A little bored so i started reading a little about cutting and turning your beam(beetle) to lower it,has anyone here done it,how far did you turn it,do you have any pictures ??? just very curious to see how its done and the results???
cheers shane.

Why do the mods keep moving my threads,this is a general question as much as a tech question.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=lowering+type+1+front+beam 

use adjusters much better

alls good,i spent alot of time on google looking around but no one shows you how they did it,like which tube you cut(im guessing bottom one)where you cut(im guessing out at the ends) how much you turn it,how much lower it goes,i have heard of people doing it i was offered a beam once allready done but passed on it,i wonder why more people dont do it,is it a bad thing ??? so no one here has done one
cheers shane.

You don't hear of it anymore because it just does not make sense to do it in this day and age when adjusters are cheap and readily available

The only reason anyone would do it is they're too tight to buy adjusters, it's almost the exact same amount of work to fit adjusters as to cut and turn and atleast its adjustable then.
you don't know for sure how much a cut and turn will drop till its reassembled and then if its too low or not enough too bad unless you wanna go through it all over again.

A couple with a 68 beetle in our local club had it done, it was about 15 years ago but they got a 2"ish drop by just having the top beam turned.
The ride was abit rough though

I see what you mean about the amount of work in it,i thought they would turn the bottom one because it would be less work,you would be pissed if you did it and it was to low,with this beam im doing now im going to use the avis adjusters,has anyone got any helpfull pictures,never done these ones before ???????

Smiley your link didnt work ???

Very sorry.


All fixed



Smiley

That worked thanks smiley interesting thread a lot of work went into getting your baja going again,nice work well done.
cheers shane.

If people want to lower their cars, they would be best to avoid reading dribble like this. Turning one tube?? WTF.

Do it once, do it right.

OK, if that's the way you want it. Happy New Year.

Quote:

Originally posted by Thatbrickhurts If people want to lower their cars, they would be best to avoid reading dribble like this. You read it

umm.......

Back on topic.

I would highly recommend the adjusters over the cut and turn method.

I don't really play with them much on my Baja cause I have her at a height that really suits me well, but for a lowered car it would be quite an asset. You could have it low most of the time but if you knew that you were heading somewhere that clearance could be an issue you just screw the car back up a tad.

The other good way to lower a Beetle is drop spindles, they leave the suspension geometry the same and don't change your travel. Might want to look into legalities like anything nowadays.


Smiley

Im going narrowered beam with adjusters and drop spindles,i was just wondering about this way after seeing it on thesamba and was wondering if anyone here has done it,i was allways doing adjusters with mine this is about the 3rd beetle beam i have done and 5 kombi beams,i think im sick of doing them
cheers shane.

I have a beetle with a beam that has been lowered without the adjusters

I modified it about 20 years ago , it rides smooth, it still has travel and it will out live me.

The reason I cut and turned both tubes was to retain the smooth ride, I chose not to use the adjusters to retain the original strength.
In those days the Avis adjusters were not so readily available, the most common adjusters were the Allen Key jacking screw type, still very common now but I wouldn't trust them.
Some of my other cars have the Steal Avis type adjusters (watch out for those local half alloy ones)

Johny Rotten

Are there are issues with the allen key type?

Newt

same as jr..about 20 years ago cut and turned both beams about 12-15 degrees. ie removed torsion leaves ,cut one ,turned it and welded it up then cut, turned and welded the other the same amount, worked fine. the guy who welded it insisted on bracing across the welded portion. still fine today. from memory 12-15 degrees on a 1500 bug was about 50mm drop

I did cut and turn cause i was too tight for adjusters (uni student wage... its a hard life )

But that was for raising the beam for my baja.