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Narrowed beam
split09 - November 6th, 2008 at 08:37 PM

Hi, im thinking about putting in a narrowed beam in my 67 and want to know the right size (as in shortened) beam to fit. Now the combination of things i want is as follows

1. Drop spindles with adjusters in beam
2. Disc brake kit (keeping wide 5)
3. Empi 5s

Wanting to know if all this is possible. Cheers


68AutoBug - November 6th, 2008 at 09:41 PM

I don't think there are any problems with What you have
mentioned...

how wide rims?? 5 or 6 inch.??

probably wouldn't need a narrowed beam...

5 inch wheels on the front with 145 x 15 inch tyres would fit OK... on a standard beam...

I personally don't like the look of a narowed beam...
they look like a toy car with the wheels in too far... IMHO.

once you start narrowing the front beam...
You need to cut some of the body to be able to turn the wheels..

the disc brake front ends usually widen the front track a few inches...
I'd get the wheels and brakes and fit them and then see if you need to have it narrowed...

Us oldies like them wide NOT narrowed.... lol

Lee


matberry - November 6th, 2008 at 09:57 PM

My 3" narrowed b/j front end is awsome. Turning circle and suspension clearance is fantastic with 145's on porsche burners.


Lams - November 6th, 2008 at 10:06 PM

I miss my front sway bar


68AutoBug - November 6th, 2008 at 10:23 PM

Does the sway bar - original Vw or whiteline??

make much difference??

I haven't had mine on since I've adjusted the front etc...

I have new clamps and bushes to fit too...

just wondering does the standard sway bars make any difference??

LEE


matberry - November 7th, 2008 at 08:22 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 68AutoBug
just wondering does the standard sway bars make any difference??

LEE

Depends on how you drive, but I'd say definately YES

I dont miss mine, cause with a narrowed beam and 145's and scraping the road clean, I dont notice. There is probably not enough suspension travel for body roll anyway!:lol::lol::lol:


xornge666x - November 7th, 2008 at 09:29 AM

If you take 4" out of the beam, the outer of the 5 spokes will be about where the std rims track was.

The spindles add 1/2" each side, and the wide 5 kits (CB ones) add some more to the track - about another 1/2 " each side I think from memory.

I believe Vintage in sydney have a kit which has 0 added offset, but im not sure if that is with drop spindles or not.. have to check with them.

If you want a really narrow look, you will have to take at least 6" from the beam. If you are narrowing to compensate for all the changed componenets in the front end, then 4" will be fine.

Kim's 60 has all the same stuff up front, with 90mm out of the front beam... check some pix here. It steers and handles awesome.
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=27343&page=12 


split09 - November 7th, 2008 at 05:13 PM

Cheers guys, and as the saying goes "each to their own" The rims are 5 inch and i have a feeling that the combination of drop spindles and disc brake kit is not possible, but can someone prove me wrong???? I have heard that the kit does increase it by 12mm (1/2 inch) each side and was looking for a two inch reduction each side from standard. So from that basic calculation iam looking at a 3 inch reduction?? This is going on that dropped spindles is compatibale with the disc brake kit.

With the right combination u can have a sweet looking bug, just have a look at the picture if the first and last bug in this thread http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=72679 


NullaDub - November 7th, 2008 at 07:38 PM

My understanding was the Vintage VW disk kit 'decreases' things by 12mm. so you might want to double check that.

Troy


xornge666x - November 8th, 2008 at 07:18 AM

here is CB's drop spindle and disc brake kit. http://www.cbperformance.com/catalog.asp?ProductID=1191 

This is the kit I fitted to Kim's 60 rag. Nice kit.