narrowed beams

[trailertrash]

anyone out there know for sure which beams fit.i may be able to get a cheap narrowed splitty beam and have been told it will fit my '72.if this is correct will my trailing arms fit it or would i have to have earlier ones(which i couldnt be bothered with)whats the difference between beams please.

 

[speedwell68]

As far as I understand it Bay trailing arms have to machined down to fit into a split beam, which weakens them.

 

[Loxy]

I thought split beams only fit on early early bays (68-69?), pretty sure a 72 has the later bolt spacing for bolting it to the chassis.

 

[lowblow]

If your bus is a 72 model a split beam will not fit as the mounting points are bigger from early buses with drums. So your split beam will not fit your your 72 bay but would fit a 68 bay. Right the other major no no is bay arms can fit split beams but can cause an accident. The reason for this bay arms have a overall smaller arch when weight is applied and splits have a large arch ( they point higher up)which would cause great stress on the bay arms,ball joints etc. This is increased more you lower the bus. So save your money, yourself and others and buy the correct beam. I hope this helps.

 

[trailertrash]

that about clears it up then,thanks.all i need then is a bay narrowed beam,any recomendations

 

[speedwell68]

that about clears it up then,thanks.all i need then is a bay narrowed beam,any recomendations

Yeah, don't bother. My mate has got one and it screws the steering right up.

 

[lowblow]

Creative engineering have narrowed beams so has t2d. I nhavw fitted plenty of creatives beams and are of a very standard. T2d beams are becoming more and more popular so these must have something going good for them. If you are not an experienced mechanic ask for narrrowed trackrod/trackrod ends and leaves, as if you try to do it yourself you f*ck it up then it money wasted (as they say measure twice cut once) prices are around the £500 mark. The only down side is creatives delievery service is crap.

 

[trailertrash]

so does a narrowed beam mess up the steering or not, is there an issue with the tyres rubbing on the inside edge? i was thinking of a couple of inches to make up for dropped spindles

 

[speedwell68]

so does a narrowed beam mess up the steering or not, is there an issue with the tyres rubbing on the inside edge? i was thinking of a couple of inches to make up for dropped spindles

Anything that narrows the track of a vehicle will mess up the turning circle. Drop spindles might help a bit.

 

[lowblow]

A narrow beam will give a harsher ride, because the spring rate of the leave springs have reduced by the narrowing of them and combined with lowering your bus which always gives you a harsh ride wil give you harsh ride. You can take some percuation ie a good set of shocks and not going to low ( did I say that) If your after the serious nip and tuck look them then ride quality has to suffer. The wheels will not foul inner archs unless you use wheels with odd off sets. The turning circle is still really good but your bus is average of 2 tons and around 14 feet long which is not the rally spec of a rally car that is made to spin on a six pence.

 

[Tofufi]

that about clears it up then,thanks.all i need then is a bay narrowed beam,any recomendations

Yeah, don't bother. My mate has got one and it screws the steering right up.

Rubbish! (well, almost) No offence

I've got a 4" narrowed beam on my '71 and it drives lovely.

As long as the tracking is set correctly, you shouldn't have any problems with the steering.

On mine, the wheels do not rub anywhere, and it is about 4" lowered than stock at the front still running stock tyres. Low profile tyres would make it very low.

It actually gives a better ride than my beetle (neither have dropped spindles yet), although you do feel the larger bumps. It also seems to have a better turning circle than my (non narrowed) beetle, although how accurate that is I don't know as they are very different beasts to drive. Its certainly not a problem.

My van is a very civilised drive (again, in comparison with my only other car, the '66 beetle daily driver) and if it had a front panel (soon) I wouldn't hesitate to take it anywhere.

 

[speedwell68]

that about clears it up then,thanks.all i need then is a bay narrowed beam,any recomendations

Yeah, don't bother. My mate has got one and it screws the steering right up.

Rubbish! (well, almost) No offence

I've got a 4" narrowed beam on my '71 and it drives lovely.

As long as the tracking is set correctly, you shouldn't have any problems with the steering.

On mine, the wheels do not rub anywhere, and it is about 4" lowered than stock at the front still running stock tyres. Low profile tyres would make it very low.

It actually gives a better ride than my beetle (neither have dropped spindles yet), although you do feel the larger bumps. It also seems to have a better turning circle than my (non narrowed) beetle, although how accurate that is I don't know as they are very different beasts to drive. Its certainly not a problem.

My van is a very civilised drive (again, in comparison with my only other car, the '66 beetle daily driver) and if it had a front panel (soon) I wouldn't hesitate to take it anywhere.

It is not rubbish, if you narrow the track of a vehicle you WILL reduce it's ability to turn, that is a fact ask any motor engineer you like. Now, it might not make a difference to everyday driving, but give some of the hairpin turns around here a try. To get into my mates drive he has to make two attempts, my bus just pulls straight in.

 

[Tofufi]

"Reducing the ability to turn" is rather different from "screwing the steering right up."

I've never had a problem with the turning circle on mine, it is still a lot better than my beetle. I would have said the difference was fairly minimal when compared to a stock width beam.

Certainly it doesn't create a big enough reason not to bother fitting one if you are after the type of look a narrowed beam creates, or if you want to fit wide aftermarket wheels (I don't)

 

[67 BAY]

Have narrowed 6 beams for myself and other people and nobody has complained about lack of steering lock,quality of ride compared to a lowered bus is no differerant.

 

[trailertrash]

at the moment i am just trying to work out which way to go.i will probably be fitting 247 brakes so whilst i am at it i will sort the rest ,maybe dropped spindles a little on some adjusters and a little off the width to keep things under the arches to get a reasonable ride with style.thanks for your input guys.speedwell you're right,we do have some tight old one's down here ,thankfully some are'nt so tight, you get more cruising time that way, just depends how you like it.