Lower/level off bus question?

[ghop99]

My bus is sitting high up front and low towards the back, I guess its coz the rear shocks are old? Looks like it has been lowerd at some point, not sure how though. I want it to sit about an inch lower and level all round. Whats the best and most cost effective way of doing his? I don't want to spend a fortune on it. Any recomendations not too far from the South West?

Thanks guys

 

[Loxy]

post a pic of the middle of your front beam looking from behind it to the front (if that makes sense).
We should be able to work out how it was lowered then - if it has adjusters then you should be able to adjust the front up/down a bit, using a jack, axle stands & elbow grease
The rear can be raised/lowered just by rotating the torsion bars on each side - unless you want to go a lot lower in which case major surgery to chassis rails etc will probably be required. It is also possible that it has adjustable spring plates fitted which would also be easy to raise/lower.
Remove the rear wheel and see if your spring plates look anything like this:

 

[rustydiver]

post a pic of the middle of your front beam looking from behind it to the front (if that makes sense).
We should be able to work out how it was lowered then - if it has adjusters then you should be able to adjust the front up/down a bit, using a jack, axle stands & elbow grease
The rear can be raised/lowered just by rotating the torsion bars on each side - unless you want to go a lot lower in which case major surgery to chassis rails etc will probably be required. It is also possible that it has adjustable spring plates fitted which would also be easy to raise/lower.
Remove the rear wheel and see if your spring plates look anything like this:

I want some of theses jobbies. 8) Takes a lot of the guess work out. Just lowerd mine at the front with adjusters and rear by the splines, have to readjust the rear again cos im on the bump stops now (they have been cut down a bit) after fitting the interior.

 

[ghop99]

Ok so here is one of the back shocks looking pretty well, shocking, scuse the pun and two of the front.

 

[Loxy]

Pic of the front beam needs to show the middle - where the steering pin is(pref looking forward) - as that is the normal location for fitting adjusters or cutting & turning the beam.

 

[ghop99]

Sorry Loxy, is this any better?

 

[Loxy]

Ok looks from the pics like your front beam has been cut&turned - basically the centre section on each tube that contains a collet that retains the torsion leaves at a set height has been cut out, turned & then rewelded - resulting in a permanent fixed lowering of the front end - so you have no easy way of adjusting the front of your bus without resorting to spending a fair bit of cash on either getting the beam cut & turned again(not sure this is really a good idea), getting some adjusters welded in or getting a set of dropped spindles.

Of course if you are relatively happy with the height at the front you could just adjust the rear to match the front?

There are a couple of threads on here already regarding the pros & cons of lowering and the various methods of achieving the right "look", there are also some safety issues that need to be considered if you are going really low (or adjusting the front down more than a few inches without considering the loss in balljoint movement).

 

[ghop99]

Cheers Loxy, Thought as much as soon as I got the pic up on my screen. Back up it is then, another inch shouldnt be too much trouble.

 

[Loxy]

Cheers Loxy, Thought as much as soon as I got the pic up on my screen. Back up it is then, another inch shouldnt be too much trouble.

Theres a thread on here somewhere posted by Johnny (I think) that tells you the number of inner/outer splines on the rear to get specific height changes, will have a look for it....

 

[Loxy]

Ta Da

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=8232" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[retrokid]

I'd fit some bigger profile tyres on the back. Gain some extra height and better gearing...

 

[ghop99]

I'd fit some bigger profile tyres on the back. Gain some extra height and better gearing...

Interesting! Got any examples or pics? How chunky were you thinking?

 

[Loxy]

I'd fit some bigger profile tyres on the back. Gain some extra height and better gearing...

Interesting! Got any examples or pics? How chunky were you thinking?

Depends how big the current tyres are, are those wheels 15s or 16s?

 

[ghop99]

16s me thinks.....