the balljoint stays in the same place so the bottom balljoint gets closer to the wheel rim. We supply shallow nuts and washers when people fit these themselves.

On a stock width beam you need to shorten the bump stops as the calliper moves to the forward position again to give clearance on the wheel and in turn moves where the brake hard line/flexibles sit, if you leave the bump stops full length it then catches as you turn, we tend to remove the short hard line and just use the longer flexible off a 68-70 bus direct to the back of the calliper.

Hope that makes sense

Thanks Graham - it does indeed make sense.

 

[vdub wannabe]

Hi Graham

You at Volksworld this year? Be good to catch up on prices etc for 2016,

Greg

 

[n0rthernm0nkey]

Managed to get some up to date photos of our bus today so Just thought Id update this thread...

French Slammer UK set up on our own early bay:
Front..
11cm French Slammer Beam
French Slammer Drum Dropped Spindles
KYB Gas Adjust Dampers
165/55-15 XL on Enkei Wide 5 Slot Mags
Rear..
Adjustable Spring Plates
KYB Gas Adjust Dampers
185/65-15 on Enkei Wide 5 Slot Mags

Loving this bus, the wheels are perfect! And the lowering work looks great too! Nice job!

 

[Graham L]

Sorry only just seen the latest posts on the thread, been away in Ireland over Easter came back and went straight to Volksworld.

Prices for 2016 remain the same although our labour charge has increased, everything else remains the same.

 

[*Sam*]

Hi Graham, do you know if FS have any plans for a drum brake version of the spindle ?
Cheers
Sam

 

[Graham L]

We have always offered a drum spindle.

We do a drum spindle for 68-70, a disc spindle for 71/72 and a 73-79 disc spindle.

 

[*Sam*]

Apologies I didn't realise. Had I have read the first page I would have seen that.
Thank you.

 

[Steve B]

In answer to the questions.

Yes on the bottom balljoint as because the dropped spindle effectively moves the wheel up but the balljoint stays in the same place so the bottom balljoint gets closer to the wheel rim. We supply shallow nuts and washers when people fit these themselves.

On a stock width beam you need to shorten the bump stops as the calliper moves to the forward position again to give clearance on the wheel and in turn moves where the brake hard line/flexibles sit, if you leave the bump stops full length it then catches as you turn, we tend to remove the short hard line and just use the longer flexible off a 68-70 bus direct to the back of the calliper.

Hope that makes sense

Thanks Graham - it does indeed make sense.

Hi Graham. Sorry to open an old thread. Could I ask your advice please?

I’ve a 71 Bay with late callipers and narrow 5 original 14” steels on it. It was a 71 disc originally, but changed to late callipers a few years ago.

I bought a set of French Slammer dropped spindles a few years ago, and only had them fitted today.

All is well, but just wondered if I need to worry about anything catching at all or other work I might need to consider?

Any help or guidance appreciated.

Steve


'68 Single Cab
'71 Danbury

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[osb]

Hi Graham - sorry for resurrecting this one from the grave...

I see that you're now supplying dropped spindles to take 944 callipers (maybe you alway have!). I don't have a servo on my 71, so this seems like a worthwhile upgrade to avoid unnecessary plumbing. If I was to go for an 11cm narrowed beam and the 944 brake conversion, what other goodies would I need to source to complete the conversion, other than hubs, callipers and discs?

How much grief am I going to be causing myself with a set of 6jx15 ET52.3 Teledials?

 

[sparkywig]

You'll probably need a 3mm or 5mm spacer to clear the calipers running Teledials with ET53.2.

 

[EARLYDAYS]

Hi Guys & Gals
I have just joined today I have recently went mad the last few weeks and went and purchased 2 buses a early 71 and late 73.
My early 71 has a front beam which has the dreaded rot so I need a new front beam my question is I have been looking into 2inch narrowed beam apart from 2inch shortened leaves and narrowed track rods what else will I need I am looking at switching from 14 steel to 15inch 5j alloys this Is my first time dealing with this setup and want to get it correct first time I am going to be replacing the ball joints switching to heavy duty ARB and adding some good shocks discs pads ect i like low look but i never want her scraping along the horrible costal roads any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks