Question for Beck owners

Is anyone running a front end sway bar on their Beck? It looks like there is limited space, but I'm sure something must fit.

Hey, where are all the Beck owners here? Lane, where you at?

Here I at. Nope, no sway bar yet. Carey told me that there would likely be clearance problems - but I can't remember with what. I have to say that it corners awfully flat with just the camber compensator.

Any other Becksters out there? I'm kind of interested in this one myself.

its the same with vintage, no front swaybar, do they know something we dont, or just mfg. cost? bill

My Vintage Speedster is a completely different handling car after in installed a sway bar and a Camber compensator. Nothing changed about the smooth ride but noiw it drives like it was on rails. I would never have a VS without these two items. It truly handles like a fine sports car now.

I know a Beck is not like a pan based Speedster and maybe a Beck doesn't need these things but my VS sure did!---Jack

A good wheel alignment works wonders, too!

Four things that improve handling and stability on a pan-based car:

1. Front sway bar; helps keep the meat on the road
2. Front beam braces; moves the pan/beam contact closer towards the
wheels. Better turning.
3. Rear sway bar; improves tire contact in cornering. Stiffens rear
suspension.
4. Engine brace, aka Kafer bar; It attaches the frame horns to the
upper shock towers to create a stiff space frame. Instead of all
that torque at start up pushing the rear end down like a dog rubbing
it's butt, it's transferred to the wheels where it belongs. No more
flex.

Warren, I can't see why a front sway bar wouldn't help your suspension performance. Same goes with the rear sway bar if your running a VW drive train.
You don't need the front braces or the Kafer bar because of the tube chassis. Although, I don't know what Beck uses for the transaxle mount. JPS offers a tube chassis, but they attach the VW rear wishbone (frame horns), so that set-up still benefits from the Kafer bar.
As far as limited space, if you take an original VW front sway bar and turn in upside-down, you shouldn't have any clearance issues.
And, because the front ends are so light on these cars, you really don't need much more than a stock sway bar.

I absolutely agree about the camber compensator if your car is a swing axle. I haven't felt the need for a front sway bar yet, but I am curious how one would fit on a Beck. Carey, what's the scoop?

My Beck front end just seems light in the corners. It seems to float a bit until I get hard into the turn. Once in the turn, it seems to handle ok, it's just that floating feeling before the turn that concerns me. I would definitely not describe the turn as being on rails, if you know what I mean.

Your front end feels like its floating because you're 'lifting' off the accelerator!

The rear of our car uses a down support, much like the original 356, combined with factory built Kafer braces that triangulate the entire assembly back to the chassis.
Likewise, the front beam is triangulated to the main 3" rails of the chassis, so no need for additional bracing there.
Rear camber compensator isn't a bad idea and I run them on my own cars.
I've never run a front sway bar. I have never felt the need, but it would take some modifications to do so. The main 3" frame rails project past the front beam by several inches. I believe that these "stubs" would interfere with a front sway bar. That said, there aren't supporting anything, and one could modify them without any negative effect to the overall integrity of the chassis...

BTW, a year or so back I saw some form of front sway bars (custom made) advertised on Fibersteel's website. Not sure if they've ever made them, but the spyder has the same fitment issue as the speedster (and same front suspension). Just FYI

Carey---as a non-Beck owner I wanted to say how much everyone here appreciates your willingness to help not only the Beck owners but everyone in love with these weird little cars---me included!

--Looking forward to seeing you at Carlisle, my friend!---Jack

Warren,
What air pressure are you running up front?
Try 20 psi and see if it makes a difference.
Anything over 25 psi will make the front end a little squirrely.

Terry - I'm running 22 lbs, but you know what, I am going to be 65 in June, maybe it's just my continuing to be slower reactions. Maybe I should just be a cruiser at my age, but Eddie would kill me.

Warren, don't cruise. Cruising's for old guys. You're driving a speedy, you can't be old doing that!

Warren,

Have you checked for play in the steering box, pitman arm, control arms, or wheel bearings? Any of these things can give you the feeling of a delayed reaction mixed with some "floating".
Call me if you need.

Oh yeah, I had a loose bolt holding the pitman arm on that allowed it to shift slightly under load. Definitely made it feel a little squirrelly at times. You need a long bar on the wrench on the pitman arm pinch bolt. That way you can get the needed torque. The difference in feel is substantial.

My steering wheel wouldn't always return to the same point after a turn that put any load on the steering. That tiny shift was enough to feel entering a turn, and it was not a good feeling. Funny thing was, the bolt felt plenty tight, but the 1/4 turn I got out of the long bar was enough to make a world of difference in the feel.

Would Warrens complaint be a symptom of too little CAMBER ??

Too little caster, more likely. I had that in the beginning, and the difference was amazing, once I corrected it.

Dan said, "You're driving a speedy, you can't be old doing that!"

I'm not too old. But this gol dang body I'm stuck haulin' around in sure as hell is!