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Adjustable beam V's Dropped spindles
cabrio70 - April 6th, 2004 at 08:38 AM

Hi All,

I am wanting to drop my cab a couple of inches in the front and wanted some feedback from people have installed the beam adjusters versus those that have put in the dropped spindles.

I have heard conflicting stories about cutting your front beam and putting in adjusters as in it upsets all the wheel geometry but my own experience does not reflect this. My other bug(68) I bought with adjusters already in the beam and it was great.

One thing that is appealing about the dropped spindles is that they are easily reveresed back to original.

Does anyone have any idea of cost comparisms (incl installation).

Thoughts please!!!


AdrianH - April 6th, 2004 at 01:32 PM

Have a look at http://www.cbperformance.com  they have new beams narrowed with adjusters and the 2 1/2 " dropped spindles, its all pretty reasonably priced really.

Kinda depends how low you wanna go !!!


Craig Torrens - April 6th, 2004 at 01:48 PM

drop spindles cost big $$ but can be installed easily and quickly.

Beam adjuster are cheap (if you do the work yourself) but are a lot more work.If you turn/move your steering box and add castor shims then you will keep the same geometry. You can also adjust front spring rates with adjusters.


Flip a coin !


HotRodMatt - April 6th, 2004 at 01:52 PM

A lot of drop spindles can't be "legally" used on the road without expensive x-ray testing.

Just something to keep in mind.


lugnuts - April 6th, 2004 at 03:08 PM

Your ride goes out the window the lower you go with an adjustable beam i just put mine back up a notch and its a lot better,yeah yeah i know ya gots to drop it in the weeds but i value function over looks anyday.When i get the chance on another pan ile go the dropped spindles route the ride and geometry stay the same just 2.5in lower.:)


Menangler - April 6th, 2004 at 04:02 PM

Drop spindles will make the track wider if you don't narrow the front beam, and we know what arguments that starts about bad handling!!


Kai.A. - April 6th, 2004 at 04:15 PM

i'd say go dropped spindles....

i've had experience of both adjusters and dropped spindles, and the spindles only really have one dis-advantage (imo) which is the lack of adjustibility..... you get 2.5 inch drop and that's your lot.... but you can put lower profile tyres on if you want it to look lower...

kai:cool:


cabrio70 - April 6th, 2004 at 06:32 PM

The plan is to run standard rims with dress trims and whitewall tyres, would I need to run low profile tyres if I drop 2.5" using the spindles or will 70 series still fit under the guards without scrubbing.

On my bug with the adjusters in the beam I run 50 series tyres on the front and it sits dam low. Also the ride is dispised by my wife and she has already commented on how much nicer the cabrio is to be a passenger in so I am keen to try and ensure I have a car the whole family likes to ride in but has the right look.


Craig Torrens - April 6th, 2004 at 06:54 PM

I think you may scrub with standard tyres. My Superbug was lowered by 2 inches and it did.


VWCOOL - April 6th, 2004 at 07:03 PM

The drop spindles I have seen (but not used) increase the track about an inch - wide tyres will scrub. Stockies proabably won't - but they will with selectas, too. Low-profiel tyres kill the ride, too...