I'm going to narrow my beam by 4''
I have a few questions
1- how narrow can you go without having to modify the body or the shock towers?
Seems like you could remove about an inch and a half from both sides, so 3'' total, sound right??
2- if I was to narrow it more than 3'' the shock towers will most likely need to be modified, does anybody have experience in not running shocks at all????
3- what are the pros and cons of narrowing from the centre vs the outside ends??

PS it's a link pin setup

Thanks for your help guys n gals

PS is it a pink slip set up ?

narrowed beams reduce the track and as such are illegal, same wth the shocks, if the car came with them you must run them, they are there for a purpose

Thanks for the input guys, but can I just get some input from people who have had experience in this type of mod

Matt

the pink slip comment was to ask are you going to try and make the car legal? Are you fitting drop spindles to the beetle after (they may add to the track)
There are some guys who have contacts with folk who run shockless, I am not sure who they are on here, but you can always try the US Cal Look forum http://www.cal-look.com/  as I am sure there are a few guys there who could asist.
Also which state are you in? there are some good shops about that can do the work for you, or you could even just buy a narrowed beam.

Link pin can only be narrowed by less than an inch without modifying body work or changing the shock tower. Ball joint can be narrowed more because the shock towers lean away from the bodywork.
Dave

I have driven a car with a narrowed beam and no shocks, it handled worse thanything I have driven, even the owner could not put up with it.
Its a stupid thing to do to a car as well as highly illegal. No rego inspector will pass it unless he is very dodgy.
As well as that they look like shit.

mines narrowed 4.5" with link pin and still got shocks, passed the blue slip no troubles.

Obviously the guy that inspected the car did not know VW's, it can come back to bit him on the arse if there is any issues with it on the road, any reducion in track is illegall, all well until you have a accident.

With the right set up, you can go up to 4.5 inches narrowed without body mods. Dont listen to anyone who isn't experienced with this sort of thing. Down Under Beams, in Gosford, can build you a world class beam up to 4.5 with shock towers to slip right in.

I ran my old car 5.5 inches without shocks daily for 18 months (60kms per day) an inch and a half of the ground with no problems. Handled great, rode as nice as a stock beam, bbut without the dreaded crosswind wandering. If you want to go low, then you need to go narrow. That said, its best to pay the money for a well made beam by someone who knows how to set them up right. Sure if you want to race it around oran park, you may want a different set up, but if you just want it slammed and still driving nice and turning without scrubbing then a 4.5 would be the go. I could offer up at least 50 blokes I know running narrowed who all swear by it, some with shocks, some without.

The DUB beams (0409 493012) look factory and I have never heard of a single one being knocked back for rego in anystate. Hope that helps.

Ive driven 4.5 and six inch narrowed beam beetles and I can tell you straight up they handled FINE!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,if some don't like the look of it, thats their opinion, but the thousands of people who do like it and have done this mod put up with any so called bad handling problems.
If it is DONE RIGHT, with the right advice and components you won't have any drama's
Listen to the people that have done it before and know what to do and what parts to buy, and only hear what the others say.
Its up to you mate, just get the right advice and spend the money to get a decent job done

Quote:

Have a look at these [quote="Down Under Beam's"]Down Under Beams present Fresh steel beams !for your link pin beetle Using laser cut and folded uprights wich include boss and top plate for body mount End plates using Tin KDF's (aka Bugboy) tried and proven end plates laser cut to suit the beam tube perfectly.Allow's up to 4 .5'' narrowed beam with shocks 8) 6'' narrowed beam showing the end plates that will be used (not welded in pic) 6'' style beam (again not yet weled) to show you what the finished product will look like Laser Cut plaque fitted to each Dub 4.5'' with shock towers painted and ready for install Down Under Beams PRICE LIST Bare steel beam with shock towers $625 Bare steel beam with out shock towers $575 Bugpack Bushes (No machining needed) $75 Quicksteers $65 (recommended for anything narrower than 4.5'') Painted add $30 Spring Packs shortened and Redimpled $90 per pair (using your springs) Tie Rods cut and re tapped $60 per pair (using your tie rods) Stickers $ 5 or buy a beam and get one free Down Under Beams does NOT narrow O.G. beams ,and does not sell shock towers etc seperately

I am just curious Hertz, are your beams approved to be used on public roads, if they are not do you issue a disclaimer when some one purchases one from you, i am not getting my knickers in a twist but the downside of modifiying a vehicle without the engineering approval is fraught with problems, it also paints everbody that make the effort to modify there cars legally with the same brush as people that don't, downside could be over time that all mods could be banned and we all end up driving unmodified vehicles because of the minority.

just means you should all narrow your beams like mine so that way they think its normal and if i was you i would be more worried about your rims failing befor my beam

i got a 4.5inch beam that i built in my 58 and one in my girlfriends 61, both with dropped spindles and i wouldnt have it any other way.

