best place to buy Belton lift kit

[Stone]

I vote for G&S.

And the snorkel for a BJ73 should be the same as the BJ70.

 

[brwnj60]

i got mine from bruce loewen, but i live only a few hours away...but very reasonably priced

 

[tlcruiserman]

Jan,

Hopefully I will have some stuff being shipped from G&S really soon, maybe if you get the Belton from them they can ship it all together and save some shipping charges. I am waiting to hear back from G&S I will ask if they saves any money on shipping.

BTW, I will have a complete Belton kit at my place next week if you want to look at what you get.

Cheers,

Michael

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

sounds great Michael!
Jan

 

[mikeyT]

Bruce Loewen is the distributor for Belton.

 

[dingdong]

Have Belton lifts gotten any better? I've had one in my '82BJ42 for three years and it still beats the $h!t out of me every time I drive it. And I have three leafs taken out from the rears. 2 from passenger side and 1 from driver side. With all the leafs in, my 42 was the poster child for "cruiser lean." It was so bad all the other cruiser's were poking fun at it. But it used to take left turns like a sports car. Right turns were scary.

 

[Stone]

I've ridden in Greg_B's BJ74 with a Belton kit, and Sheldon's ex-HJ61 also with a Belton kit, and they both rode great. Their ride was not stiff at all.

 

[Behemoth60]

Have Belton lifts gotten any better? I've had one in my '82BJ42 for three years and it still beats the $h!t out of me every time I drive it. And I have three leafs taken out from the rears. 2 from passenger side and 1 from driver side. With all the leafs in, my 42 was the poster child for "cruiser lean." It was so bad all the other cruiser's were poking fun at it. But it used to take left turns like a sports car. Right turns were scary.

Speaking now as the importer/distributor of Belton Suspensions...

I wouldn't recommend a Belton lift for a 40/42 that will be used as a daily driver/round-town/mostly empty vehicle. They leaves were not designed for this application - they were designed for use in more severe off-road situations with the vehicle loaded to capacity. An Old Man Emu (not Dakar***) or parabolic suspension will better meet your expectations for ride quality. But $$$.

The ride get's better with the 70's with their longer springs (I still recommend eliminating a leaf or two in the rear for unloaded applications), while 60's are definately the best ride in an unloaded vehicle.

The other thing to be aware of is the installation and maintenance of greasable bushings. The shackle and pins should not be too tight such that they cannot swivle, and should be greased at each oil change. I am into the 4th year of abuse testing our original 70 series kit, and I find that the shackles can sieze up with lack of lubrication, and if the shackles don't move, the ride is terrible. Something to look into if the ride steadily get's worse.

Greg B. definately has a knack for excellent installs. I rode in his empty topless/alum tub BJ42 with an unmodified Belton suspension, and the ride was premium. (See above paragraph about proper installations and maintenance...)

If you're going to load up and wheel your rig, then you'ld be hard pressed to find a better value in a suspension product. But a premium cushy ride for 'round town, they are not, we've never advertised them as such, and you'll be disapointed if that's what you expect. If that's what you really want, then save your pennies and buy Emu.


Peter Straub

*** Belton has confirmed that they are the factory that is manufacturing Old Man Emu's Dakar springs in their Malasian factory, and from the pictures I've seen of them, they really do look like Belton's, right down to spring eye inserts and stencil's used to paint 'Dakar' on the springs!

 

[jzilla]

I got my Belton lift from Steve at extreme bends. I have had them for close to 3 years in august, no complaints. One question though, I do grease them regulary but how much grease do you put in them? Should the grease be oozing out?
thanks,
john

 

[crushers]

Wayne here:
i have installed many a set of Beltons on various cruisers.
the belton works great on the 70 series, remove 2 leaves as well as the over load from the rear for highway/unloaded applications and the ride is fantastic. remove one leaf from the rear and the over load and the ride is good for having passengers in the rear on a constant bassis.
leave the over load on and remove the one leaf and you can carry a lot with out bottoming out.
the 40 series can ride nice with some tweaking but i have found the cruiser lean is prevelent on the 40 series
the 60 series is a very nice setup right out of the box. they do sag a bit in the first year but after that they stay pretty good. you have to remember these are not OME or Terrain tamer and not price the same either. i am running belton on the BJ74 and just love it. i have this setup on the BJ70 i am taking for a extended test drive right now and the ride is very comfortable.
best bang for the buck
as Peter alluded to do not over tighten the shackels and i use anti seize when i am installing the bushings and this stuff works great.
cheers