Help on beam and spindles please

[splitstop63]

I’m thick & dont know anything about Mercanicics or vehicles so please be nice!!!

Collecting my bay today early with late bay running gets disc brakes up front that’s all I know

I won’t a brand new or recon beam last night on eBay narrowed 4” will I need drop spindles to lower the with this???? Obviously by now your aware I will be paying to get this work done as I’m absolutely useless with cars and messing an expensive passion for me the love of dubs is

And is it horse shoe or spring plates I need for the rear please??? Kind regards and thanks in advance Nick

 

[Marvel]

It has adjusters on it, so it just depends how low you wanna go really.

 

[Moseley]

You'll have to wait for someone else to advise on the compatibility of that beam and your late spindles, but unless you want a very odd looking bus, you'll be wanting to lower it by a reasonable amount when running a 4" narrowed beam. In order to do that, you will need dropped spindles, as standard spindles won't have enough range of movement on the ball joints to go that low.

Bear in mind, that for a 4" narrowed beam, you'll need to run modified lower arms to allow the shock / coilover to remain in a vertical position, or I believe you can get away with spacing out the top mount if your wheel offset allows it (again, someone might need to clarify that point, but it's worth mentioning before you tear the bus down and run into problems). You will also need to narrow your track rod arms (might need to replace the static one for an adjustable one if it still has one fitted). Whichever shocks / coilovers you go for, they'll need to be shorter than standard to avoid them bottoming out. If you're going for a 'normal' height for a 4" beam, then I'd recommend going with coilovers as it'll stiffen the front end and minimise the risk of tyres hitting the arches. Whilst on that note, you'll need to switch to a lower profile tyre, and dependent on size, bear in mind that some 14" wheels don't fit without spacers / modification to the spindles. I'm also guessing you'll need to fit steering idler pin bronze bushes to the beam you've bought as I don't think most new ones come with them.

Do you have a servo as that beam has no servo mount?

I also can't see a steering damper mount which might make your steering a little twitchy running without one??

 

[Moseley]

And one other thing I just thought of - your gear linkage will need modifying unless you're on the lowest settings. Although I have seen that CSP are making a new item with a kink in it, so it might be a good time to upgrade to one of those if your current item has wear on the front locating groove for the gear shifter.

 

[splitstop63]

Wow thank you for all that info Gentleman
Moseley I’m just gathering stuff & the items I need then I will pay some one to fit it all
There’s a place not too far from me early bay spilishest they lower busses Ile get them do the work as sadly I’m useless as I said but thank you for all your help guidance & support most appreciated Sir

 

[ozziedog]

Not trying to put a dampener on your purchases, but I’d go a little steady with getting this and getting that because there are lots of things that won’t work together in combination and I’d get whoever it is that’s about to lower this bus to talk it over with you with the bus there and then work out what you’re trying to achieve and exactly what you’ll need. The for sale sections of lots of forums are full to bursting with peeps selling off ‘extra ‘ parts after a resto has been completed.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,any more pics yet :mrgreen:

 

[Moseley]

As Ozzie has said, when you start getting into narrowed beams, which I would argue is more comprehensive than just a mild drop of a few inches, you start finding that parts are a little more trial and error. That's not to say it can't be done, but my post above was hinting that there's a little more to think about than just buying a box of parts, and then handing to someone else to fit.

I can't help but feel you'd be better off speaking to someone like Graham at Midland Early Bay. He offers a drive in - drive out lowering service using French Slammer lowering gear. It sounds like the parts and service offered would be perfect for you, and Graham will not only take the time to talk you through what you need, he will undoubtedly advise on anything else your bus requires whilst it is up on a ramp.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ozziedog]

As Ozzie has said, when you start getting into narrowed beams, which I would argue is more comprehensive than just a mild drop of a few inches, you start finding that parts are a little more trial and error. That's not to say it can't be done, but my post above was hinting that there's a little more to think about than just buying a box of parts, and then handing to someone else to fit.

I can't help but feel you'd be better off speaking to someone like Graham at Midland Early Bay. He offers a drive in - drive out lowering service using French Slammer lowering gear. It sounds like the parts and service offered would be perfect for you, and Graham will not only take the time to talk you through what you need, he will undoubtedly advise on anything else your bus requires whilst it is up on a ramp.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

One of the bestest things you could do if using Midland Earlybay, is they’ll let you go out with them in a bus of their own with-the lowering gear already on so you can test drive exactly what you’re getting. But this ain’t the Midland Earlybay sales centre so I’ll shut up now.

Ozziedog ',,,,,,,,,,Do it how you wanna do it, ‘tis your bus. :mrgreen:

 

[splitstop63]

 

[K@rlos]

That looks like a king & link pin beam to me so no that will not work with your late bay spindles, 2 very different set ups.

