BUGA Community
General Category => CF Bedford Chat => Topic started by: Marky on August 03, 2016, 08:08:27 AM
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Been thinking a lot lately bout dropping the beddy
have new king springs in my CFl..
and its changed the geometry of steering and is much easier to drive now
Back in the day on my 2nd CFS
its brake systems was a total modified mess with an unidentified holden disk setup ..thinking HR by look of it
when i pulled it all apart... and reassembled it
the lower control arms bolt holes on the crossmember had been redrilled and thus respositioning the angle of the wheels to like 30 degrees
In my inexperience i reassembled with a new HQ brake setup but the lower arms i bolted in wrong holes on the crossmember only to see vans camber increase looking like a dropped van
I know once we lower our vans...we have no camber adjustment..only..caster and toe in
wondering if any one has experimented with this....?
Re drilling and repositioning the lower control arms? once u have the van height and other geometries where u want..ie spring height..toe in and caster and with added drop spindles
is it a solution?
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checkout rogerfield disc brake and lowering adaptor setup, FANTASTIC, i have it fitted to my 73 swb van, inch and a half drop,
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Rod Hadfield is still supplying drop spindles which maintain correct steering geometry, with a 4" drop.
http://www.stubtech.com.au/products/holden-drop-stub-axles-sp.html
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Nice.. Guess that elimates the bearing problem too
As u would run hq bearings ?
What sort of prices are the drop hubs?
I couldn't see on my ph
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Marky, the king springs that you used were they a lowered spring? I know they do a std spring but also chasing a lowered spring, to just simply swap out....I have used a supposedly lowered king spring in my SWB front end and that was fine,( by a reputable suspension shop, but have doubts it is a "lowered KING spring) until I swapped front ends into the LWB, which has led to it sagging... I've noticed that the STD LWB is a rather lager diameter, so I am in the process of removing to compare / source the larger lowered spring...
Did you get a part # so we can compare?
Also in a recent similar conversation a Camaro spring had been mentioned...they have used HQ springs in CF's but was led to believe that tend to be a bit noisy, guessing a bit sloppy, maybe?
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Hi Dano
The new king springs.on my CFl. Are standard..and raised the van up
202 n disc front end so no extra weight issues
Spose I could hack a bit off the end
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The best way to lower the front is using drop spindles, you maintain the stock steering geometry as mentioned and the full spring travel for a comfortable ride.
Also requires no modifying, just bolt it on.
The downside is the cost.
Over here in Europe you have to get them custom made but it looks like you have someone who has produced them in the link above.
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I was quoted 1300 to change over my spindles to drop spindles. They use Holden bearings and seals.
Nice.. Guess that elimates the bearing problem too
As u would run hq bearings ?
What sort of prices are the drop hubs?
I couldn't see on my ph
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Thanks guys
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A fellow buga on face book
Max Boyle has lowered his van and posted some pictures.
Thought it would be great to add it to this thread for those who are interested.
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More for max
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So besides the spring itself whats stopping us lowering is the lack of camber adjustment. Could camber adjustment bolts be used?
I only have a slight idea how they work but the mechanically minded people I have spoken to all ask why don't I just do that?
I have also seen offset bushes used in 4x4 applications to change upper control arm length could this work?
At the moment mine is sitting on the flattend bumpstops (prevous owners hack) so I would like to be somwhere between that & stock.
Nik
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That's a bit too extreme...
There's no need for those extreme mods.
He has a IRS rear, you can get the rear low by just putting the diff over the leaf springs.
Like I mentioned before, in the front the best option is to use drop spindles/axles.
Camber adjustment bolts won't work. You would have to modify the wishbone mounting points or make custom tubular ones but with the chopped springs your always going to loose suspension travel making the ride horrible.
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Posted by Gordon
Folk, think very carefully before you dive into going down the dropped stub axle path. There are lots of additional costs that you will incur on top of the cost of the dropped spindles. The lower arms need to have the existing ball joint seats cut out and the new seats supplied with the kit re-positioned and welded in. You then need HQ lower ball joints and HQ wheel bearings. You also need machined spacers to fit standard Bedford steering arms to the Stubtech axles. I'm now battling with my disk setup as a standard HQ disk no longer clears the modified lower suspension arm so I am looking at going to a separate top hat style wheel hub with a separate disk that can be spaced to clear. My cert engineer specified TIG welding on all components which I had to get done by an engineering shop. I also needed to get all of the welding crack tested and a formal report for certification purposes. All up I've probably spent $2,000 and I still have the top hats and disks to buy.
I am aware of drop spindles and no im not going to "cut" springs Ive spoken with spring makers and they can be made to suit the application im just looking for ways to adjust the camber.
Nik
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It's certainly not cheap to setup. I'm most of the way through rebuilding my suspension setup, using Stubtech drop axles. Fitting the axles and modifying the lower arms wasn't too hard, however I was left with 3 degrees of negative camber when it was all done. To correct this, and enable a proper alignment, I decided to get tubular top a arms made, with adjustable ends. At least that way I can dial in the camber exactly.
The HQ disc setup on mine only just clears the lower A arm. I bought a complete new setup from Hoppers Stoppers.
(https://i.imgur.com/UBHxO5N.jpg)
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Hey ZeeMan ........ what steering rack is that ?
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Ford Transit power rack, with custom length ends rethreaded for bedford.
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My worry with the drop stubs the sub frame is now approx. 75mm closer to the road while you still have full suspension travel allowing the subframe to become even closer as the suspension cycles.
At ride height with drop stubs what is the clearance under the subframe?
With 14" wheels and no suspension (previous owner not me) there is 90mm under the subframe which drags on uneven dirt roads (my driveway).
Nik
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I forget the exact clearance, but it is adequate. Only because I'm running 255/60/15 tyres on front. No way could I run 14" wheels, would definitely not be enough ground clearance.