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squealing tyres around corners at low speed

M mattstanley
I bought a vintage speedster earlier this year, and had a problem with knocking coming from the front beam. After some deliberation and fruitless investigations/replacing parts, I decided to swap the complete front beam for a new one with Puma adjusters top and bottom, new trailing arms/balljoints, dropped spindles/CB performance wide 5 disc brake kit and a stock anti roll bar installed upside down. Anyway my problems are as follows:

The suspension seems very unforgiving, given the fact I have used dropped spindles and the adjusters are set to the top the highest which gives 24" at the front measured from floor to the top of the arch. The front has no downward travel, but I can lift the front by hand? I'm running the stock boge dampers, I have even removed the dampers and then there is plenty of travel up and down. Are there any aftermarket dampers that are softer than the stock ones? KYB GR2's can they be adjusted to be softer than stock?

Although as yet I have not had the geometry set up properly. It isn't far out but when turning a corner at low speed the tyres squeal, any ideas?, could it be just geometry, I've got the notch on the camber nut at the front 'stock' setting. is this right?

Lastly, I know the dropped spindles and CB disc brake kit push the track out by 1/2 " I have managed with the use of 4.5" mangles with ET25 to get this back. I have for now put the 165's back on but I do have problems with tyre rub on full lock, is anyone running skinny 145's up front?
1957 Vintage Speedsters(Speedster)
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M mattstanley
I bought a vintage speedster earlier this year, and had a problem with knocking coming from the front beam. After some deliberation and fruitless investigations/replacing parts, I decided to swap the complete front beam for a new one with Puma adjusters top and bottom, new trailing arms/balljoints, dropped spindles/CB performance wide 5 disc brake kit and a stock anti roll bar installed upside down. Anyway my problems are as follows:

The suspension seems very unforgiving, given the fact I have used dropped spindles and the adjusters are set to the top the highest which gives 24" at the front measured from floor to the top of the arch. The front has no downward travel, but I can lift the front by hand? I'm running the stock boge dampers, I have even removed the dampers and then there is plenty of travel up and down. Are there any aftermarket dampers that are softer than the stock ones? KYB GR2's can they be adjusted to be softer than stock?

Although as yet I have not had the geometry set up properly. It isn't far out but when turning a corner at low speed the tyres squeal, any ideas?, could it be just geometry, I've got the notch on the camber nut at the front 'stock' setting. is this right?

Lastly, I know the dropped spindles and CB disc brake kit push the track out by 1/2 " I have managed with the use of 4.5" mangles with ET25 to get this back. I have for now put the 165's back on but I do have problems with tyre rub on full lock, is anyone running skinny 145's up front?
M mattstanley
Bill, I've looked underneath and there is enough travel left on the stock dampers, bear in mind, the use of dropped spindles, along with the beam set on the highest setting, stock length shocks should be ok. As for the knocking on the old beam I did grease it up and the knocking still continued. No knocking now with the new front beam just the other problems listed. I will get the geometry sorted this week though.
FM Former Member
Good advice given regarding the length of your shocks and an alignment problem. The squealing of your tires could easily be related to the shock length. If the shocks are bottomed at rest then when you corner the car, you're loading up the outside shock. If it's bottomed, then you have no suspension travel and could be going into a positive camber situation thus not allowing enough tire to be in contact with the road.

Try removing the shocks and drive the car around a few corners (not too fast) but just enough to see if that's the problem

Finally, KYB shocks can not be adjusted.
M mattstanley
Larry, From looking underneath, with the car on the ground i've got approximately 3" left on the shocks but i can actually sit on the fender and it's rigid, a bit of bounce, but compared with lifting the front up, which travels upward relatively easily, and without the shocks on there is plenty of upwards and downwards travel?. Thanks for your advice on KYB's, I assume the fact that these are gas pressurised, these will be firmer than the stock oil filled boge ones
FM Former Member
Matt, do as I suggested and drive your car without the shocks. That will be the determining factor.


Jack, You're screwed, sell the car and buy a Yugo

Actually, you could have several things going on. Tire pressure could be too low, the front is out of alignment, bad tires, bad shocks so,, without knowing more, that's all I can come up with at this time without making my brain bleed.
FM Former Member
When you have your alignment done, they will snivel about not having your car in their computer. Just tell them it's a 1968 VW bug.

Once on the machine, have the toe set to 1/8" (that's 1/16" per side for a total of 1/8") (keeps the tires pointed in the right direction)

Try for 1/2 degree negative camber on each front tire (The 1/2 degree negative camber means the top of the tires will lean toward the body or inward but, it makes for much more grip when taking corners and, the tire wear is minimal)

If your beam is bolted to the chassis, they can shim the beam to get around 3 to 5 degree's of caster. (this self centers the wheels after cornering and keeps them pointed straight ahead when driving)

WildBillWildBill
That all ya gotta do, Jack. I went to the local family owned tire place and got to be with the guy as he aligned it. He was about a 30 year old and loved the hell outta getting to do it. He punched up 72 Beetle in the computer and there it was. He marveled about the camber adjusters and how easy they worked. Boy, was it ever out of whack. He had a deal of a time with the back toe in though and got it pretty close. Really made a difference, and I thought it ran good before. He really enjoyed the hell out of taking me for a ride to check his work. Big SEG on that boy. Slipped him a pair of fins for his diligence and awaaaayyyy I went. I had a fun time as well just being there watching.

~WB
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