Lowering a commer-whats the deal?
- Thread starter Paul Oliver
- Start date
... of course you could go down the "natural lowering" route...
Rupert
"With great cars comes great responsibility"
www.littleyellowcar.co.uk
Rupert
"With great cars comes great responsibility"
www.littleyellowcar.co.uk
As Rupert says, riding on the bumpstops is not a good idea [xx(] neither is removing leaves from a 40 year old corroded, on its last legs leaf spring [V]
doing it properly is a better idea, go for link rods and adjustable coilovers and its sorted [8D]
whichever way you go its work, so doing it right is best [^]
"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
doing it properly is a better idea, go for link rods and adjustable coilovers and its sorted [8D]
whichever way you go its work, so doing it right is best [^]
"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
Just feed me chocy bix and cake and i,ll tell you anything 
"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
Thanks for all of your help so far everybody by lowering, i wasnt quite intending for a massive drop, infact a subtle drop was more what i was after! something along the lines of 3 inches seemed resonable, 6 is a little too much for a camper that i actually want to use! especially once you get some weight in there. I have lowered my audi by 40mm, and i must say it transformed the car. Its gone from a sloppy handling kraut wagon, into a awesome handling car with just the right amount of stiffness to keep it stable in the corners, but comfy on the bumps.
I still dont really get the link rod system? it seems quite complicated (unless im being a mong) Could i not go for a rear beam off another vehicle and convert it to take a commer axle? Would that be suitable? Then i could run coilover shocks, and go as high/low as i like?
by lowering, i wasnt quite intending for a massive drop, infact a subtle drop was more what i was after! something along the lines of 3 inches seemed resonable, 6 is a little too much for a camper that i actually want to use! especially once you get some weight in there. I have lowered my audi by 40mm, and i must say it transformed the car. Its gone from a sloppy handling kraut wagon, into a awesome handling car with just the right amount of stiffness to keep it stable in the corners, but comfy on the bumps.I still dont really get the link rod system? it seems quite complicated (unless im being a mong) Could i not go for a rear beam off another vehicle and convert it to take a commer axle? Would that be suitable? Then i could run coilover shocks, and go as high/low as i like?
haha indeed. Would having a shorter shackle make a significant difference? or even flattening the leafs somehow and mounting the shackle further outwards?
quote:
Originally posted by Paul Oliver
Thanks for all of your help so far everybody by lowering, i wasnt quite intending for a massive drop, infact a subtle drop was more what i was after! something along the lines of 3 inches seemed resonable, 6 is a little too much for a camper that i actually want to use! especially once you get some weight in there. I have lowered my audi by 40mm, and i must say it transformed the car. Its gone from a sloppy handling kraut wagon, into a awesome handling car with just the right amount of stiffness to keep it stable in the corners, but comfy on the bumps.
I still dont really get the link rod system? it seems quite complicated (unless im being a mong) Could i not go for a rear beam off another vehicle and convert it to take a commer axle? Would that be suitable? Then i could run coilover shocks, and go as high/low as i like?
this might be of some use.
Lowering has a couple of purposes, looks and performance. Now we are talking about commers so I presume we're going for looks, so how about some alternate methods. Maybe some spats (front and rear) which could be removable and help give the illusion that the van is lower than it is while keeping the superb handling...
Rupert
"With great cars comes great responsibility"
www.littleyellowcar.co.uk
Originally posted by Paul Oliver
Thanks for all of your help so far everybody
by lowering, i wasnt quite intending for a massive drop, infact a subtle drop was more what i was after! something along the lines of 3 inches seemed resonable, 6 is a little too much for a camper that i actually want to use! especially once you get some weight in there. I have lowered my audi by 40mm, and i must say it transformed the car. Its gone from a sloppy handling kraut wagon, into a awesome handling car with just the right amount of stiffness to keep it stable in the corners, but comfy on the bumps.I still dont really get the link rod system? it seems quite complicated (unless im being a mong) Could i not go for a rear beam off another vehicle and convert it to take a commer axle? Would that be suitable? Then i could run coilover shocks, and go as high/low as i like?
this might be of some use.
Lowering has a couple of purposes, looks and performance. Now we are talking about commers so I presume we're going for looks, so how about some alternate methods. Maybe some spats (front and rear) which could be removable and help give the illusion that the van is lower than it is while keeping the superb handling...
Rupert
"With great cars comes great responsibility"
www.littleyellowcar.co.uk
Oh i see now...i should know this seeing as the audi is multilink. How would this work with a fixed rear axle? i can see on independant systems, but it doesnt make sense over a swingarm for the back?
To be honest id like a little of both, looks of course is important. Performance wise it would be nice to lose some of the height so the van doesnt lean so much, and loses a bit of wobble? im not talking sports car performance here, but just every little helps it seems on these things!
To be honest id like a little of both, looks of course is important. Performance wise it would be nice to lose some of the height so the van doesnt lean so much, and loses a bit of wobble? im not talking sports car performance here, but just every little helps it seems on these things!
Enigma...i think im the youngest on here? im 22!
ooo had a thought, with shackles in mind.
If i was to flip the axle, i would be going too low(for what i want) , so if i were to produce some adjustable shackles of some kind, in theory i could raise and lower it via those? would that be suitable?
If i was to flip the axle, i would be going too low(for what i want) , so if i were to produce some adjustable shackles of some kind, in theory i could raise and lower it via those? would that be suitable?
There is 2 ways of doing link rods, 5 link and 3 link ladder bar, its quite simple really, both have a panhard rod running across the van locating the sideways axle movement
3 link is a welded together rod that mounts top and bottom of the axle to prevent twisting, the other end would go to the original front spring mount
5 link is better as it allows the axle to move up and down in less of an arc, two seperate rods
all done with either rose joints or poly bushes and made adjustable so the axle can be centralised and square to the chassis, and with adjustable coilovers the springs can be changed easily to whatever rating you desire and the ride height adjusted to the height you want. All you need is 5 rods, some plates for the axle, rose joints, coilovers and a mounting on the chassis for the panhard rod
And Colin, a twix won,t get you far, this lots worth at least 1/2 ton of jaffa cakes
"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
3 link is a welded together rod that mounts top and bottom of the axle to prevent twisting, the other end would go to the original front spring mount
5 link is better as it allows the axle to move up and down in less of an arc, two seperate rods
all done with either rose joints or poly bushes and made adjustable so the axle can be centralised and square to the chassis, and with adjustable coilovers the springs can be changed easily to whatever rating you desire and the ride height adjusted to the height you want. All you need is 5 rods, some plates for the axle, rose joints, coilovers and a mounting on the chassis for the panhard rod
And Colin, a twix won,t get you far, this lots worth at least 1/2 ton of jaffa cakes
"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
Thanks ever so much, after seeing all that, its quite tempting! You make it sound far too easy...
What do you think to my shackle idea? Seems a very simple fix? After some research it seems as though thats what some of the vw caddy boys do too!
What do you think to my shackle idea? Seems a very simple fix? After some research it seems as though thats what some of the vw caddy boys do too!