Unwelded dropped spindles - TransporterHaus & T2D pics& q's

[Dave105]

Thanks Guys all good useful advice especially the track rod lengths, is the camber easy to set up?
One more question I have, are torsion leaves easy to install? The new ones I got aren’t welded together so is it possible to either tie wrap them together at one end or install them one leave at a time? I assume you cover them with grease before assembly?
I might try and source Beetle brake hoses, which is a shame as I currently have Goodridge hoses on (which made a great improvement to my brakes by the way) Does the brake bracket 'use up' too much thread as the pics make it look like there’s not much free thread on the top balljoint.

 

[Frisco69]

Thanks Guys all good useful advice especially the track rod lengths, is the camber easy to set up?
One more question I have, are torsion leaves easy to install? The new ones I got aren’t welded together so is it possible to either tie wrap them together at one end or install them one leave at a time? I assume you cover them with grease before assembly?
I might try and source Beetle brake hoses, which is a shame as I currently have Goodridge hoses on (which made a great improvement to my brakes by the way) Does the brake bracket 'use up' too much thread as the pics make it look like there’s not much free thread on the top balljoint.

The torsion leaves are a bit tricky! Mine weren't welded either. You can try rounding the ends slighty to help ease them in.
I found that if I put them all in at once and concentrated on getting the larger middle ones through first that it was then quite easy to put the thinner ones through.

Good luck!!!

 

[TransporterHaus]

I have a set of Transporterhause spindles but not yet fitted them. They arrived without any fitting instructions, which I think is a bit of a shame as these things don’t appear to be a straight swap for the old set up. The only place I have managed to find useful info is from this thread. I am not concerned about the pros and cons as, like the previous guy, I have already made my choice. What I find helpful is the ‘how to fit them’ bits.

Just like the king pin drop spindle fitting instructions on our website we have planned for ages to do some fitting instructions for the ball joint spindle but have not yet had time.

We have a 71 bus in the workshop which is being fitted with them in the next week or so will take some pics and put them on our site.

We do have a stack of backing plates and the intention is to blast them and cut them ready for fitting. We can then offer them to people not wanting to cut their own. If only there was enough hours in the day!

 

[Clem]

Camper and Bus did a sort of How To on this a couple of months ago

 

[TransporterHaus]

I have a set of Transporterhause spindles but not yet fitted them. They arrived without any fitting instructions, which I think is a bit of a shame as these things don’t appear to be a straight swap for the old set up.

Fitting instructions now available here http://transporterhaus.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=103&Itemid=145" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Dave105]

Dave105 wrote:
I have a set of Transporterhause spindles but not yet fitted them. They arrived without any fitting instructions, which I think is a bit of a shame as these things don't appear to be a straight swap for the old set up.


Fitting instructions now available here http://transporterhaus.de/index.php?opt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... Itemid=145

Hey great timing on the instructions as I'm going to fit them tomorrow! The instructions look useful, especially the backing plate cutout. Will let you know how I get on and any comments on the instructions tomorrow.

 

[Dave105]

Well just spent all day swapping my spindles over, with mixed results. The removal went OK the track rod ends came apart nicely as did all other components, torsion leaves went back in OK (I was swapping over from a Red9 Design set up).

Couple of points/concerns. First is the brake pipe set up with the top mounted brake bracket

The existing Goodridge brake hose looks way too short (the van is on the ground in this shot). I assume that the braided hose is the same length as a standard one, anyone else seen this?

I had a concern that the top ball joint wasn't fully into the taper as the torsion arms are acting to pull the ball joint out of the taper relying on the tightening of the bolt to pull the taper up.

The test run proved to be even more disappointing, going over speed bumps the tyre catches on the top of the wheel arch There is about 65mm clearance between the tyre and arch when standing on level ground. My tyres are 175/65/15 On BRM's anybody running these?

One last thing, the previous owner on fitting the Red9 setup removed the bump stops is this causing the rubbing problem and if so how do I rectify it? Can you get shocks (currently fitted standard ones) with internal bump stops?


Also as noted by another poster, the threaded section of the ball joint is only just long enough to engage on the nylon insert in the nut, Another couple of threads would have made me feel a bit better.

Cheers in advance for any help/info/advice as I'm now going to have a well earned Beer!!!

 

[Justin & Muttley]

I can't help with the issues you have, but wanted to say well done for getting it done - hang in there, I'm sure your q's will be answered soon enough!

