Getting Slammed!?

It looks like it's time for a new front beam on my car. I was thinking of getting an adjustable one that will allow up to a 2" drop in hopes of creating a little sleeker look as well as possible better handling. What's the consensus on the "drop"? And will it improve handling? I figure the lower you get the better it handles - true?

What does your IM use now - a single adjuster or a cut and rewelded beam? The best ride is obtained with the dropped spindles. If the full 2" drop is used with an adjustable beam, you get some extreme camber/caster issue to deal with (there are shims and different tie rods available to deal with providing adjustments0. Suspect best solution is to use both where the dual adjustable beam can be used for fine tuning past what you get with the dropped spindles.

Why is it time for a hew front beam?

Mickey
I use adjustable beam on mine and do not have camber/caster problems(shims are used too). The handling is great,and don't forget the looks too. I paid around $170 for mine plus labor.

OK, here's the deal with the beam - Which ever previous owner of my car installed an axel beam that has had the top beam cut, dropped and rewelded. It's not that bad a job but it kind of gives me the willies because they didn't do the bottom one. The other issue is my mechanic has shown me the front right wheel is a little "floppy" as a result of either the needle bearing and/or the torsion arm seal being worn, and with a little wiggle there it becomes a bigger wiggle in the wheel(it's not the wheel bearing because they've been replaced). Being that I wouldn't mind a little lower front end I was considering just buying a whole new beam with all new torsion arms, spindles, etc...but now it looks like they aren't all that available (special order and out of stock = long wait)so I'm trying to figure out how to get the front wheel tight and right and the front a little lower without having to go through the "peeling the onion" process of trying this and that. I'm looking at just buying a new beam that is adjustable and getting the new needle bearings and torsion arm seals. Or does a new beam come with needle bearings already there? And thanks Lambros, that's the set up I'm shooting for!

Sorry, After rereading Wolfgangs post I forgot to mention the option of buying a stock beam and doing the spindle drop. And yes, the current beam has been cut and dropped as mention above. Is it only necessary to cut the top tube? Either way I need to make sure I'm getting rid of the floppy wheel, it makes a one-pump of the brakes needed to get get good pedal pressure and the car pulls a bit as well as jumps to the side with a hard brake. Does this all make sense?

Check out CB Performance:

http://www.cbperformance.com/catalog.asp?ProductID=426

For $200.00 it's not a bad deal at all....

So essentially you have a lot of weight/torque on one set of leaves and far less on the other. Suspect with the little weight up front this shouldn't be a big concern. The needle bearings are easy to replace - the seal is just a grease seal (it doesn't five any support). I would pull the spring leaves to ensure one or more aren't cracked or broken (hopefully they left a full pack there). (Sure I have an exta set in shed and I'm near you). Adjusters are nice compared to simply cutting and rewelding since you can changed your mind and readsjust it. So if you want to do the max drop then I'd do both - adjustable beam with dropped spindles. If you don't have disc front brakes this would be time to do that too (as the spindles are different).

...and if its the needle bearings don't bother trying to replace with those urethane jobs. I had the same problem and bought the urethane inserts to replace the needle bearings..was even worse for movement.

In the end I bought a new non-adjustable beam and the fully adjustable coil over suspension kit from Red 9 Design in the UK. Very pleased with it but it is a bit expensive..

http://www.red9design.com/ezrider.htm

Thanks guys,
Wolfgang, we'll see once we pull the springs? I may take you up on your offer if need be. I hate having to order from the west coast, everything takes so long to get here. I already have the disc's up front so no worries there and there are camber compensators and caster shims in place.

Brian, it's funny about the urethane needles bearings, my mechanic and I were talking about the same thing this morning, it didn't make sense to us either, the Puma beam comes with bearings in place.

I just order the Puma beam from CB Performance that Ricardo posted so when it gets here we'll keep our fingers crossed and hope all goes smooth. In a couple weeks I hope to be slammed and straight!!!

I'm pretty positive it will be a pretty straightforward swap; you'll be ready in no time.

I hope so Ricardo, my only complaint with my car is that I'm the fourth owner so I don't know the history etc.... and with these older builds being a sort of "Frankencar" it's not always so easy figuring whats what.

Hey
See my speedster on http://www.thenastygray.blogspot.com

it is super low

Best Regards
Thomas
Denmark

Mickey,
If you don't already have them, dropped spindles and and adjustable beam are my recomendation.
With dropped spindles you retain some suspension travel.
Without dropped spindles the ride can be pretty harsh when the front end is set to a lowered stance.
Either way, make sure your front shocks are adequate (lengthwise) to accomodate the range of travel your front end set up requires.
The suspension should limit travel, not the shocks.

Greg

I've just ordered Ball Joint CB Drop spindles, and trying to find a narrowed beam (believe it or not - supplies are very low for the ball joint beams right now). I already have a CB non-narrowed unit, but keep in mind the drop spindles add ~1/2 of track on each side.

What size tires are you running lambros? they look like about a 185-55? with a drum cover?

Are there different types of front end suspensions on beatles like there are differences in the rear (i.e. IRS, swing axle, etc... another subject I don't know anything about, but I need to).

Definitely Adam; pre '66 models are king pin/link pin type front beams while '66's on are ball joint type.

If you use an adjustable beam to lower the vehicle, then you might also want to consider "flipping" the steering arms to the other side of the spindle attachment (if you haven't all ready done so). All it takes is a few bushings (about $10) and drilling the spindle end. It will allow you to keep the steering arms horizontal - the way they were designed to be. This will improve the geometry, improve the road feel, and reduce the "bump steer" effect of angled steering arms.

If most of your drop is via dropped spindles, this is much less of an issue, because you have maintained most of the original steering geometry. Just give it an eye-ball before you button the project up.