HOW TO T4 chassis notch

The T4 chassis notch mod is a contentious subject, regularly debated on the old interweb. Does it weaken your Van in the event of an accident? No,

not if done properly and the work is carried out by a professional. Will your Van be lower to the floor than it was before? The notch itself doesn’t lower your Van, but it does allow you to further tweak your springs, shocks and torsion bar adjusters to drop it further. Will it stop the banging and knocking of the steering arms on your chassis legs when you’re running below -80mm of drop? Yes, it will. Does it change your steering geometry? Again, the notch itself doesn’t, but

going lower will, so you’ll need a full alignment check carried out after doing this modification. Should I change my anti-roll bar (ARB) drop links for shorter ones if I notch my T4? Yes. It’s recommended that you switch your drop links for 35-40mm shorter items so they don’t limit the travel of your ARB as the suspension moves.

Seemingly the most important question of all though… will my Van look better? Now this is a difficult one to answer. If you’re of the opinion lower is always better then the answer is yes. But go this far and

you need to be prepared for a certain amount of banging, crashing and scraping as you drive down the road, particularly if you live in an area where

In the quest to lower your T4 closer to the floor than you can via conventional springs and torsion bar adjustments, the next step is to bust out the grinder and welder and free up those steering arms Words and photos Ross Phillips

Double drop shop

NEED TO KNOW

the roads are not exactly smooth i.e. most of England. While some crave the sump-scraping aesthetic and can happily live with the trade off in ride quality, others simply can’t put up with the jarring ride that inevitably comes with minimal ground clearance and adjustable shocks maxxed out to stiff.

We’ve had cars so low you wince when you see cat’s eyes and drive with permanently gritted teeth, and perhaps for this reason have found that most of the really low T4s tend to be slightly ratty in style, which suits the attitude and demeanour of their owners. And we mean that in a good way.

Should you attempt this mod without prior experience welding, grinding and unbolting a high percentage of your suspension components? Most certainly not. Take your Van to someone like Ross at RP Tyres, or Spence Pritchard at The Old Dub Shop. This is not a job we’d advise the beginner to carry out. t

TOOLS NEEDEDDIY

n Grinder, MIG welder, electric saw, sockets,

spanners, trolley jack, axle stands

TOOLS NEEDEDPRO

n Plasma cutter, grinder,

MIG welder, compressor, air saw, mini

cutter, sockets, spanners, two-

post ramp

TIME TAKEN DIY

n approx 12 hours,

depending on experience

TIME TAKEN PRO

n approx 6-8 hours

COST DIYn £50 for sheet

metal

COST PROn £180-£400

CONTACTSn Ross Phillips – RP Tyre and

Battery Tel. 01684 592223

n Spencer Pritchard

www.theolddubshop.

co.uk Tel. 07811 180549

Be prepared for a certain amount of banging, crashing

and scraping

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04 Remove the 18mm shock absorber lower

nut and then the nuts that hold the upper mounting bracket to the body. Now you can start to cut the notch out. We’re using a plasma cutter here, which make light work of it, but a cutting disc on an angle grinder will do the job. Start by cutting the lower plate out first very carefully as you will need to re-use this piece of metal later on

03 Mark up where the top of the

shocks mount to the chassis leg and carefully measure the depth of the notch you require. Most notches are 45-50mm. Clean the area thoroughly and mark out the notch, ensuring it overlaps where the shock mounting plate bolts to the leg. Use a set square to ensure your marking out is straight and true. What you are aiming to do is create some additional clearance around the steering components you see in this photo

02 Undo the copper brake pipes

and blank the end, ensuring any spilt brake fluid is cleaned up as this will be a fire hazard later on and could also damage your paintwork

01 Disconnect the battery, jack up the Van, secure safely on axle stands and remove the wheels

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05 Cutting out the face of the notch

is relatively easy, but it’s harder when you reach the inner section of the chassis. If you are using a grinder, go carefully and take your time as it’s easy to get the disc snagged up here. Another option is to switch to a reciprocating saw at this point

06 Once the notch is cut out, de-burr the

edges and clean up the surrounding area thoroughly, removing any grease, grime, underseal and road debris until you have clean, bare metal to weld to

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HOW TO T4 chassis notch

07 The same goes for the lower metal plate you removed earlier. Make sure all the edges are clean, neat and tidy. Adding a slight chamfer to the edges of the plate

will improve weld penetration

10 Measure the open ends of the

notch and cut some fresh metal plate to fill the gap. We recommend you use 4mm plate for maximum strength. Again, this will need to be cut with a plasma cutter or a cutting disc on your trusty angle grinder

11 Welding these plates into position can be tricky on the

engine bay side in a 2.4 T4, but it must be welded all the way round to maintain the strength of the chassis. Do some test welds on similar thickness material first to ensure you have the settings right and you are getting full penetration. We like to weld on the inner part of the chassis leg as well just to be sure

12 After the welding is complete, tidy up the weld and protect the

area with plenty of underseal and allow to dry. It might look nice, but we do not recommend grinding the welds flush here as you want as much strength as possible in the welds

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08 Some minor adjustment might have

to be made to fit the bottom plate back into the notch, but ensure you don’t cover any of the mounting holes or your Van will never go back together. As soon as you are happy with the fit, place a few tack welds to hold it in place

09 Check again, then seam weld the plate along

the edges to ensure maximum strength

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15 Then re-attach the mounting and the brake pipe,

and don’t forget to bleed the brakes

13 Now the notch is done, it’s time to modify the suspension mount. Remove the shock from the mount by clamping everything in a vice and undoing the top

nut. Mark the rear of the mount along the angle and cut it off. Clean both pieces thoroughly so it will be easier to weld the extension plate in later

14 Re-assemble the shock onto the mount and bolt both pieces back on the Van. Now measure how much it needs to be extended to meet with the front mounting

hole in the chassis leg. Cut some metal plate as before, place it in the gap and tack into position. Now carefully remove the mounting from the Van and seam weld the plate along the edge. Again, protect your welds with seam sealer and underseal once complete. The front captive locater should still rest in the chassis leg hole so that you can bolt the assembly safely back into place

16 Ensure everything is tight and torqued up to VW specs. The lower shock bolts should ideally be renewed and torqued to 115ft.lbs

17 You should now be able to run that little bit lower without your steering arms hitting the chassis legs. Beware winding your torsion bar adjustment nuts

out too far though – leave at least a few visible threads for security. Some people also recommend cutting down the bump stops at this point as well, but it does depend how much lower you intend to go. Now re-fit the road wheels, lower your Van to the ground and stand back and admire your work. Before you drive any distance though, book your Van in for a four-wheel alignment check. This is crucial as both tracking and camber will have been affected by what you have done and, if nothing else, tyre wear will be increased

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