 

[Frisco69]

Well just spent all day swapping my spindles over, with mixed results. The removal went OK the track rod ends came apart nicely as did all other components, torsion leaves went back in OK (I was swapping over from a Red9 Design set up).

Couple of points/concerns. First is the brake pipe set up with the top mounted brake bracket

The existing Goodridge brake hose looks way too short (the van is on the ground in this shot). I assume that the braided hose is the same length as a standard one, anyone else seen this?

I had a concern that the top ball joint wasn't fully into the taper as the torsion arms are acting to pull the ball joint out of the taper relying on the tightening of the bolt to pull the taper up.

The test run proved to be even more disappointing, going over speed bumps the tyre catches on the top of the wheel arch There is about 65mm clearance between the tyre and arch when standing on level ground. My tyres are 175/65/15 On BRM's anybody running these?

One last thing, the previous owner on fitting the Red9 setup removed the bump stops is this causing the rubbing problem and if so how do I rectify it? Can you get shocks (currently fitted standard ones) with internal bump stops?


Also as noted by another poster, the threaded section of the ball joint is only just long enough to engage on the nylon insert in the nut, Another couple of threads would have made me feel a bit better.

Cheers in advance for any help/info/advice as I'm now going to have a well earned Beer!!!

Maybe you could shave a small amount off the seat of the nut. (I think this has been mentioned previously). This would allow the nylon to bite a bit further down. It appears that the nuts are so strong that you should be able to do this without any safety concerns.

As for the tyres rubbing, are you running standard shocks? Perhaps some adjustable ones may help. I have some creative ones (made by spax) that I adjust accordingly depending on how much weight I'm carrying in the van.

 

[Freezzr]

I already put my thing here about how I did my brakelines, maybe you could read some pages back and see if this also fits your bus?

By-the-way, if you're not sure what you're doing why not let a professional do it? It's all about safety....

 

[Frisco69]

By-the-way, if you're not sure what you're doing why not let a professional do it? It's all about safety....

I think he can handle it himself tbh. It seems to me he has a fair amount of mechanical knowledge and has picked up on the nylon being on just a couple of threads. Keep up the good work Dave and let us know how you get on.

 

[TransporterHaus]

Couple of points/concerns. First is the brake pipe set up with the top mounted brake bracket

The existing Goodridge brake hose looks way too short (the van is on the ground in this shot). I assume that the braided hose is the same length as a standard one, anyone else seen this?

We've not seen an install with braided hoses. We found with stock hoses and some tweaking of the brake line and bracket it installed ok. If you are concerned longer hoses will fix this. As soon as we get time :roll: to put it together will be be offering a deluxe kit with ready cut back plates, new caliper lines and custom made brackets.

I had a concern that the top ball joint wasn't fully into the taper as the torsion arms are acting to pull the ball joint out of the taper relying on the tightening of the bolt to pull the taper up.

As long as you tighten the nut up fully the ball joint shaft will be properly located. Those inserts we put in to the spindle which reverse the ball joint taper are precision cnc machined. We sub contracted the job to a firm which does MOD and aviation machining, they are beautiful machined pieces on their own.

The test run proved to be even more disappointing, going over speed bumps the tyre catches on the top of the wheel arch There is about 65mm clearance between the tyre and arch when standing on level ground. My tyres are 175/65/15 On BRM's anybody running these?

One last thing, the previous owner on fitting the Red9 setup removed the bump stops is this causing the rubbing problem and if so how do I rectify it? Can you get shocks (currently fitted standard ones) with internal bump stops?

I think the bump stops being missing may be the issue here. Try some coilovers to fix the problem.

Also as noted by another poster, the threaded section of the ball joint is only just long enough to engage on the nylon insert in the nut, Another couple of threads would have made me feel a bit better.

hmm t2d have the same issue here. We can fix this issue on future production. There is spare material on the bottom ball joint piece of the spindle. I'll look at milling 2 or 3 mm off the bottom of the spindle before we ream the concentric nut taper. This will give more ball joint shaft clearance and more threads available for the nyloc nut solving the issue.

Anyone that is concerned about it we'll happily swap your spindles for a new set.

 

[Freezzr]

The test run proved to be even more disappointing, going over speed bumps the tyre catches on the top of the wheel arch There is about 65mm clearance between the tyre and arch when standing on level ground. My tyres are 175/65/15 On BRM's anybody running these?

One last thing, the previous owner on fitting the Red9 setup removed the bump stops is this causing the rubbing problem and if so how do I rectify it? Can you get shocks (currently fitted standard ones) with internal bump stops?