Man there are now alot of twisty knickers because of a few simple questions!!
Thanks to those who actually answered the questions rather than trying to tell me how to modify MY car
This is a MODIFIED car thread, don't like it, leave

Now
I can't afford to go the option of a DUB beam, but I have had many years of experience with laser cutting and mechanical design, so I might have a crack at my own custom shock mounts. If they don't work, it's no shocks for me!
Cheers lads

if you dont end up running shocks you could even go 6inches narrowed, still has a sweet turning cirlce with minimal scrubbing

dont forget the tie rods will need shortening/re taping but thats the easy part

Thats the spirit mate,do what ya wanna do

I dont make the beams. If you are so into details, you will have noticed that I refered to a 3rd person in my post, that being Down Under Beams.

The guy asked a series of questions regarding narrowed beams. You answered none of them. He explained what he was doing and asked specific questions regard what he was doing. He did not ask for a lecture.

some ideas....

http://www.btinternet.com/~aircooled/wolfsburgeast/beamnarrow.html 

and.....first couple pages here


http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=55220&page=1 

If you are doing it yourself on a budget, LJ from DUB is now doing 1 piece shock towers for beams up to 4 inches. Give him a bell, he might sell you set. When doing it yourself, never narrow from the centre. Put your adjusters in one at a time, and narrow from the outside. Carefully unpick the welds on the factory shocktowers, slide them off, then measure twice cut once. As a tip, before you weld the new towers on, or dimple your spring packs, assemble your bushed and trailing arms in the beam and measure the offset of the arms to check its correct. Once you know the offset of the top and bottom arm is correct you can dimple your spring packs, and weld on your new towers.

Hope that helps.

If there is anything else you need to know shoot me a PM

Josh

Mattriots
I have driven and repaired modified cars for the last 27 years, you asked for opinions so don't whine when you get told what you don't want to hear.
Hertz.
Those beams don't look anything like "factory" and if you are selling them then you could be one of the people who has to live with yourself after some kid gets killed by this stupid mod.
There is nothing world class about what you are doing and I think the self congradulations are over the the top . That statment makes me laugh out loud a lot.
This is obviously a touchy subject but do you have a legit Business ? Do you pay all the nessesary Taxes etc ?
Mattriots.
If you know anything about mechanical design then you won't do anything as silly as using a narrowed beam especialy with no shocks.

The NSW RTA is already hard to deal with because of stupidly lowered or raised cars, it won't be long before all mods are banned, most Engineering signatories have either quit or gone into hiding because of all this crap.

I just said I wasnt selling them. And he didnt ask for opinions at all. He asked specific questions relating to what he is planning to do. Tell me what shocks the KDF's ran on the front? Got a part number. Dont give me the holier than thou crap. If youve ever driven a stock height beetle at 100kmh in a wind, how on earth can you tell me that safe, frog shit, its terrifying. Id rather my ass 1 inch off the ground and my car driving straight.

Youve all made your opinions known (whilst uncalled for) now lets get down to the business of try to help him do it right because he's going to do it anyway. Fair dinkum.

*edited by Helbus - all cool*

The comment that I read on this forum last time still cracks me up.... "why narrow your beam? Just widen your guards!"

Hahaha and while your at it you can add in those heaps sick Torana tail lights

Back to business, let's slam that sucka!

Cheers hertz
I guess I'll just pm you any other questions I have
It amazes me how many people in the Tech Mods forum have a problem with people modifying their car

Quote:

Originally posted by NUG637 if you dont end up running shocks you could even go 6inches narrowed, still has a sweet turning cirlce with minimal scrubbing

Hi hertz, i think you need to do some research, even a 43 model KDF ran front shocks, vw obviously recognised the need for them, i do not care about what you do to your car, but when you drive them on a public road and there is a accident it can directly impact on me, i modify my cars as well but they are all engineered and approved so i can carry the insurance that will protect me from being in debt for the rest of my life, as for a standard beetle being dangerous at 100KLM, i would rather be driving that than a car that 1" of the road. are the beams that you promote legal ?

Mattriots,

Unfortunately due to the nature of this forum and it's loyal band of "experts" it is very hard to get a straight answer sometimes.

You asked a few specific questions regarding narrowed beams, you never asked for anybody's opinion. Hopefully you have got the information you wanted.

Unfortunately, like assholes, everybody has an opinion.
Sometime's when relevant people should share it and at other time's people should keep it to themselve's.

Again I hope you hven't been put off by these so called "experts", I have been driving narrowed bugs daily for years and have never noticed any ill effects.

Enjoy your time with 'your' bug mate, do with it as you please