Howdy all im about to flip my drop axle giving me around 65-75 mm extra clearance in the centre (without wheel diameter change at this stage ! ) .
This is not a axle under spring conversion simply a rotation of the drop axle to achieve a better ride height .
The chassis company were Melbourne based but have either changed names /ownership or since ceased trading so im unable to seek their advice on this
obvioiusly i need to change the electric brake wiring from above centre of axle to below axle wiring ( the same for hand/override brake cable ) i will also add better protection to cabling .
does anyone know if this era of van/chassis/axle would have offset camber toe in on the face of the stub axle ? ( can this be overcome by left to right side swap as well as axle rotation - engineer offered this advice but doesnt make sense on face value !)
Is there mounting /locating pins on this type of axle i need to grind off or reweld more in?
caravan repairer mentioned some drop axle vans can have the axle face machined to correct the toe in/out camber .
any and all advice greatly appreciated so we can have a better ride height as the van currently sits low behind the cruiser and even to the point of not allowing the legs to wind down in an effective manner.
Hi Brenden,
Not sure about the toe in situation but these sort of mods frighten me.
I would suggest you check out the legality of doing that modification, is it legal?
Sure you could do it and drive around for years no problems, then heaven forbid, you have an accident or a failure........
As far as ride height behind the LC, what about a drop shank tongue?
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Brenden a left to right swap would be required anyway to restore the braking system to as was with leading and trailing shoes being different, Also to maintain the direction of handbreak actuation.
I might well be wrong here but I think it would greatly increase the turning forces and load on the axle retaining bolts. I also think to keep your insurance company happy
you would need to get an engineers report on that sort of modification. As I said I may well be wrong but it would be worth talking to your insurance company before proceeding.
Landy
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and simply let them be wrong.
I wouldnt worry about the insurance co or engineers approval, but I would seek the services of a company the does wheel alignments, who most likely could do the whole transission for you.
I am considering a similar operation but going from a drop axles to a straight axles, along with new spring packs, hubs and brake assemblies, undecided wether to change to Disk brakes with electric over hydraulic.
I did a flip on my van, little bit of mucking with handbrake/backing plate, otherwise absolutely no drama, tows exactly the same, but no longer drags it's bum in and out of servos.
I designed and built 2 vans the 2nd 5m long with 2.5 inch drop axle. Was too low. But it was hard to guess that height while building it.
Purchased a straight axle, no dramas. Being leaf springs I wasn't altering the suspension design so engineer not needed. If leaf to coil or rubber torsion, be a different story
But, I wouldn't flip a drop axle. They're called "drop" for a reason. If you need more height than a straight axle provides then tyre size can help.
Tony
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