DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

One of the other things wrong was my choice of tyres. 175 55 profile car tyres and with a weight limit of 475kg on each wheel.... on the LHS rear I had 588 kg. Massive oops. Of all the 'thank fk for that' moments of this, it was that I didn't get a massive blow-out because I'd put the wrong stuff on. Get on those scales and check out what you've got - it's absolutely critical and I didn't even think about it....

Researching around for 'proper' tyres, I came across these 195 / 70s - Michelin Agilis C-rated tyres (C for Commercial), with stiffened sidewalls and much improved weight performance (850-900 kg per tyre, so plenty strong-enough). They have the added bonus of being good in the wet and apparently on wet grass specifically. However, they're quite a bit wider and they juuuuust fit under the rear arches. Like 3mm gap just fitting.



They look pretty cool too, but they were starting to alter the look quite a lot.

Good move with the tyres - a lot of people don't realise when they build these stupidly low buses is that insurance companies are known not to pay out in the event of a claim if they discover the vehicle's fitted with car-spec rubber... VOSA check-points aren't impressed, either.

Yeah - this has been one massive journey of discovery Keith - sharing here hopefully to save someone else from making the stupid mistakes I did....

So then to the suspension proper. Between Chris & I we came up with a plan.... Ride heights on a standard bus are c. 200mm at the lowest point. Under my sump it was 130mm. Hence it being so easy to clonk the sump. We needed to go up.

Chris also diagnosed the 'sticky steering' as coming from partially compressed ball-joints due to the low front ride height. I'd also lost my faith in modified suspension, I wanted the narrowed beam off and the old one put back on - it would increase the front track, but as long as it fit under the arches, I didn't worry about this. We also decided to put a late-bay steering box under there, which would need a bit of modding on the beam, so made sense to do that at this time. It's still a worm & gear steering, but much more robust.

At the rear, no way was I going to have those spring plates again, so we went back stock there too. But with the extra weight, we decided that the torsion-bars needed some help, so we decided on a coil-over 'assist' spring that would help to cope with the weight.

A set of anti-roll-bars front and rear would help reduce wander and 'truck-fear' and should allow for much safer cornering.

So quite a lot then....

And after much work at Johnson's (in super-quick time) we got it all sorted and ready to go back to Chris for proper set-up...

Front ARB on the new beam





New steering box



Rear ARB



And this....a bespoke back-end designed & built by Chris, with Bilstein B6s, Eibach spring, & an Ohlins coupler. Also had to do a bit of work on the caliper so the whole assembly would fit. But it looks cool

Cool stuff

So - that was pretty much it. The ride height under the sump went from 130 mm to 205 mm so it's got clearance. And with its wheels and the bigger tyres, gave it quite a different look.



And the stance? Again, quite different, not on trend at all - unless you go with the 'high is the new low' approach.... but it does look right to me. Very 70s. Very 'Dad bus', which is about right for me. Too old to go low. It's just so impractical...





And the happy ending? Well, the bus drives like a dream. Totally planted. Absorbs the bumps, turns corners, and best of all I can drive it no-handed @ 65 mph. Which means that one-handed is now very do-able. It's even stable changing lanes, and rock solid going past trucks and in side-winds. Which means that normal driving is now relaxing....

So, once again a massive thanks to Johnson's who have been properly patient with me and of course to Chris, without whom this just wouldn't have been sorted. He's worked a miracle on the bus.

Seriously looking forward to getting out in it later in the year. Once I've had the engine tuned. And maybe some electronic ignition. But that's another story of incompetence and not knowing that points wear out and can close.....

Pure 70s look now. Plus safe and handles well. That's good all round.

Interesting comments about modified suspension.
Bus looks like it would take you all anywhere, and 65mph is really useful.

'Stance' is spot-on imho esp when it all works properly.

As Bootsy says, it now has that proper 70’s look. Get a photo in the right location with some filters on it and you’d swear it’s was a period modded bus ... you just need some ‘grateful dead’ stickers in the windows now

Or get some suitably 70s graphics like the ones on the Champagne Edition

hot66 wrote:As Bootsy says, it now has that proper 70’s look. Get a photo in the right location with some filters on it and you’d swear it’s was a period modded bus ... you just need some ‘grateful dead’ stickers in the windows now

American Beauty. Now that's an album to chill in camp to.....

I love that Champagne livery - but it might be a bit too much for mine....

Rich
Looking pretty damn good there man.....