Hi there all...

I was wondering if anyone could offer me any advice on where and what to pay for a pair of 2.5" drop spindles to suit a '65 Type 1 (drum brake non adjustable)?

Also can any one offer any pictures of a Type 1 with before and after pics with dropped spindles so I can see the drop to motivate me further... :blush

Finally - how will they go on a standard width beam?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Jonathan

[ Edited on 10-7-2007 by jonathanmayes ]

[ Edited on 10-7-2007 by jonathanmayes ]

1) drop spindles are not adjustable. they will lower the car 2.5". they go for around the $380 mark a pair from memory. and they increase your track width by ~12mm.

2) if you want to go lower than that then you can get weld in adjusters into your beam that will allow you to adjust a further ~2.5" which is ~5" total from stock depending on where the adjuster is welded. you will more than likely have clearancing issues with the rim/tyre.

3) if i were you and wanted to lower the front a little i would just get adjusters welded into the beam. if you want the front to be on its nuts then narrowed beam plus adjusters plus dropped spindles.

4) even then you may still have clearancing issues with stock rims/tyres 165s? etc. in which case you may need to run 145s/135s up front.

5) i think that will look shit hot. if i had pics id show you.

hope that answers some of your questions. goodluck nick

[ Edited on 10-7-2007 by bond ]

Beautiful - thanks Nick...

I am running 135's on the front now with the with the intention of dropping the front...

What would it cost roughly to weld in adjusters as you suggested first versus fitting droped spindles - ie. I guess I am trying to work out which way to go first to see what and how low to go (best bang for $$$)?

note: may have to check this is correct with a k/l pin beam on an early beetle -

this also all depends on the look you want etc.

if you go dropped spindles first then you will a) increase the track width b) lower the car 2.5" with no ability to alter this. you have purchased dropped spindles but now possibly cant drive the car as it scrubs the gaurds.

if you decide to go adjustable beam then i would decide upfront if you want it on its guts or not cos i beleive it is more cost effective to have the beam narrowed and have weld in adjusters done at the same time then to have the adjusters welded in firstly - you check it out see how it looks etc - then 2 weeks later you decide you want it lower so you need to get the beam narrowed now and dropped spindles put on.

the more i read the above the less i understand what i just wrote. anywho.

call custom offroad for pricing etc - you are in brisbane from memory.

nick

bugboy aka nathan

CB 2.5 dropspindles for drum brakes $380 a pair

nick

Adjusters welded in around $450-500.

Narrowed 2inches plus adjusters around $770-850.

I've had both done a little while ago, but best way to get an accurate price is to give the relevant shop a call in your state/city.
Alan

I can tell you from experience that drop spindles for me are the way to go. You lose no suspension travel as you do in the weld in adjusters. I have had cars on both one or the other and drop spindles were much better. The handling improvement was amazing. My advice would be to do both. You use drop spindles to get the ride down but retain the suspension travel and then you use the adjusters to fine tune the mix up or down. You may find some spindles these days offer nearer to zero increase in track width. If you do source them wih track increase you could always narrow your beam by the same amount. Also you may need to run some camber compensators behind he beam. I think thats what they are called. If you just run adjusters you will need these for sure as from my experience the car will wander if you don't.

Excellent - thanks for the advice just what I need - I do have a friend at a reputable VW workshop in Brisbane but I was after any other advice / guidance on price etc to be sure I consider all my options before we start pulling it to bits.

Thanks again!

From my experience, as long as you don't go hitting every 10" deep pothole you can find, you can get away with out drop spindles and just go for an adjusted and narrowed beam. True, you'll most probably have a better, more comfortable ride with drop spindles as well, but i've got my front end at a just legal height off the tarmac and I think it rides fine. That said, i'd go drop spindles as well if I had the money. You may as well do it all at one time so your car is off the road for the least possible amount of time.... I'm also running castor shims - essential for me since I've got about 1.5" of rake to my oval

before:


after:

yes, the camera angle emphasises the dumped stance.. but just have a look at the front end of the running board and it's relation to the ground... noice.

Thanks oval TOFU that looks great - pretty much the same ride height as I am chasing...

Thanks for the pics also!

these posts just answered all the questions i had for my '57
so narrowed 2" and adjustable is the way to go.....then drop spindles later on if i want it lower still?

