Hey guys, Just curious as to how much some people pay to get a narrowed front beam.

I recently got drop spindles and disc brakes on my 61 beetle, and the tyres were scrubbing on the guards. I was told a narrowed beam will resolve this issue. I was supplied with a new 2" narrowed beam, with new tie-rods with new tie rod ends, the narrowed spring kit, link pins etc. This was all assembled for me so labour was also charged. I was a little shocked with the price, and now curious as too how much this all costs, as i see alot of beetles with this conversion done.

So what sort of price range is fair for this sort of work done?

Im looking for one for my T1 ATM and the bare beams range from 400 to 850 so far

Knowledge skill and equipment cost $$$

I was charged around the $1500 mark as there was 8 hours labour to modify and assemble the new beam. Is this a fair price?

Firstly, I hate paying for labor but at times I have too.

Sorry, but you must remember they had to dismantle and clean the parts that they were going to reuse, cost of the mentioned parts supplied, probably had to ream new king pin bushes and then reassemble it all. So I think that for a business (@ 50-$100 an hour labor) , that would be around the right kind of dollars.

That my 2c, but free of charge today

Kev

Parts , labour, working on a vintage car sounds about right.
in the future its best to shop around and get prices first , to late once your had the job done.

Just welding in adjusters parts and labour is about $800 drive in drive out. So new beam and parts would be $1500 easy. As a drive in drive out price I would not see that as over the top. If it is all quality workmanship and parts, that is good. If it is junk parts and crap fitting, then $10 is a waste of money.

I paid about the same... lots of work went into disassemble and cleaning plus quality new parts....agreed with helbus, good quality parts are important otherwise you just end up having to fork out money to get it all done again!

Yep, I've redone a few 'pro' jobs, and I'd say that price is very reasonable, as long as it's a good job.

I can't believe it costs that much to f..k up the handling of your car.
I'm sure it would cost less to get the correct offset wheels and maintain the factory handling, which is compromised when you narrow the beam.

correct offset wheels aye? did they ever make those for bugs?


price seems right for getting it done, considering the bare minimum $400 price for the beam, leaves are almost that again, and all the other bits. as said, if it was done right it's a reasonable price. despite that it still seems alot for a few welds on a few old metal toobs

$1,500 would go a long way to getting the right offset wheels made. Might even get change if they're steel.

That's without saying again - a narrowed beam is illegal.

I can help with new narrowed adjustable beams if anyone is after one, drive in drive out too if you do not have the skill or tools, no compromise in handling in my opinion, my 8 inch shockless beam in my country buggy handles fantastic, i just have limited turning circle now.

Under current regulations it is illegal to narrow the track on any car, sorry i cannopt believer that a 8" narrowed beams handles fantastic, i just took a narrowed beam out of my Ghia and replaced it with a standard beam with the correct offset wheels, what a improvement, drives about 50% better.

I'll have to agree there, 8 inches and no shocks can't be a good thing. But then, theyre old cars. It's more about style than lap records

Have a crash with a narrowed beam = no insurance unless its been engineered

At least you the mention the fact that style over rides safety, nothing to do with lap times. my Ghia rides and handles conciderable better now i got rid of the wheels with the wrong offset. 6" x 17" on the front with 195/50/17 tyres with no rubbing.

problem is Bug look good with dish or offset. Correct wheels...have non, due to the massive stance a bug has standard.

A narrowed beam (2inch) is no different to changing from a long to a short axle gearbox. and everything still fits. nothing wrong with a 2, you can still have your old school wheels and some low, and shocks, and nice tires.

and I dont know about you guys...but my beam looks exactly like stock.

Well thats good too know i wasn't ripped off. I didn't mind paying the amount as i needed it done, but i just wanted to make sure i was getting my money's worth. The 2" gives the wheels that extra clearance from the guards, and now it isn't scrubbing time to get my guards re painted LOL

Also the handling doesn't seem to have been affected in a negative way? seems normal too me, couldn't tell the difference to be honest with you guys.

I find the narrowed beam great, quicker turning, easier reaction, now that we are talking about legalities, is it legal to lower your car a substantial amount if any? is it legal to use wheels of a much larger diameter than standard? is it legal to install seatbelts on a car that was not originally fitted with them without engineering? If you're after safety and legalities and all the rest, there is many safer cars on the road than out 50 year old bugs. As for the narrowed beams, how many of us here need a narrowed beam to be able to fit the brake upgrade and different rims under the front guards?

Take it easy, most of us here are for the looks of our vehicles, if you dont like, dont comment, i have been overwhelmed with fantastic comments relating to the look of my buggy. I am happy to take anyone for a drive, to see how good it handles, you wouldnt even be able to tell wether it has shocks or not, you might just smell a bit of rubber on the headlight buckets.

I wouldn't say most are here for looks of our vehicles. A lot of people like looks, however reliability, economy and safety do chime in.

My 75 bus lowered with 16 inch wheels and Subaru engine is VASS engineered, insured and VicRoads approved.

I will comment because I like my bus and am happy with the confidence in the custom engineering and knowledge that everything is legal

So, has anybody got a cheap narrowed ball joint beam for sale ?
Can supply a stock one if you want to go back to original
Nath

I ran an 8inch narrowed beam with no shocks on the front of this car, and i used nankang 135R15's on the front. And i agree with the comments Kuchster made ... my car ran sweet, drove really well, its pitty the police defected the car ( not besause of the beam) and i ended up scrapping the car. I'd run this type of beam again in a heart beat.

I remember when i firsat turned up at the VEC in Adelaide with this beetle, got heaps of comments, all the guys who didnt like it and thought it was crap had never run anything other than stock ... some of the other guys who liked to modify things loved it ... so with all VW and car stuff, its gonna come down to what you personally like and can afford to do... and just dont listen to the haters, cos haters gotta hate.

Sorry, but no shocks....are you serious!
Maybe there were other reasons that you didn't experience issues but essentially no shocks means your wheels will not stay in contact with the road at all times, this principle was recognised VERY early in automobile design, hell they even fit them to caravans and trailers these days.......


ps. I aint no hater, I've been modding Volksies for 35+ years

I am no hater as well, i just appriciate good sound engineering in any modification. Modifications that take into account all of the complications that arise when you make a change and a resalts that is a overall improvement, 57 Cal look, you have to be kidding, eventually people like yourself will be the cause of all modification being banned outright. I make a lot of effort to engineer all modifications to all my vehicles so i can insure all of them so if i have a accident i do not loose everthing i have worked for.

8 inches is mad, and can look good. No hating on my part, but as stated it will not and cannot drive as nice with no shocks at all. Having said that, a slow cruise and Spirited driving are very different things. The way I like to drive my cars requires shocks...and good ones.

Yanks have been doing the no shocks for years, and I always wondered how it would ride. General consensus is better than I could have imagined.

on that note, KONI? or Bilstein?

KONI is always my first choice

Yeah thats what I've been thinking.


and 2inch chop is nice

I had to go 2 inches narrowed on mine, full tank of fuel and two people = no steering. I thought illeagle was a sick bird ?

mine only scrubs on the drivers side because the guard is munted and bogged by a previous owner (which I attacked with a pair of pliers to get me to Warwick one year ). sometimes the headlight bucket gets a polish. Running 175's atm.