Hi all. I'm about to do a front end for a friends '68 ball joint beetle. I'm adding adjusters and narrowing the beam at the same time. My question is, and it may seem like a silly question, but how narrow do I go to stop the tyres rubbing with stock rims and 165 tyres? The car has drop spindles which widened the track, so I cut the wheels apart and adjusted the offset to counter for the added track from the spinldes. They're fine in a straight line now but still rub when steering.
I know there is the shock tower clearance issue but if there needs to be a recess in the body then so be it.
I hear of all different widths - 4" - 5" - 6" narrowed. I just need to know if anyone can tell me what is necessary to stop scrubbing?
Thanks for any help.

the most u can go without notching the body is going to be a 2 inch narrowed, i know mike.k at CBB makes his own and imports brand new ones aswell...... vintage can do it for you, but u can get a brand new narrowed beam with adjusters for $495 plus gst from them aswell, call up and ask for mike....

A narrower beam also makes the steering different

Measure the gap between the body work and the shock tower then cut to that

you must have it really dropped to be rubbing on the guard lip

Hi guys thanks for the info. So vw54, are you saying if I take out the 30mm each side and not notch the body that it will be narrow enough to stop the tires from rubbing?

it should be heaps I run a K & L front end with 5.5in wide rims fitted with 165 and they dont rub

how low do you have the front end this also plays a part in the RUB factor

you could also go to a lower profile tyre to stop the rub or have the lip on the inner edge rolled to add additional clearance

i agree with vw 54, you must have it really low for them to rub unless someone has done dodgy repairs to the guards at some stage and they dont line up where they should(seen that plenty of times), i would think 2 inches narrow should be heaps.

Hi guys. Thanks so much for all the info. If the body doesn't need to be cut then that's all the better. I've attached a pic of the car. Once the beam is narrowed and adjusters fitted I wouldn't be surprised if the front went down a bit lower again, but not too far. What are your thoughts on tyre rubbing if it went down another inch?

My beam is 3" narrowed b/j and with the Porsche 5.5" wheels, 135's and dropped spindles, there are no clearance issues. The stock 165's are tall and could still hit guards or headlight buckets IMO

looks like that guard has been knocked around a bit, that may be part of the problem, get you hands under the wheel arch and put some muscle into it and pull the arch out a bit more, it will still look standard but give you some more clearance.