Also looking for advice on lowering my '69 pan, willing to cut into the body and go super narrow. any advice

cheers

my 55 is 2in narrowed and has weld in adjusters, its adjusted down pretty much as low as it will go with that setup. Most people would probably be pretty happy with how it sits up front, but I want lower and have spindles to go in, however these will have it sit too low with another 2.5in drop, so I'll just adjust it up a little on the beam about 1in. The tyres only just rub on the back of the headlight buckets now, so I may need to modify them slightly, hopefully not though.

Not the best pic, but stock height



with 2in narrow and adjusters.



Will hopefully tuck some nice amount of tyre with the spindles in, hopefully I will still have a half decent turning circle and not much rubbing, will check the rake and see how it looks, otherwise another notch down in the rear will be the next step!

Another piece of advice is to check how the 2" narrowed beam will fit in your bug - will you have to do any cutting or bashing to fit the shock towers in relation to the body etc... I got my beam narrowed only 1.5" and it just fits my body work... then again, my front end has had a hit before.. but it's something to be wary about. Rupewrecht had to cut and bash the fark out of his petrol tank to allow his beam to fit...

He might chime in with some advices if you're lucky..

Yeah i went 3.5" narrowed plus CB drop spindles, and kept shock towers...and still running 165s.

My fuel tank had to be massaged a little as the shock towers now sit inside the tank support rails. I could have just put a 1" spacer under the tank to raise it up, but didn't think of that at the time LOL (but i do have a spare tank to do that with one day).

as you can see here

this is the stance atm roughly. i get a little rubbing on full lock, and had to massage the headlight buckets, but now it only scrubs with fat friends in the passenger side.



and obviously i wasn't fussed about originality :P

my 2in fits perfectly, towers are extremely close but not a single bit of modification needed!

edit: I might go home and check that, as far as I know not a mod or bash was needed, I'll have a check, but I'm pretty sure nothing was touched to make it fit!

[ Edited on 11-7-2007 by dvs_vw ]

Quote:

Originally posted by rupewrecht Yeah i went 3.5" narrowed plus CB drop spindles, and kept shock towers...and still running 165s. My fuel tank had to be massaged a little as the shock towers now sit inside the tank support rails. I could have just put a 1" spacer under the tank to raise it up, but didn't think of that at the time LOL (but i do have a spare tank to do that with one day). as you can see here this is the stance atm roughly. i get a little rubbing on full lock, and had to massage the headlight buckets, but now it only scrubs with fat friends in the passenger side. and obviously i wasn't fussed about originality :P

dvs, yours looks exactly how i want my 57. cheers for the info
on the other hand i want my other oval (on a '69 pan) to scrape the road. I think this will require a bit of chop shop work.

Hey VW057 where abouts in the hills are you? I am not far from the hills and used to live in Toongabbie.

I say if you have the funds, put the spindles in to start with.
If you are like most you will want to go lower, and better to put the spindles in first, and build the beam to suit them (put the adjusters in the right location), and you can set it where ever you like.
With spindles you get a MUCH better ride, period.
Some cars ride ok with just adjusters, but a car with spindles and less turn on the adjusters will ride a lot nicer at the same height, than one with only adjusters fitted.

You will widen your track with the spindles, by the ~12mm already said.

You can do towers on a K&L beam to clear the inner guards with a 2.5 - 3 inch narrow... but requires some fabrication, and modification of the lower shock point on the lower arm (moving it out).
If the main objective is to narrow, leave the spindles out, and save the 12mm added track. Although...once the front is down far enough to look good with the narrowed beam, it will ride like $h!t...

to start with........bags may come later


Apart from the beam what other parts do i have modify?

sorry for all the questions, helpn out lots

[ Edited on 12-7-2007 by VW 057 ]

Here's my little bit of experience,

I have a CB performance puma Beam(narrowed 2") from Classic in Sydney bout $400 plus about $100 to convert to RHD and shorten the leaf springs.
I have 135's on the KG.same beam set up as a 60's bug.
BUT I don't have my dropped spindles on!
Many people can't believe the beam insn't a 4" narrowed beam.
I am thinking about going narrower,as I want to put porsche pattern discs on the front and using the dropped spindles King pin to late disc. and am concerned how much the track will widen.

see link to see how much they go inside the guards

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=44653&page=2