Lowered, and raised!

[delicat]

I recently bought a '92 Excel for my wife as mine didn't fit into her work underground (6'6"). It took her less than 1 hour to get used with the LHD and now she loves it! But she didn't love so much that she kept on scratching the roof everytime she'd drive into her underground. (Nice yellow marks on the roof now, compliment of the warning bars).

So I had the choice between getting smaller tires or lowering it. Didn't feel like increasing the revs by putting smaller tires so I took her van to Canada Springs and went the opposite direction as Falco... I got them to re-index my leaves springs. The van was effectively lowered at the rear by 2". The front was already low enough to clear and actually sits level now. I might lower the torsion bars a bit but I'm happy for now.

Lowered.jpg (63.65 KiB) Viewed 12509 times

The side step by the sliding door was already lowered by the previous owner in Japan... but all of those will be replaced by the chrome ones that I'm removing/removed from my truck.

Lowered, close up.jpg (58.71 KiB) Viewed 12481 times

All I need now is to find some nice larger rims with lower profile tires to fill the wheel arch nicely but that's for later... AND just to keep the record straight, this one is a city Delica that likely won't see any mud but will still come handy when we have snow for 5 days/yr to drive up where we live (way up on a hill).

I got her van directly from Japan and was lucky that not much really was needed as far as initial maintenance goes. Her van also came with an amazing exhaust system, full 2 1/2" stainless with Mandrel bends! And pimped out under carriage side lights! lol

Hers and his....jpg (65.43 KiB) Viewed 12507 times

As far as mine goes, I went the other way and jacked it up. I'm not done with the project yet, still have to install my rear shackles but it's getting there! So this is what it looks like when you re-index and crank your torsion bars, you can see how the front sits higher than the rear (I kinda like the look actually). I also put some new mud 31" that I love! They aren't very loud on hwy but offer tons of traction offroad. (I also had to put new wider rims as my originals were only 6 1/2") I was out with Falco last weekend in Chilliwack and although he's got all-terrain he'd be slipping on many occasions while I thought I was on dry pavement!
Here's my little one getting trained on WVO use, he already loves it!

My helpers.jpg (73.78 KiB) Viewed 12474 times

This picture is before I re-indexed my torsion bars... Those rims are actually Split-rims that come apart, nice! And they are really thick, nice again!

Front tires.jpg (91.71 KiB) Viewed 12490 times

Tires, side view.jpg (37.04 KiB) Viewed 12463 times

I also got some new/used foglights that come with a high/low control. These things are BRIGHT! They came handy last weekend as well...

New fog lights.jpg (67.08 KiB) Viewed 12463 times

So still have loads of mods to do but doing a little at the time, which is why I love those trucks so much... always something else to do!

Cheers,
David

[konadog]

Nice work David! LOVE those gnarly split rims! Very cool. Must be fun having two delis, esp. having a town bus and country bus!

[Jester]

That's a very good idea.
I have a similar problem with my van.
It does fit in my underground without scraping, except when it's hot outside- I guess everything expands and the gate hangs a bit lower, and perhaps the roof sticks out a fraction more..

Did lowering you did change the load caring capacity?

Cheers
Martin

[delicat]

Yes, lowering it means I can't carry as much as before but since this is a "cool soccer mom minivan" I didn't care too much. It still find for most application except a full load of gravel... The cost was under $400.

The van rides fine, only when hitting a very sharp bump I hear it at the back but I might still have to do some minor adjustment. Could also be the exhaust hitting the springs... I could have lowered it 1" or 1 1/2" with less issues but I just asked them for as low as possible while maintaining as much of the initial ride as possible. It does drive more like a sport car though, not a bad thing for a city vehicle. That's why I may lower the torsion bar so the front gets softer a bit (it's always been very stiff at the front compared to my other one).

[jessef]

Nice contrast between the two

[patty]

If you dont mind me askin, how much did your tire and wheel combo set you back on the white one?

[delicat]

The tires were picked up in the States but since they are made here in Canada I didn't have to pay duties. They were $150 each.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... es&place=3

The rims I have no idea yet, I traded them in return of help & parts.

[ExplosiveAbe]

PM sent.

[capslayer]

Friggin awsome looking. It looks like your tires may rub. Have you had any problems?

Capslayer

[pototoy]

i'm loving all the mods you've done to the deli so far......

[delicat]

Thanks Pototoy!

But that's only a fraction of the mods on my van. One day I should really build a post on all of them...

[pototoy]

tooo bad i can't get 1 of this delis here california.... i should move to canada

[delicat]

Ya, I feel for you... These would be perfect out there!

[pototoy]

^^ can i see pics of the wifey's deli..... specifically the section where the rear suspension (leafsprings) got lowered... i need to lower my van a bit cause my moms having a hard time going up n down this thing. as for the front... i'm just gonna tweak the torsion bolts a bit


by any chance 15x8 would work on our vans; as in; would it clear the rear sliding door??? ..... looking to get this puppies (rims only), shipping them to asia (where my rig is at)

[delicat]

Can't post pics as I'm out of country and no access to either vans, sorry.

And I'd doubt the 15x8 will fit the front without some lift or cleaning the wheel arch. They'll probably rub but again, that depends of you tire size and wheel offset... As for the rear it depends of the offset but easier fit.