wasn't even a thread about Subaru engines but you had to bring it up ... would extremely strong dislike be better
Mines lowered about 3” with stock wheels and tyres I did it as I like the wheel to fill the wheel arch, I have a underslung water tank and never had a problem with it grounding out.
If anything raise the rear a tad to get the bus level, VW spent a lot of time developing the suspension who are we to know better, my view is the only reason to lower a bus is to get it in the garage, so next topic should be raise the garage doors or not !! Just being the devils advocate here
Lowered 2.5” drop spindles on the front and one notch on the back just gets rid of that huge gap between the tyre and arch
The problem is that you look at it empty and think that looks a bit high at the front....what you can see is that once in,, the weight of 2 people ( or 1 fat driver ) levels it up. I lowered my front on beam adjusters...to level up the saggy rear end.....had no issues.
It's on the standard adjusters that you can get from the usual suspects...I asked the guy who fitted them to just get it level. It looks like this now. Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk
Mines only lowered to fit in the garrage. Oh and the wife is a short arse so fitting the awning is a doodle for her
^this. The front will always sit higher with nobody in it. Add a fat German van driver and it levels out.
Think the original vans sat fairly level in the sales pics so fat German theory slightly flawed I think
Well thanks all. A contentious issue obviously. Appreciate you all taking the time to give me advice. I’ll give it more thought.
Sorry but no. You get a fully loaded Westy Continental with water , full tank of fuel, two adults and a child , a bike rack, plus awning etc. and you head off to Portugal you will be thankful that it hasn't been lowered. I have been tempted for aesthetics but I want a practical bus.
This is good advice. I like the way my bus sits now and it rides and handles much better than it did before, plus it's better in cross winds. Agree a well set up stock height bus can also be made to ride and handle well (it's all relative of course) but mine wasn't that before i started, so i had a bunch of work to do either way. Mine sat vert nose high for some reason..? If you do go with lowering, bear in mind there's a huge difference between a cheap chop and twist job on your front beam vs. doing it properly. It's not cheap, its complicated and frustrating and isn't easy to get "right". Cut corners or try to do it on the cheap and you'll risk ending up with something that rides like crap and potentially handle worse than you have now. Also consider you'll prob need new tyres too (potentially another can of worms). Would i do it again knowing what i know now? No - i'd most likely get a red9 wishbone bolt-on setup instead. Full spec i what i have is on my build thread. FWIW mine gets fully loaded up regularly and isn't any less practical that it was before. I still get in to any campsite you could get to with a car. No, i can't go offroading but tbh i never bought a 40 year old bus to take it off road anyway so i don't see that as a problem.
My van was lowered by the previous owner, cheap chop and twist job. The ride is hard and uncomfortable and removing the rear wheels is a nightmare as the spring plates don't come down far enough. When I bought it I thought lowered was best, but if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have bought it. Stock is best, I think you should enjoy the great van you have.
