Problems with adjustable beam

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boycer

Active member
Joined
May 31, 2016
Messages
40
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0
Location
North Yorkshire
Year of Your Van(s)
1970
Van Type
Westy
Hi,

I have 1970 westy with an adjustable beam & 2in dropped spindles. I recently fitted new Bilstein shocks & as they are a little (10mm max) shorter than the previous shocks I have virtually no travel left in the shocks. I have adjusted the beam, but it is at its highest ( :shock: ) which is still extremely low. I realise I could get standard spindles, but was wondering if there is anything else I could do to raise the front?

Any help much appreciated!
 
Slightly confused by your problem - your old shocks were OK, but new ones that are slightly shorter are bottoming out? Have I read that correctly?

You can in theory fit coil over shocks (search for the Gaz thread on here) and that will raise the van slightly due to the increased Spring resistance. What are you actually trying to achieve?


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Hi,

The old shocks weren't brilliant & had seen a bit of service & I got a deal on the 4 bilstein shocks, hence the upgrade.

The old ones were actually hitting the bottom of the beam and had bent the bottom mount. I have only sussed all this out over a period of time, as I have got to understand how the front end works...

The main problem is the current set up is too low and has the shocks almost on full compression when on the road, but the adjustable beam is on its highest setting (I proved this tonight by adjusting the beam and the van sat even lower), so I was wondering if there is anything I could try before I started looking at replacing the dropped spindles...

Cheers
 
Ok, well if you're looking to raise it, your best option is going to be a standard set of spindles. Whilst fitting coilovers will give it a small amount of raise, if it's not enough for you, you're back at square one. Standard spindles will give you a good increase in height, and then you can drop it back down again if you so wish using the beam. It's worthwhile bearing in mind that swapping to standard spindles will limit how low you can go before your ball joints are at the limit of their range of movement. Maybe worth popping up a pic to see what kind of height you're at and where you're aiming for.

If you are looking to get rid of your dropped spindles, let me know, as I am after a set to replace my standard ones with when I pop my new beam on!


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Thanks for the response... thinking it through though, even if I get standard spindles the compression on the shocker will be the same as the beam geometry to the trail arms is unchanged (?)...is that right?
 
That is correct. By the sounds of it, your beam isn't ideal, because the highest position must be some way from the stock position. As such, you really need to be running shorter shocks than standard. But you'll be best getting your desired ride height before ploughing more money into new shocks!


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