Iain.
Is it bouncy as in too soft, or bouncy as in no suspension and your head hits the roof when you hit a bump?

Too bouncy as in no suspension. I'm starting to suspect a dodgy needle bearing - is this a possible cause?

Iain

Hi, I've just bought my first bus, a 1960 11 window, which has had a early bay front end fitted.
I'm planning to lower the bus but not not sure if I should keep the Ball joint beam as I've heard they have limited lowering capabilities.
I also plan to narrow the beam using hh's mounting plates, I've read that these will lower the bus slightly, probably back to the stock kp set up Ride hight.
How low can a bj front end go and what parts are best? are lowered spindles available?
Any advice or suggestions much appreciated.
Cheers, Brian.

Lowered "upright" for a BJ beam are hard to find. I think the only place which makes them is Wagenswest in the US. They widen your track though by 9mm? ea side.

Given the number of people making new narrowed adjustable beams and drop spindles for K&L I think you've got to considered changing back.

A lowered BJ beam will loose any ride quality advantage it may have otherwise had.

Bay beams certainly aren't the big deal they used to be. Before the world and his dog started doing disk kits, adjustable/narrowed beams and dropped spindles they provided a reasonable solution for those who wanted to modify thier front end running gear, but now you can achieve everything the bay beam does, but better.

Thanks for the advice, looks like I've got a early bay front end for sale then.
Cheers, Brian.

I run a CE weedeater ball joint beam on my bus. Its coupled to a pair of wagenswest dropped BJ spindles.

As stated above, they do add track to the front, so the inset isn't as much as youd expect on a 4" narrowed beam, however its enough to stop the dog legs getting hammered. Here's a pic that kind of shows the inset:



Compare it to my mates K&L beam which is also narrowed by 4"'s and fitted with dropped spindles.



You can see the difference, although the offset of the raders may not be helping my case.

The combination of spindles and adjustersis the way to go. It always has been. Most will tell you that adjusters alone can make the ride too harsh.

My issue is that at the moment, the adjusters don't need to be wound up too high, so the shift rod fouls the bottom adjuster nut. I'm SA-ing the bus this month, so I'll be able to drop the front a bit more which should lift the nut out of the way. Hopefully this will cure the problem.

I have a bay BJ beam with boxwagen disk kit, but i'm thinking of;

a) Changing back to K&L

OR

b) Fitting wagenwest dropped spindles, so i can un-lower the beam a bit for a nicer ride.

These both raise a question......

Option a) Will my boxwagen kit fit on k&L spindles? I assume as late split and early bay front bearings are the same then they should run fine, but would the caliper bracket fit/bolt on and be lined up correctly?

Option b) Do the bay dropped spindles effect how the caliper bracket bolts on? i.e. is it just the spindle post thats moved up? if so does that mean that the caliper would no longer be central to the disk? hope that makes sense!!!!



Cheers
Chris

I built my own beam using bay tubes and end plates to suit my split, the bottom tube was moved about 4mm forward to act like castor shims on a beetle, to hopefully help with the steering.
I have narrowed it 4 inches so I can fit the bay small 5 discs and also fitted Creative adjusters.
I have new ball joints, new centre pin , new tierods, ( both adjustable and cut down 2 inches each)
Heres a pic, I will post my results when I fit it to the van, just looking at what shocks are the best to use.

I did it this way as in my last split I had dropped spindles fitted to my 57 beam and it would bottom out over the slightest bump in the road.



Dave

Next on my parts list is a Air beam, So far i'm thinking its just Creative who have them in UK is that right?
Also i think i read that Cool air were in the process of designing one?

More choice would help my decision.

i have flipped spindles on an ce air beam dont run an adjuster in it with stock 14 inch rims and 195 45 14 tyres with spax gas adjustable shocks.This is an old pic before i changed the wheels there 195 45 15



Does anyone know what advantages will drop spindles give me if any?

64 split rat wrote:i have flipped spindles on an ce air beam dont run an adjuster in it with stock 14 inch rims and 195 45 14 tyres with spax gas adjustable shocks.This is an old pic before i changed the wheels there 195 45 15



Does anyone know what advantages will drop spindles give me if any?

Advantage= Lower


Disadvantage=tubbidge...(if not already)

Bit confussed me, Aint flipped spindals the same as dropped..?

So how you getting on with your beam? would you recommend.. curently in the market for a Airbeam just need to sort the front now.

air beam! hummmm well, looks good and is great fun but i think if i was going to get anoter van i would just make it very low and that would be it. When you adjust the hight of the bus this alters the tracking so it just eats tyers because no matter how hard you try with the Air Ride Technologies kit you can not get it to the same pressure every time.I think that a manual knob and needle gauge would be more reliable and look a whole lot cooler.

64 split rat wrote:air beam! hummmm well, looks good and is great fun but i think if i was going to get anoter van i would just make it very low and that would be it. When you adjust the hight of the bus this alters the tracking so it just eats tyers because no matter how hard you try with the Air Ride Technologies kit you can not get it to the same pressure every time.I think that a manual knob and needle gauge would be more reliable and look a whole lot cooler.

I aint got Air Ride Technologies, i Bought 4 Valve set up buy Arnott http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Arnott-Q ... 0343184210
Im using Swing axle rear Offset plates from Wagenwest.. so hopefully this will work ok.

Hey, looking for some front beam advice please
Ok I've got a '62 Splitty, with stock front beam etc etc.
Looking to upgrade it to something a bit lower and safer.

My idea is to buy a '68/'69 bay front beam and swap the front spindles with the ones off my '72 bay (that has discs)
I would then guess I would have to send the spindles away to be dropped and the fit adjusters to the front beam to help me get the required height.

Would that be right or am I missing any steps etc?

Thanks in advance!

~Lee