Shock absorbers

[kinga]

Hi all.
My bus is lowered a little one spline at the back & on beam adjusters up front.
It rides nice, but crashes over small bumps and holes in the road,
so I assume that's down to the shocks.
The front tyres also rub on the inner arches if I come across any big undulating dips.
It's running gas-a-just shocks front & rear at the mo.
I got about 315mm front & 445mm rear between shock fixing centres with the bus sitting on the ground with no-one in it.
Do you think i would get away with standard shocks?
Or what would u recommend for a nicer ride.
And will it eliminate the tyre scrub?
Anyone tried the T2D Bilstein shocks?
Thx

 

[ozziedog]

I don’t think it’s down to your shocks, because that’s not exactly what they do with regular style shocks. You’ve limited your suspension travel because of the lowering, so it’s either raise the arch with a tub under the seat or try to toughen up your front suspension a little more with shocks with coilovers. The coil over will assist your springs and help them out a bit but that’s the spring bit not the shock itself.There’s a good thread to read on here for the lowering gurus or similar.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,I’ve gone the opposite way :mrgreen:

 

[kinga]

If you go down an undulating road, there is loads of suspension travel and the bus rides lovely. It's the small bumps, like a rough road surface that cause the bus to ride 'crashy' - I thought that was the job of the shock absorbers?

 

[fallingoffalot]

I have something similar to you, you don't mention whether you have drop spindles or not, these could make a difference?

As well as drop spindles, mine just has second hand NOS shocks up front and it rides well - undulations and small bumps. Maybe worth getting some NOS ones up front and see if it makes any difference, I don't think they're that expensive.

(EDIT: Just spotted Davidoft is selling a pair for £60!!)

(2nd EDIT: You seem to have spotted that too, LOL!!)

 

[kinga]

I am lowered on beam adjusters.. was wondering if gaz adjustable coilovers may be the way to go?

 

[ozziedog]

I am lowered on beam adjusters.. was wondering if gaz adjustable coilovers may be the way to go?

I think that’s what I said nearly a month ago ^^^ in my first response. The coilover springs will toughen up you’re suspension springs a little making it harder for any impact to crush your suspension, harder but still not impossible. It will definitely improve it, how much by is in the lap of the suspension gods Mine ‘had’ drop spindles on the front and much smaller tyres and coilovers and needed to hit a severe bump usually on a bend to make it crash. My van however is a lot lighter than yours because I think you got a Westy and all the furniture that comes with it whereas mine has hardly any. This also means that your existing springs have had fifty years of carrying a lot more weight too which may have weakened them a tad possibly. I had custom coilovers with 150 lb springs from memory, if I was doing it again I might even up that a bit to 160 or 180, give them a ring and chat to them about it, they do know a lot about suspension, there’s a couple of places to get them custom made and they’re all in that thread I told you about.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,it can only get better :mrgreen:

 

[ozziedog]

When I was lowered.







Ozziedog,,,,,,, but I’m up with the gods now :mrgreen:

 

[kinga]

What length springs would you recommend Ozziedog?

 

[ozziedog]

Lowering gurus wanted the Gaz shock thread.
That’s the title I was trying to remember! Have a read of page 15, that covers about most of it. I have 160/105/B12 shocker fitted with 9” 150lb springs but this was with Transporter Haus reverse ball joint spindles. This lifted my front a half an inch from memory. But have a read and I’m thinking I ordered mine from Rally Design. They were also very very good on the phone because you can get your brains in knots with this sort of stuff. :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,ring em :mrgreen:

 

[Moseley]

What length springs would you recommend Ozziedog?

If you end up wanting a set of the springs (as recommended in the thread Ozzie has posted) I have a set of barely used springs as I swapped mine out for a shorter and stiffer set.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ozziedog]

What length springs would you recommend Ozziedog?

If you end up wanting a set of the springs (as recommended in the thread Ozzie has posted) I have a set of barely used springs as I swapped mine out for a shorter and stiffer set.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So what did you end up with bud,??? Did you go 160 or 180? And what sort of difference was there?

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,always questions questions and more questions :mrgreen:

 

[kinga]

Hey Ozziedog.
Thanks for the tip off about that thread.. just read it from start to finish & very helpful.
Just waiting to order them and decided to go for the following..
Gaz coilovers 14" open, 9.5" closed B12.
9 inch, 1.9"ID, 150 lb springs.
I'll give you a shout when they arrive & I fit them. Most stockists are quoting some weeks lead time.

 

[kinga]

... except for Rally Design who are the cheapest, got them in stock, and post them to me in 1 day.. the eyes are supposed to be 12mm, but are more like 13mm so a little loose on the shock bolts, but don't think that should be a problem??
Tried to add a photo but getting a '500 Internal Server Error message.

 

[Moseley]

What length springs would you recommend Ozziedog?

If you end up wanting a set of the springs (as recommended in the thread Ozzie has posted) I have a set of barely used springs as I swapped mine out for a shorter and stiffer set.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So what did you end up with bud,??? Did you go 160 or 180? And what sort of difference was there?

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,always questions questions and more questions :mrgreen:

Sorry Ozzie, delayed response. I’ve gone with 8” 250lb springs. They’re noticeably stiffer than the 150lb ones that were on there previously, but I wouldn’t say they were overly harsh. Adjusting the shocks has a much bigger effect on the ride quality having had a play around with them.