Front suspension question?

Can I buy a 4" narrowed adjustable beam? Or do I have to buy a 2" and have it cut? I have 2 1/2 drop spindles on the front and they make the front wheels wider by 3/4 " on each side. So a 2" narrowed beam really woundnt do anything, narrow it by a 1/4" from stock.

Yeah man, most of the vendors will sell whatever length you want. Finding a vendor that sells a 4" adjustable bj beam shouldn't be a problem. Many of them offer 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 inch beams.

Thanks for the help Eric. I've seen the pictures of your car and I hate that for you man.

Thanks man! Crap happens, but luckily it can usually always be fixed. See you around and welcome to the boards!

Thanks for the welcome. I found one place Airkewld they want almost $700 for a 4" narrowed with everthing I need. Does that sound about right ?

I'm not sure about the price. Airkewld and CB Performance are both well known for their products. Unfortunately they are some of the more expensive ones also. I haven't narrowed my beam yet, though it is in the future, so I haven't done much about pricing it out. There are other vendors who sell beams in the classifieds on the Samba as well, just be sure and click on the "sellers feedback" link at the bottom of the ads and see if they are reputable.

Thanks. I will check it out.

If you beam is in rebuildable shape you can pull it out and have it narrowed at one of the local VW shops that do that kind of thing. I know Herrell Bug Parts in Carolton can do it or you can buy a rebuilt narrowed beam from them for about $250. They have a jig for doing this. http://www.herrellbugparts.com/

There are probally other places around as well that can be recommended by others on the forum.

Thanks,

What about it being adjustable? I what it narrowed 4" but I want to drop it more.

They can narrow it and weld in the adjusters while they are there.

I'm gonna give them a call tomarrow. Thanks again.

Be sure to tell them your are going to run drop spindles allong with the beam, usually they will put the adjusters in a different angle so that you can put the car exactly where you want it, look at pics of my car the beam is all the way up, as high as it will go! do a little investigating before you throw in the cash, im not sure but i dont think you can run shock with a 4" maybe with custom shock towers... some people rather not run shocks anyway....

Yeah you can run shocks up until a 4.5" on ball joint. I am not sure what all is involved in making them work though. I would say if you can get it for 250 then that is a good deal. I was thinking for a ball joint beam it will run 350-400, they are a pain...

59 Euro Rag wrote:, im not sure but i dont think you can run shock with a 4" maybe with custom shock towers... some people rather not run shocks anyway....

Narrowing brings the nut for the upper bolt for the shock closer to the inner wheel well. At 4" narrowed - it might be really difficult to get a wrench into. I've heard that those who narrow the beam 5 or more inches have to cut the sheet metal in the inner wheel well to get the shock towers to fit. I my opinion, 4" narrowed with 4.5 wheels on the front gives plenty of space - unless you are installing disk brakes which push it out another in on each side.

What about the ride with no shocks? The cheepest one I found was $575.

jerryg66 wrote:What about the ride with no shocks? The cheepest one I found was $575.

That's up to you and how you want your ride to feel. I don't have the standard shocks on the front of mine because I have the air shocks for the air ride system. I usually rase the front end up just so the tire clears the lip of the fender when turned. It gives a super smooth ride.

Take the shocks out and you are using just the torsion springs in the beam for dampening your ride.

I most of the time dont put shocks on the front. I like the ride. I think it is better than stock with a 4.25" beam with no shocks.

I narrowed my beam myself. I took 40mm off each side. Inch wise I'm not sure what that is. I measured the body where the shock towers were and thats as narrow as I went. It is tight, I still had to smack the body with a rubber mallet to give it some clearance.
I have disk brakes and the kit really didn't add any width. The 8 spokes did though. I'm running 185/60R15 up front and I have no tire rub. I do have a rub of the tie rod on the passenger side. I have a tie rod flip kit but I don't want to take her off the road to install it. It really only rubs with a fuel tank or someone with me.
Is the 700 for a complete beam? 700 sounds high to me. Make sure you use lowered ball joints too. I didn't so I'm limited to how low I can set my adjusters.

if you look at the bottom of the main page you will see a chat box log in to it and chat away.

You guys know alot more than me about this. So I'm all ears. I need your help and opinions. My pockets are not deep, so the best way for not so much money.

Just remember that when you narrow one, other things need to be narrowed also. Tie rods, and the torsion leaves that are inside the beam.

The $700 dollar one is everything I need. I found another one with everthing for $575.

on the shock difference, if you narrow, the distance between the grub nut and the torsion arm will become shorter, thus giving a more rigid ride, and then becoming more rigid the less distance the torsion leaves have to stretch, some people do not want to add the pressure of the shocks to the already rigid ride,

59 Euro Rag wrote:on the shock difference, if you narrow, the distance between the grub nut and the torsion arm will become shorter, thus giving a more rigid ride, and then becoming more rigid the less distance the torsion leaves have to stretch, some people do not want to add the pressure of the shocks to the already rigid ride,

You hit it on the head!

I had a Bug with a 6.25 inch narrowed beam and no shocks on the front. I think it rode great and wasn't bumpy at all. I know it sounds crazy (no shocks) but it works.