Front shocks

[gagvanman]

What's the consensus on fitting coil over shocks to the front suspension of a camper? My bus wallows a lot in cornering.

 

[Moseley]

We have coilovers fitted as we’re running reasonably low with no arch modification. I needed to stiffen the suspension due to the lack of wheel travel available, and coilovers have helped a great deal with that. There will be folks who just fit stiff shocks to combat the issue, but my personal feeling / experience on this is that you end up with springs that behave like stock, but shocks that are over-dampening and you end up with a pogo stick ride. If you do go down the coilover route and search for the ‘Gaz shock thread’ on here, I have a set of springs that are no longer required, so would just need some new shock bodies to pair with them.

Alternatively, if you’re stock height, go with an anti-roll bar, but I’m not sure how low you can go before these cause fitment / clearance issues.


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[ozziedog]

Pretty much the same as above^^^! If you’re stock, it’s fairly easy to check your shocks are up to the game Just by bouncing the bus from the guttering, they shouldn’t keep bouncing. Start with the stock things Like regular style shocks, and maybe a good quality extra thick anti roll bar Is about as crazy as you need to go. Good quality tyres are also a must and check yours are in date too plus commercial tyres are really a bonus, perhaps raising your tyre pressures a bit too, try an extra ten pounds in your tyres.Coil overs will only help to stiffen your suspension with the added coil spring adding to your existing suspension and the shocks doing their regular job.

Ozziedog,,,,,,lowered busses different recipes :mrgreen:

 

[gagvanman]

Thanks. Already got commercial tyres, will play about with pressures. Also will probably go down the uprated anti-roll bar route.

 

[fallingoffalot]

We have coilovers fitted as we’re running reasonably low with no arch modification. I needed to stiffen the suspension due to the lack of wheel travel available, and coilovers have helped a great deal with that. There will be folks who just fit stiff shocks to combat the issue, but my personal feeling / experience on this is that you end up with springs that behave like stock, but shocks that are over-dampening and you end up with a pogo stick ride. If you do go down the coilover route and search for the ‘Gaz shock thread’ on here, I have a set of springs that are no longer required, so would just need some new shock bodies to pair with them.

Alternatively, if you’re stock height, go with an anti-roll bar, but I’m not sure how low you can go before these cause fitment / clearance issues.


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My front is fairly low on adjusters and drop spindles, and I have a stock anti-roll bar on a 4" narrowed beam. When I got my bus, May 2019, it had Red-9 coil-overs only and no stock springs. The ride was always too harsh no matter what adjustments I made, so I had the beam fitted. If you have adjusters then you may be able to make the ride firmer.

 

[Moseley]

We have coilovers fitted as we’re running reasonably low with no arch modification. I needed to stiffen the suspension due to the lack of wheel travel available, and coilovers have helped a great deal with that. There will be folks who just fit stiff shocks to combat the issue, but my personal feeling / experience on this is that you end up with springs that behave like stock, but shocks that are over-dampening and you end up with a pogo stick ride. If you do go down the coilover route and search for the ‘Gaz shock thread’ on here, I have a set of springs that are no longer required, so would just need some new shock bodies to pair with them.

Alternatively, if you’re stock height, go with an anti-roll bar, but I’m not sure how low you can go before these cause fitment / clearance issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My front is fairly low on adjusters and drop spindles, and I have a stock anti-roll bar on a 4" narrowed beam. When I got my bus, May 2019, it had Red-9 coil-overs only and no stock springs. The ride was always too harsh no matter what adjustments I made, so I had the beam fitted. If you have adjusters then you may be able to make the ride firmer.

Unfortunately adjusters in the beam don’t make the ride any firmer - they just rotate the leaves to change the ride height. I don’t know what coilovers Red9 use, but I’m certainly happy using the Gaz coilovers, and I only have about 1.5” to 2” of travel before the tyre would touch the arch.

 

[K@rlos]

If your bus is lowered Get the Blistiens from T2D, not cheap but awesome, you won’t be disappointed. I fit them on every bus I lower including my own. They’ve been developed specifically for bus and that shows in the firm but smooth ride and nice handling.