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Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:53 am

Maybe you can get bugninva to lengthen you towers for you. :wink:

Or, you're in AZ, I'm sure there is plenty of dubbers out there with welding skillz.

Do it, I DARE YOU! :lol:

Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:15 am

Or you might have to get some different air shocks with a shorter compressed length. I think that would be easier and cheaper, unless you can find somebody to do your welding for free.

Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:18 am

Eurobug wrote: Or you might have to get some different air shocks with a shorter compressed length. I think that would be easier and cheaper, unless you can find somebody to do your welding for free.
X's 2

Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:58 am

I did a little research and this is what I came up with..........By no means am I an expert on these, so take this info as you wish. :wink:

MA700---compressed length---extended length---travel
-------------------12.750---------------21.375-----------8.625

MA750---compressed length---extended length---travel
-------------------11.625---------------18.875-----------7.250

MA756---compressed length---extended length---travel
-------------------10.250---------------16.375-----------6.125

MA802---compressed length---extended length---travel
-------------------11.375---------------18.125-----------6.750

All four of these have the same mounting, just maybe on differrent ends.
Looks to me if you go with the MA756s, you'll get that extra 5/8ths" you are looking for. On the other hand, you'll loose about two inches of travel.

Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:19 pm

of course I had to have the ones that have the highest compressed length. :x

Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:20 pm

I'm thinking the MA777 would do you right.

MA777 S4 LS26 12.500 + 20.500 8.000

azmousejockey wrote: I just went out in the garage, marked a line on the shock at it's lowest deflated point, then unbolted it and compressed it all the way with my hand until I felt the inside bottom out metal on metal.
It goes right to the line I marked and stops. So at least now I know that they are indeed bottoming out.
I checked all my clearances around the gas tank and undercarriage and nothing else is stopping the car from going all the way to the ground.
I remeasured the gap from the beam to the ground and it's down to 1/2 inch, but that's it. That's all she's got. :(

I believe in measure twice buy once. With that being said, if it was me, I would remove the air shocks, loosen both of the center beam adjusters and see if the beam will lay on the floor like you are wanting (with wheels installed of course). If it does, then you have without a doubt found that the shock is limiting your downward travel. If it does not, however, then you must find out why. Your short tie rod is at a pretty extreme angle at full up and full down. One of the tie rod ends could be binding as well, holding the car up that little bit. If it is in fact a tie rod end holding things up, then you are putting a lot of stress on your pitman arm and steering box. Do you have the tie rod flip kit installed on your bug? If not, it works pretty well.

On the other hand, that last 5/8 or 1/2 of clearance might save you down the road if you ever have an air leak. At least you would still be able to drive it home. You'd still hit a bunch of shit, but probably better than a tow.

Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:38 pm

Eurobug wrote: I'm thinking the MA777 would do you right.

MA777 S4 LS26 12.500 + 20.500 8.000

12.5 isn't short enough. I'm already 12.75, so I'd only loose 1/4 inch.
I need to drop at least 1/2 inch to get the beam on the ground, so I might as well go with the 756's and have the shortest one they offer.
I'll never drive around with any shocks aired up to 16" inches so the fully extended length doesn't matter to me...

Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:56 pm

How about the MA815. It has the same upper and lower mountings you have with the MA700. You would only lose 1 inch of travel.

MA815 S4 L1/CP3 12.250 + 19.875 + 7.625

Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:59 pm

](*,)

Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:31 pm

I ordered the 756's. They are on back order so I don't expect them til the second week of Sept. I'll post a new picture of that beam on the ground asap.

Anyone want some slightly used MA700's? :wink:

Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:09 pm

I think the 756s are your best bet. That's the ones I want to order in the near future. 8)

Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:24 pm

dubtype1 wrote: Maybe you can get bugninva to lengthen you towers for you. :wink:

:

wasn't that hard to do...I cut a set of towers off of a spare beam, then cut the ones off the beam I narrowed(cut at a higher point) then sleeved, welded and then plated the inner side of the tower. lengthened the towers about 1" or so, and actually layed them inward a bit to clear the larger diameter of the airshock... they look pretty much stock that way... My MA777's have no problem now...

Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:56 pm

bugninva wrote:
wasn't that hard to do...

My welder and I have a love/hate relationship. I love it for tacking things, I hate that I can't run a nice bead if my life depended on it. My beads look like burn unpopped corn kernals... :x

Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:59 am

bugninva wrote: dubtype1 wrote: Maybe you can get bugninva to lengthen you towers for you. :wink:

:

wasn't that hard to do...I cut a set of towers off of a spare beam, then cut the ones off the beam I narrowed(cut at a higher point) then sleeved, welded and then plated the inner side of the tower. lengthened the towers about 1" or so, and actually layed them inward a bit to clear the larger diameter of the airshock... they look pretty much stock that way... My MA777's have no problem now...

What exactly do you mean by "plated"?

Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:37 am

dubtype1 wrote: bugninva wrote: dubtype1 wrote: Maybe you can get bugninva to lengthen you towers for you. :wink:

:

wasn't that hard to do...I cut a set of towers off of a spare beam, then cut the ones off the beam I narrowed(cut at a higher point) then sleeved, welded and then plated the inner side of the tower. lengthened the towers about 1" or so, and actually layed them inward a bit to clear the larger diameter of the airshock... they look pretty much stock that way... My MA777's have no problem now...

What exactly do you mean by "plated"?

i put steel sleeves inside the tower for strenght, then welded a 1/4" plate over the splice on the backside(toward body) for more rigitity

Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:27 am

wow, thats a cheap way to get on air

Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:36 am

bugninva wrote: dubtype1 wrote:

What exactly do you mean by "plated"?

i put steel sleeves inside the tower for strenght, then welded a 1/4" plate over the splice on the backside(toward body) for more rigitity

Gotcha.

jmsmilin wrote: wow, thats a cheap way to get on air

Yes it is, but it works. 8)

Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:22 am

jmsmilin wrote: wow, thats a cheap way to get on air

only the airshocks ("air sleeves" ala Airkewld.com ) are cheap... i did rear bags, front air shocks and then a full air management system(8 electric solenoid valves) so not really cheap...

Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:16 pm

The least expensive air controler I could find (so far) was $127. That's the pump, one switch and one PSI gauge. So with the shocks you're still talking around $200 for an adjustable set up. Not expensive, but not really "cheap" either unless you compare it to a full out air bagged system.. then it's freakin pennies on the dollar.

I'd guess that air bags are better if you need to go up and down really fast... but nothing about my bug is fast so I don't see the need for 'em.

Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:38 pm

i had to extend my towers a little bit to get the beam to lay on the ground. it was pretty simple, but still required a bit of welding. it's just a small section of chromoly tubing with a cap on top. a metal fab friend welded it all up for me. The cap is actually a slug from a hole cutter.

I left the hardware out of the adjusters, but you can put the center set screw back in to limit drop. That will keep the beam from hitting the ground for safety on the road, then you can pull them back out for show or whatever.
Also, using seperate valves for each corner will prevent air transfer from shock to chock when cornering! No sway bar and an open line from side to side will really F-up your cornering. It's not really safe.
In the end though, I think I'm going to ditch this whole set-up in favor of a bag at each corner. unless I sell the whole car.... :roll: who knows.