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Shimming front beam+Interesting invoices

BASHOdi - February 16th, 2007 at 06:29 AM

Hi Guys ,
car lowered with adjustable beam, steering geometry now out, probly needs beam shims (not the Jim type) anybody bin there done that--?? any advice from anyone ecstaticaly received,
Cheers , Al .

[ Edited on 15-2-2007 by BASHOdi ]

[ Edited on 2-3-2007 by BASHOdi ]

xornge666x - February 16th, 2007 at 06:37 AM

how low is it, if lowered quite a bit, you can fit castor shims behind the lower beam tube to get the castor back to std, which helps with the car wandering at speeds.
Are you talking those shims, or the ones on the link pins for king pin inclination??
What has changed, you just wound the adjuster down?
Will need a wheel alignment as the wheels will toe in once lowered.
You need slightly longer bolts too if you fit castor shims...

vw54 - February 16th, 2007 at 06:43 AM

The castor shims work well but it depends on how low you have gone

oval TOFU - February 16th, 2007 at 09:57 AM

...or how much rake you have... I've got about in inch of rake and my front end (as measured from the bottom of my front apron) is about 120mm off the ground, I use those castor shims and my steering tracks fine...

BASHOdi - February 17th, 2007 at 08:20 AM

Hi Guys, thanks for the reply's , bought the car with it already lowered not sure how much--does anyone know the stock front wheel centre to wheel arch measurement is on a 64 I can't find it anywhere--, it's away at the moment having track rod ends & king pins and stuff done which should fix it anyways-- it aint been lowered that much bout 2-" 2 1/2" I reckon---but if it don't I'm tryin to figure out the next bit.
:beer

BASHOdi - March 1st, 2007 at 04:24 PM

Ok Guys 850 bucks later I finaly got near , after replacing track rod ends king pin shit one side (done ask thats another story) some bearings seals etc the thing started to get a bit more civilised anothert $495 saw the suspension reset to 34cm wheel centre to wheel arch front and rear (+ a couple of pesky rattles fixed) and the bloody thing now is nearly right I'm gonna let it settle for a couple of weeks then do a tyre change probly Falken Ziex I'm thinking 195x 70/75x 15 not sure of tyre size availability--any suggestions on tyres anybody??
Cheers Al .

vw54 - March 1st, 2007 at 04:56 PM

yeah i suggest that every week or so you keep pumping grease into the front end untill it settles

With it being apart all the grease is GONE so do it regularly untill it settles this will also help the ride height

make sure you jack the car up n fill with grease on the 4 points and do the other 2 on the knig n links as well untill it settles

wait a few weeks until you get the tyres and try it with 2 people in the front as well the extra weight makes a different

xornge666x - March 2nd, 2007 at 09:37 AM

$1395 for a suspension height change and 1 side kingpin and some tie rod ends???
oh my god.
hourly rate of $200 per hour or something!!

BASHOdi - March 3rd, 2007 at 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by xornge666x
$1395 for a suspension height change and 1 side kingpin and some tie rod ends???
oh my god.
hourly rate of $200 per hour or something!!

Funny you should say that , heres copys of the invoices--- posted without predjudice--,

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/3016/invp2zp4.th.png

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/1112/invp3mg2.th.png

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/8642/invp1hw1.th.png

:bounceAnd many thanks vw54 for the greasy lube tips very much appreciated

:beer
Al

[ Edited on 2-3-2007 by BASHOdi ]

VWCOOL - March 3rd, 2007 at 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by xornge666x
$1395 for a suspension height change and 1 side kingpin and some tie rod ends???
oh my god.
hourly rate of $200 per hour or something!!

Isn't that about right for complete disassembly of front and rear suspension etc etc?

But it does prove the point that VWs are only cheap and economical WHEN you can do the work yourself...

oval TOFU - March 3rd, 2007 at 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VWCOOL
But it does prove the point that VWs are only cheap and economical WHEN you can do the work yourself...

I reckon so! I think i just saved myself a gorilla and a bit doing all that myself!

BASHOdi - March 3rd, 2007 at 03:58 PM

Quote:

[But it does prove the point that VWs are only cheap and economical WHEN you can do the work yourself... [/quote

As is any ferkin car-- any more bleedin obvious fatuous smug comments ?? they're so informative--not.
:puke

xornge666x - March 3rd, 2007 at 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VWCOOL

Quote:

Originally posted by xornge666x
$1395 for a suspension height change and 1 side kingpin and some tie rod ends???
oh my god.
hourly rate of $200 per hour or something!!

Isn't that about right for complete disassembly of front and rear suspension etc etc?

But it does prove the point that VWs are only cheap and economical WHEN you can do the work yourself...

No I dont think its about right to charge that much for that amount of work.
I had my own shop doing all mechanical repairs on a/c VW's. I would NEVER charge $495 to reset the rear suspension and replace a fuel line grommet that was "audible".
Someone doing it at home would take much longer than a shop who is supposed to know what they are doing.
Raising the rear of a beetle takes 1 hr MAX. These guys are a joke. Seems their hourly rate is $55, so maybe they took all day to do it... I think not
$800 to do king pins and tie rod ends... come on.

Of course its cheaper doing it yourself, but people ripping people off is not cool.
Expensive hourly rate is one thing, I know how long it takes to do these things as ive done them many times, this bill is a little crazy.

koolkarmakombi - March 3rd, 2007 at 07:31 PM

I disagree.

I dont think it is bleeding obvious, fatuous nor smug.

VWs have a reputation for being cheapies to fix, this can prove not to be the case as with this fella.

My subarus have been cheaper to have the subaru shop do any work such as the clutch as the labour charge was really reasonable and they did an awesome job. It would have taken me much much longer to do it.

Or do you have other issues with the poster rather than the post?

Note I do not know either of you so I am not defending a mate or sledging you.

I reckon the bill is steep, but I have never done the job as I like ball joints!

kkk

Quote:

Originally posted by BASHOdi

Quote:

koolkarmakombi - March 3rd, 2007 at 07:35 PM

oh, I just noticed your mood :jesus

BASHOdi - March 5th, 2007 at 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by koolkarmakombi
oh, I just noticed your mood :jesus

@ $960 labour @ $70 per hour = 13.71 hrs-- is that an issue ?? YTM
-- Foul mood --you betcha.
Clutch in my rex $480 for Extreme organic sportsclutch/press plate / bearing--- $25 flywheel skim ---$350 fit + $20 workshop sundries.(all inc GST)

68AutoBug - March 5th, 2007 at 03:06 PM

On the amount of time to do jobs to Your VW...

naturally its going to take You MUCH longer than a fully trained mechanic...

tie rod ends take a few minutes to replace...

I had the shims on My beetle but have taken them off...

I'm told they are only needed when the front end is really lowered a lot....

plus i'm going to raise my beetle up a bit at the front...

Lee

68AutoBug - March 5th, 2007 at 03:15 PM

VWs were cheap to service back in the 50s and 60s..

and most owners could afford to have their Beetle serviced by a VW dealer...

that was when Anyone could afford to pay the labour charges...

its a different story these days.....

VWs do take some time to overhaul etc...
as they are a hands on car.. more so than late model cars.
IMHO...

like changing the oil - and removing the strainer and cleaning it etc...
late model cars - unscrew the filter and screw another one back on.... after the oil is drained...

so the parts are usually not too expensive
[although the prices have risen considerably since i bought most of the parts for My beetle 10 years ago...]

Lee

http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug