I have some pics for you all on the process I went through to lower the front of our 71 S Beetle.
The old strut inserts were leaking so I thought it would be a good opportunity to lower it at the same time.
helbus ·
Original height
helbus ·
Pretty sad looking with it's nose all hoighty toighty up in the air like that. Bloody tart. Rip 'em out
helbus ·
Rip 'em apart and chuck in some urethane bushes. Hate that shimmy.
helbus ·
Cut the original cup weld with an angle grinder. Don't cut too deep.
helbus ·
Knock the cup out of the way.
helbus ·
Grind back the old weld nicely. I used a belt linisher to do this one.
helbus ·
Clean it up. get rid of the dirt and reposition the cup ready top weld.
helbus ·
D.L.I approved welds. Helps when you have a MIG welder.
helbus ·
This is the lowered position welded.
helbus ·
Painted.
helbus ·
Two lowered struts, cleaned, welded, painted, ready for my mate the mechanic to chuck back in tomorrow morning.
Took a total of 1 hour to do everything.
Total cost. $0 I didn't even have a beer.
oval TOFU ·
Helbus wrote:Original height
Fark that is hoighty.. what you got in the back? a cast iron block?
Nice job on the lowering.. neat welding too...
helbus ·
Oh I didn't mention the distance difference did I?
60mm
At least the rear doesn't need lowering. 😀
Stock rims & tyres so the tyres should still fit under the front. The gap was 70mm.
vw54 ·
wheres the new pic of the lowered car
helbus ·
It's getting put together today with the new strut inserts, so I will have a pic tonight. Hope I haven't gone too low. 🙂
EgeWorks ·
Good job. What sort of inserts did you end up going for?
mackaymanx ·
Here is an example of how not to do it, note the undercut from grinding and the shit welding (these come of a 72 s bug I'm wrecking). These have been raised not lowered.👎
helbus ·
That's horrific. Must have been a farmer, they often use stick welders.
mackaymanx ·
It wasn't the only scary thing I found, check out the seat belt.
Steers very nice now, and with the new strut inserts and urethane bushes, NO SHIMMY at all.
Stock strut inserts.
helbus ·
Lucky it cost me nothing to do the lowering, because my mechanic nearly killed me with the bill for the rest of the labour. Only charges me $35 p/h cash, but I am sure he takes twice as long as he should. He is fussy and does a top job. I am not actually complaining, just a little shocked. I am very happy with the result.
Vw nutter ·
Na pete should be lower!:P put it in the weeds!!
nice job though i like it, will you be at the jamba?,
im getting my RWC hopefully on monday so rego that weeks as well, so i hope ill see you there with my bus.
cheers
ps. u should have a beer now with all the hard work you have just done, enjoy cya soon:beer
Bizarre ·
That looks really good!
What inserts have you used??
Golf or stock??
T'is amazing what 60mm can do!
Bizarre ·
you dont need big power.
A super set up well with decent rubber and a 3/4 healthy 1600 is a good car.
Throw it into some corners and be surprised
beerdoc ·
Good stance now
love seeing some super stuff
Doug Sweetman ·
How did you end up getting the bottom of the struts out of the knuckle / atub axle thing ? I've tried twice with mine to no avail.
Looks like a rel nice job, well done.
helbus ·
Doug Sweetman wrote:How did you end up getting the bottom of the struts out of the knuckle / atub axle thing ? I've tried twice with mine to no avail.
Looks like a rel nice job, well done.
That was a tight fit, but came out no probs. I put on new ball joints too, so it all had to come apart anyway.
barls ·
Doug Sweetman wrote:How did you end up getting the bottom of the struts out of the knuckle / atub axle thing ? I've tried twice with mine to no avail.
Looks like a rel nice job, well done.
i had to use a oxy and hydraulic puller along with the bfh and it also took a lot of effort
1303Steve ·
Hi
When you put the stub axle back on the strut, make sure you put a big dob of grease on it. Those weld on the struts can be removed neatly in lathe. I also use a Mk1 Golf bump stop instead of the Beetle one, it can be trimmed down to give more travel and when its trimmed down the Beetle dust sleeves fit perfectly.
Steve
handycam ·
looks good after time thay realy get that high front dont thay as the back sags
JP_Aircooled_TDi ·
Hellbus (aka Peter),
Very nice job on the struts.
As I am unable to do this sort of work (due to lack of welding skills and equipment), what is a reasonable price to be charged from a boilermaker (or similar)?
Not sure if I will separate the cups from the struts myself first.
VWCOOL ·
So 60mm on the strut equals 60 mm change in ride height. Sounds more easier than shuffling torsion bar splines, huh!
Joel ·
dont go much lower than that with out a bump steer kit
i cut 2 coils out of my springs ages ago before i knew any better which dropped it about 4 inches but i ended up bending the shit out of my tie rods where they hit the body
also standard inserts wont handle being that low either they bottom out alot if u run no bump stops like i did 😀
but atleast it looked hawt LOL
-Joel
baja burley ·
can the cup be moved upward to give a half decent amount of lift??
like the farmer did but a little tidier!
also can all the same components be used??
VWCOOL ·
baja burley wrote:can the cup be moved upward to give a half decent amount of lift??
like the farmer did but a little tidier!
also can all the same components be used??
That's how you lift strutted 4WDs, just make sure/measure you don't 'top out' the shock
baja burley ·
well sounds like this is going on my to-do list then!
how much lift do you guys reckon i could get away with??
Joel ·
wow me admitting to ghetto cut springs
this must be an old thread
nedsta ·
So can I apply the same principal to the 2 bolt strut on my 74 L if project funds get low
waveman1500 ·
Holy thread-dredge Batman! This is one from the dusty parts of the archives!
Bizarre ·
this is a thread that is worth a thousand words for the SBO kind
I regularly bump this for people asking how to lower on the cheap
As for the question - yes
you just need to realise that the 2 bolts limit the amount of drop compared to the 3 bolt
If you want to eat weeds - change to 3 bolt
But you will get low with 2 bolts
This was without even trying with 2 bolt
nedsta ·
I'd be happy with a drop like you've done have you got a pic of how the strut looks now?
If I still want it lower just kampers do lower coils aswell to haha
Bizarre ·
mmm....sort of
These are 3 bolt V Force struts with a 12" spring
I run a 2 bolt version
In that shot I was running a 10" spring
I am now running a 10" + 2" helper
nedsta ·
Ah ok your running the proper coil overs. Can you do the modification on your original struts that the thread is about?
Bizarre ·
it is hard getting the shorter stock width spring
nedsta ·
Just kampers do a 60mm lower spring however the thread is about grinding off the welds of the bottom cup and moving the cup down to reweld at a lower position. Can the same be done with the 2 bolt as there doesn't seem to be any room to move it down much as there is a brake hose bracket about and inch below bottom of the cup.
Bizarre ·
you have to relocate the brake clip thing
Super1302 ·
Bizarre can you tell me what a helper. (2" helper?) is.
also does anyone know if you can add a shim/spacer under the body of where the strut bolts to the body as I would like to raise mine 1/2". mine already has lowered struts and the wheels rub on the inside outer edge of the guard. and yes my tie rod arms are bent a little.
Cheers
Bizarre ·
it is a smaller spring that stops the 10" one flapping in the breeze when you catch air.
Because they and not under compression like a stock set up, they can come loose on the up stroke if that makes sense??
I will take a picture and show you when I find my water proof camera 🤪
Joel ·
Just a small flat spring that completely compresses when the cars weight is on it
But expands when the car is jacked up and the weight taken off the springs
keeps the main spring seated
Super1302 ·
Joel your photo crashed mate, well from what I can see.