I think the bump stops being missing may be the issue here. Try some coilovers to fix the problem.

How can the bumpstops being missing stop the wheels hit the wheelarches? do they stop the trailing arms when moving upwards? I think you could better be looking for some narrowing on the front axle to tuck the wheels a bit more in so they won't hit the wheelarches? (But I don't recommend a 4" narrowed front axle with dropped spindles...my experience)

 

[Dave105]

Hi Guys thanks for all the useful input. I guess my main worry now is the tyre rubbing the wheel arch going over bumps. As I said I currently have no bump stops so I guess this is why the tyres are hitting. Does anyone have a picture of the clearance between the trailing arm and the lower bump stop with the weight on the wheel, as I would be interested to see how much upward travel there is on a ‘standard’ set up with bump stops present (had a review of pics posted and can’t see one). Any other suggestion how to avoid contact besides smaller tyres? Maybe, as suggested bump stops in the shoxs (currently running standards ones)?
Thanks again for all the help as it is greatly appreciated

 

[Justin & Muttley]

You can buy replacement bumpstops from Red9 for lowered buses (£47.50):

http://www.red9design.com/type2.htm

 

[Frisco69]

Hi Guys thanks for all the useful input. I guess my main worry now is the tyre rubbing the wheel arch going over bumps. As I said I currently have no bump stops so I guess this is why the tyres are hitting. Does anyone have a picture of the clearance between the trailing arm and the lower bump stop with the weight on the wheel, as I would be interested to see how much upward travel there is on a ‘standard’ set up with bump stops present (had a review of pics posted and can’t see one). Any other suggestion how to avoid contact besides smaller tyres? Maybe, as suggested bump stops in the shoxs (currently running standards ones)?
Thanks again for all the help as it is greatly appreciated

For the bumpstops to prevent your tyres from hitting the wheel arch the trailing arms will be hitting the bump stops instead which wont do the arms any good and will make for an unpleasant ride.

I've never heared of bump stops in shocks before. If the tyres are hitting occasionally than I think the answer is adjustable shocks. Just keep tweeking them up until the tyres dont hit any more. Or tub your arches slightly (a bit more extreme and more work though).

If you go for adjustable shocks make sure you buy the correct length ones.

 

[cyberdyne systems]

Hi Guys thanks for all the useful input. I guess my main worry now is the tyre rubbing the wheel arch going over bumps. As I said I currently have no bump stops so I guess this is why the tyres are hitting. Does anyone have a picture of the clearance between the trailing arm and the lower bump stop with the weight on the wheel, as I would be interested to see how much upward travel there is on a ‘standard’ set up with bump stops present (had a review of pics posted and can’t see one). Any other suggestion how to avoid contact besides smaller tyres? Maybe, as suggested bump stops in the shoxs (currently running standards ones)?
Thanks again for all the help as it is greatly appreciated

I had a similar problem, in that my tyres (185/70 14) were bottoming out on the seat floor. So I fitted smaller tyres (165/55 15) and then the problem transfered to the beam end plates touching the road instead. I think its an issue on a standard bay beam, the only way round it is to get an aftermarket link pin set up (you can use brazilian spindles if you want to retain the disk brakes), as the link pin beam's torsion tubes are closer together and gives more clearance.

 

[junkyard_dog]

To all the people that have added to this thread a message of thanks, it is really good to here the feedback and the results of the stress testing. Having not been keen on the traditional routes to a lower bus, its good to see all the positives I saw in going the inverted ball joint spindle route have been backed up. I also like the comment from transporterhaus that he would replace any early versions if owners were not satisfied -that's proof he 's 100% behind the quality and suitability of his product. I know whats going on my bay window now!

 

[mattp]

Stock ET is something like 39 and I think BRM's are maybe as bad a 12 so that is 27mm that they'd fit further out plus a little as the are alloys so a 5.5j alloy will be a little winder than the same steel. Pretty sure you'd need a 2" narrowed beam to get back to stock

 

[waltz19]

Hi
Can anybody please help just fitted my new front dropped ball joint spindles and arms and just put the wheels back on i have 30mm beam to ground and when i sit in the bus it drops onto the tyre 145/60/15
The bus has a bus station 4" narrowed beam
Its been set on the highest setting on the adjuster (has the adjusters been weld to far around ?)
Please any ideas? (coilovers?? )

And i am going to ireland in it and the end of the month