Narrowed Beam

[KevinR]

I am curious, I see a lot of buses with narrowed front beams, do people do it because they like the look / stance? Is there any driving or handling benefits from narrowing as in my mind I think it would make the drive less stable?

 

[sparkywig]

It tucks the front wheels further into the arches so the tyres don’t catch the wheel arches when lowering.

 

[Clem]

Is there any driving or handling benefits from narrowing?

Zero

 

[ozziedog]

Zero

Absolutely not quite as much as that Clem, maybe ten per cent less.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,, Less stable definitely

 

[mcvw]

I have a T2d 4" narrowed beam (with adjusters) on my 68. Would swap for a 2" version - as I'm an old fcuker and have also changed the whole look/stance of my bus

 

[naskeet]

Narrowing the front track is one factor which contributes to an increase in over-steer!

 

[ozziedog]

I have a T2d 4" narrowed beam (with adjusters) on my 68. Would swap for a 2" version - as I'm an old fcuker and have also changed the whole look/stance of my bus

Go on then, lead the way, get up to stock and a bit more. The nose bleeds aren’t too bad and the ride is Gert lush. Easy to get under and have a little looky see as well.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,bouncing along in bliss

 

[Earlybay1]

Motorway driving in inside lane with HGV's passing is not nice even on stock beam. You have to be on the alert all the time. First you feel the push to left with the pressure wave of the lorry which you correct and then re correct as it is passing! Keep the stock beam and spend the money somewhere else.

 

[naskeet]

Motorway driving in inside lane with HGV's passing is not nice even on stock beam. You have to be on the alert all the time. First you feel the push to left with the pressure wave of the lorry which you correct and then re correct as it is passing! Keep the stock beam and spend the money somewhere else.

That to a large extent is the effect of oversteer, which I didn't experience when driving other high-sided vans such as a lightly-laden, early-1980s vintage, Ford Transit 1600 panel-van (the AACPA's mobile, dwelling party-wall, sound-transmission test laboratory) on the motorways.

Equipping the VW Type 2 with commercial-van tyres having stiffer side walls, is said to noticeably-reduce the oversteer effect, but fitting car tyres (commonly the resort of people with narrowed, lowered suspension) having less-stiff side walls, with reduced load capacity and reduced maximum inflation pressure, is likely to exacerbate the oversteer effect.

 

[fallingoffalot]

Mine is about 4" narrowed and it means it catches the bulkhead bulge when hitting speed bumps too fast, obvious answer is to fit smaller tyres, but it's not frequent or severe enough to worry too much about and I like my 4x4 tyres. I don't find it too bad with passing lorries and cross-winds, yeah you can feel it but not bad enough to cause oversteer. I think this may be down to tyres - I've got Yokohama C14 van tyres on the rear and Bridgestone 4x4 tyres on the front with 45-50psi. Actually thinking about it, it's not that often that a lorry overtakes me on the motorway, I'm usually doing 65+.

 

[KevinR]

I actually don’t particularly like the look of narrowed beam and always thought it have a negative affect on handling, now I know it does! Why would you spend money on something that makes things worse?? We lowered ours modestly partly due to liking the stance and partly because it improves handling and the directness of steering, so win win !

 

[naskeet]

Mine is about 4" narrowed and it means it catches the bulkhead bulge when hitting speed bumps too fast, obvious answer is to fit smaller tyres, but it's not frequent or severe enough to worry too much about and I like my 4x4 tyres. I don't find it too bad with passing lorries and cross-winds, yeah you can feel it but not bad enough to cause oversteer. I think this may be down to tyres - I've got Yokohama C14 van tyres on the rear and Bridgestone 4x4 tyres on the front with 45-50psi. Actually thinking about it, it's not that often that a lorry overtakes me on the motorway, I'm usually doing 65+.

Having much greater inflation pressures in the rear tyres than the front tyres, is a recognised way of decreasing oversteer.

If tyres show any evidence of rubbing or having rubbed against the bodywork, that constitutes an automatic MOT failure.

 

[Gadget Boy]

It’s been a while since I posted on here, BUT it’s Great to know that whilst I’ve been away, There’s still people spouting utter bullsxxt as there poorly misinformed, and Have probably never even driven a slammed van ......
A very well set up lowered van handles just as well as stock and in fact due to it being lower and having stiffer suspension doesn’t roll around and sway anywhere near as much as stock. And before I get a witty retort , I have driven slammed buses all across Europe and back multiply times ... I haven’t just popped to Brighton Breeze an back.....

I actually drive them

 

[ozziedog]

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,

 

[mike202]

My Westy is stock height with an uprated anti roll bar. I’ve also got a rear anti roll bar. I have commercial tyres that are much stiffer than ‘car’ tyres. I have good shock absorbers. My steering box is in good condition. My bus drives really nice most of the time unless it’s windy then it’s a bit more difficult. HGV’s overtaking me cause the effect as described above, although it’s not too bad. I tend to be overtaking them now anyway since getting the bigger engine haha!

I just put the instability down to being an old slab sided bus, without modern suspension, and I don’t want to lower it although it probably would make the handling in the wind a bit better.
I just slow down a bit if it’s windy instead !

 

[Clem]

Lowering will make a van more stable for sure but not sure narrowing has any effect? That’s a clearance/aesthetic thing afaik.

 

[K@rlos]

It’s been a while since I posted on here, BUT it’s Great to know that whilst I’ve been away, There’s still people spouting utter bullsxxt as there poorly misinformed, and Have probably never even driven a slammed van ......
A very well set up lowered van handles just as well as stock and in fact due to it being lower and having stiffer suspension doesn’t roll around and sway anywhere near as much as stock. And before I get a witty retort , I have driven slammed buses all across Europe and back multiply times ... I haven’t just popped to Brighton Breeze an back.....

I actually drive them

Yep, it will never end Dean. People just regurgitate what they read on Facebook or grizzle because they’ve only ever driven a badly set up example. My lowered and narrowed bus drives a dream, 1 hand on the wheel at 70mph no problem

 

[K@rlos]

Lowering will make a van more stable for sure but not sure narrowing has any effect? That’s a clearance/aesthetic thing afaik.

The shorter torsion leaves in a narrowed beam are stiffer actually, less leverage.

 

[Clem]

The shorter torsion leaves in a narrowed beam are stiffer actually, less leverage.

Evens out the missing ARB?

 

[sparkywig]

Evens out the missing ARB?

I've got a narrowed anti-roll bar, that's even stiffer than stock.