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Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:24 pm

I'm building a Baja bug out of my 70 VW. I am looking to run it on the local trails and beaches here in NY, but I also want to run at Silver lake state park in Michigan. What size rim and tire can I run on a beetle with a 7 piece baja kit, and not have a problem rubbing the fenders. I may or may not install a 3 inch body lift, and the jury is still out on tweaking the stock suspension. The idea of eating up the cv's re indexing the rear torsion bars doesn't sit well, and there's no point doing the front suspension without the rear. I'm trying to keep this project low budget as I will be running a 1600 DP engine and a stock geared tranny. I was thinking 31's on 15X7's or 8's. Will these stick out to much? or be wide enough to float me on the sand? Also Does anyone know of a street legal tire thats works well in soft sand? I would like to if possible, only buy one set of rims and tires. Rather than have one set for here and another for the sand, cus they ain't cheap. I understand that driver skill plays a big role in this. This is my first sand outing and I can use as much help I can get. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:18 pm

My baja is a 70 and I could only to with a maximum of 30" on the rear because of the torsion bar housing sticking out. I also have 30,s on the front but they are 7.5 wide. I had to install a 3" body lift to keep the rear tires from scraping the baja fenders when the rear travels downward but I have type 4 cvs so I have a little more travel than stock.

Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:42 pm

I would stay with a 29 or 30 inch tall tire because of the engine/trans seeing how they are basically stock. Big tires will rub and kill the power. I have the manx project here on the board. I have a 1600 dp with a bus trans. I am running a set of super swampers sts radial tires. They are a wierd all terrian type pattern. They work pretty good in the soft stuff. Just let the air out to about 8-10psi and go for it.

Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:58 pm

My Baja is an old swingaxle, but for what it's worth I run 15X8's that are offset a couple of inches from center. No clearance problems for me! I have 215/75R15s on there, they give good height but are still narrow enough to kind of dig in. With the old gear ratio of my swingaxle, this gears it up to around what the later bugs have, so the power curve I get out of my stock 1600DP is pretty decent.

At one point I tried these tires on some 15X6's I think, and they were center offset, and they came too close to the shock-mount style bumper cage. When I'd "bottom out" they'd rub. That's when I found these 15x8's I run now. They get "OK" traction but nothing spectacular. In snow they are bad though - one time after a major storm, it took me an hour to go a couple of blocks from the main road through the neighborhood to my house. Then I got in my stock 62 and drove right off, no problems.

Anyway, here's a pic that shows my Baja's wheels: (the front wheels are some american 14 inchers on adapters)

andy

Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:14 am

my how to build baja bugs and buggies said the same thing 30's are about as big as i can go. I was already thinking super swampers as they are one on the knarliest tires i've seen around hte are DOT approved. I figure just like you said air em down, and those treads will have to pull in the sand alittle. But i may be switching gears alittle. I found a place in tampa that sells complete welded sand rail frames for at least to me is a reasonable price. I may just get one and throw one together with some of my spare parts and leave my 70 alone. Then I'll just throw my 1600 DP with a pair of Dual Kardons and a little cam and that should handle some paddle tires and I'll be good to go in the sand. We'll se I have to find out the difference in price if I have the frame shipped or if I take a 4 day Vacation and go pick it up myself. thanks for the info and I'll keep you guys posted on whats happening. And always feel fre ti chime in with any input, ideas, or critisism cuz thats how cars get better.

Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:36 am

don't buy anything more than the frame from those bastards here in Tampa (FB) unless you like wasting money.

Wed Mar 02, 2005 3:23 pm

Well it's no go on the frame, I thought about it and I'd rather spend the money and make the Baja work, cuz i think they are just much cooler looking and being that they are not to hard to make street legal, thats a very big bonus. I was looking at some tires today and was wondering if you guys think i will have more luck with a knarly tire like a Supper Swamper Bogger in the soft sand, or with a more conventional tire like the Super swamper Trxus sts or a Mickey Thompson Baja Belted tire, both can be ordered in a 29 or smaller diameter so they'll work on my baja. But will they be enough to get me moving from a dead start. I read on a Jeep page some tips for driving in the sand, which all make sense, but are there any different techniques for a 2wd VW? or do you follow the 4WD technique?

Wed Mar 02, 2005 5:44 pm

I too am considering going with the MT Baja Belted tires on my 65 Swing Axle. They look like they have a fairly round profile and some nice side knobs. I am also going to take a look at the Cooper Discoverer S/T - the 235/75R15 is 29" tall and 9.40" wide and looks like it has a decent tread pattern. I have some buddies that like the BFG A/T but I think it looks too square and I read somewhere that Swing Axles like rounded shoulders.

We drive in the sand all the time and we just air the tires down and try to be smooth on acceleration. If you rev it and dump the clutch you will dig a big hole unless you have paddles. Flotation and speed it the ticket for fun in the sand.

Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:38 pm

i have and old set of bfg t/a's, 27" tall on my '65 baja w/ swing axle . they work pretty good. i run about 11 psi in them. i'd love to have a set of desert trackers, they're round profile (swing axle) and work good on low hp. bajas. my ride is off road only, i wouldn't run these on pavement.

Wed Mar 02, 2005 8:24 pm

I like the Mickeys too. That was my first choice when I ordered my tires, but my supplier had some issues at the time and the super swampers were alot easier for me to aquire right away. I think the Mickeys are considerably lighter than what I currently run in the same sizes and last time I visited there site for some info, they had a "garage sale" type area that had some pretty sweet prices going on! They are defintly geared more for sand type terrain than the SS tires are.

Wed Mar 02, 2005 8:49 pm

I have the swamper STS radial on the manx and they work well. I have regular type swampers on the powerwagons (tsl's) and they just dig for china. They suck in the sand! An all terrian type works best.

Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:04 am

Stick with smaller all-terrains with a low horse engine and stock gearing. Air down to increase the footprint, which in turn increases flotation and traction. Just be careful, when turning you may roll the bead right off the rim if your pressure is too low. As for driving tecnique, be smooth. Power on smooth, stay moving, and brake slowly to avoid digging. I drove my 2wd F-150 with 235/75R15's on it with no problems on the dunes at Silver Lake. If course I rolled a few beads, but a little ether and... :twisted: . Good luck.

Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:04 am

We went out yesterday and measured the clearences between the tire and the torsion tube, fender, body and shock mounts. I'm running a bus gear reduction set up. My tires actually come out past the torsion tube by 1/2 inch, so no limits for me. Right now the axles are pretty much in stock position, no major angle. I could easily fit 35's under the back without a problem. With a body lift, shaved fenders, and cranking up the suspension..... the sky's the limit.

Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:50 am

I kinda like the Mickey Thompson Tires myself. The whole Baja series looks pretty good, and Baja belted look like the may do fairly well for me on my local trails so I'll probably run 29's on a 15x8 inch rim. Now, Does anyone know how much backspacing i'm gonna need to run them, or with the standard steel white spoke rims that most vendors sell fit with that size tire? I'm not gonna go super wide because my friends with jeeps get hassled for having their tires stick out every once in a while, and a 29 is no good to me if they're gonn rub on the inner fender well. I know I can order custom rims, and I even thought of have a set of stock vw steel rims re hooped with a 15x7 or 8 hoop but thats no cheap, and as I said in other post I want to keep it as low budget as I can.