Horseshoe plates are cheap poorly engineered garbage, you want adjustable spring plates. I’ve repaired 3 buses which have had those snap and bend, replaced with adjustable spring plates.

You need to decide what look you want, lightly dropped, low or slammed and that will dictate what setup is best for you. Lowering a bus properly so it rides nice and handles well can be quite an expensive job but I can assure you as someone who has lowered many vw’s over the years the cost is totally outweighed by the reward.

 

[splitstop63]

That looks like a king & link pin beam to me so no that will not work with your late bay spindles, 2 very different set ups.

Horseshoe plates are cheap poorly engineered garbage, you want adjustable spring plates. I’ve repaired 3 buses which have had those snap and bend, replaced with adjustable spring plates.

You need to decide what look you want, lightly dropped, low or slammed and that will dictate what setup is best for you. Lowering a bus properly so it rides nice and handles well can be quite an expensive job but I can assure you as someone who has lowered many vw’s over the years the cost is totally outweighed by the reward.

Here is where I know nothing!!!!!!
I won that on eBay he told me it was late bay
Gutted

 

[splitstop63]

 

[K@rlos]

Right I'll try to explain all this :lol: All buses have twin horizontal torsion bar suspension but there are differences.

Split buses have whats known as king & link pin


Bay windows have ball joints (this is a beetle but they are the same)


A split screen beam will bolt straight onto a 68/69 bay bus however in 1970 the pattern of the mounting bolts changed and it remained this way until end of production in 1979, but companys such as Transporterhaus and Slamwerks who built the beam you've brought produce split screen style beams with the later bolt pattern enabling them to be fitted to later buses. King pin beams are fitted to baywindows as the lower torsion tube sits higher allowing you to run lower and have more ground clearance over a ball joint beam and the king and link pin spindles can't lock out like a ball joint which only has a certain range of motion and therefore the ride on a kingpin beam is vastly superior. The issue i think you have is that although you've brought a later bolt pattern beam its a king & link pin version and the late bay hubs your bus is fitted with won't fit it.

As I said before what set up you buy depends on the look you want, all the lowest buses are on king and link pin. Do you want a narrowed beam? depending on how low you go you may require tubbed wheel arches and notched chassis. I all gets rather involved.



This is my own bus. It's sporting a Transporterhaus 4.5" narrowed and adjustable king & link pin beam, 3.5" dropped spindles and narrowed lower trailing arms with Porsche 944 turbo brakes up front and Creative engineering adjustable spring plates with CSP Porsche pattern drum brakes with Bilstein shocks all round. I've also had to tub the front arches and notch the front chassis. It's pretty low but tame compared to some.

Hope this has helped

 

[splitstop63]

Right I'll try to explain all this :lol: All buses have twin horizontal torsion bar suspension but there are differences.

Split buses have whats known as king & link pin


Bay windows have ball joints (this is a beetle but they are the same)


A split screen beam will bolt straight onto a 68/69 bay bus however in 1970 the pattern of the mounting bolts changed and it remained this way until end of production in 1979, but companys such as Transporterhaus and Slamwerks who built the beam you've brought produce split screen style beams with the later bolt pattern enabling them to be fitted to later buses. King pin beams are fitted to baywindows as the lower torsion tube sits higher allowing you to run lower and have more ground clearance over a ball joint beam and the king and link pin spindles can't lock out like a ball joint which only has a certain range of motion and therefore the ride on a kingpin beam is vastly superior. The issue i think you have is that although you've brought a later bolt pattern beam its a king & link pin version and the late bay hubs your bus is fitted with won't fit it.

As I said before what set up you buy depends on the look you want, all the lowest buses are on king and link pin. Do you want a narrowed beam? depending on how low you go you may require tubbed wheel arches and notched chassis. I all gets rather involved.



This is my own bus. It's sporting a Transporterhaus 4.5" narrowed and adjustable king & link pin beam, 3.5" dropped spindles and narrowed lower trailing arms with Porsche 944 turbo brakes up front and Creative engineering adjustable spring plates with CSP Porsche pattern drum brakes with Bilstein shocks all round. I've also had to tub the front arches and notch the front chassis. It's pretty low but tame compared to some.

Hope this has helped

Wow! Your bus looks cooler then a polar bears bollocks sat on an iceberg looks beautiful Sir I do love the narrowed look this is going to brake me isint
Keep saving I suppose I don’t really want to tub I’m over 6ft think might cause me problems with my height and the ride of my eye in cab I’m guessing thank you so much for all that info & trouble you went to explaining to me I am thick as as you have probably gussed but do love the narrowed look of busses kind regards and thanks in advance Nick thank you again beautiful bus too Sir

 

[K@rlos]

You’re welcome and thanks. I have a build album in the gallery if you wanna look through It.