TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:04 pm

Alright, as is usually the case, what started out as simply wanting to put disc brakes on the front of my '73 standard turned into needing an entirely new front end thanks to years of neglect by the PO. I have the money and the chance to do it right all the way through so here is what I want and my questions.

I want to use the stock front wheels and tires because I dont want to screw up my speedometer and I like the look of the stock wheels. I also want the front end lowered, not in the weeds where I cant even get in my driveway, but just a nice stance as well as close the gap between the fender and the tire.

After reading until my eyes bleed about lowering the front end, adjustable beam vs. dropped spindles etc etc. I have come up with this set up, please help me with any advise, pictures, or better ideas.

2" Narrowed/adjustable Puma Beam from CB Performance.
2" Narrowed leaves from CB.
2" Narrowed tie rods from CB.
2" Narrowed sway bar and clamps from CB.
New steering dampener from CB.
Rhino steering coupler from CB.
New Torsion arms from aircooled.net
Disc brake conversion with dropped spindles from CB.

Alright now the questions.

#1. Since I am NOT looking to totally slam it in the weeds should I just use the beam to lower it or use the dropped spindles and use the beam to tweak it?

#2. I know the narrowed beam is necessary to fit the stock tires on the dropped spindles without rubbing. Would it be necessary if I used stock spindles and lowered with the beam only?

#3. If the better option is to use the beam only to lower. How far can I go before I need long travel ball joints? I think the arms from aircooled.net only come with stock ball joints so that is why I am asking.

Basically I have one chance to order all this stuff and do it right the first time so I am just trying to figure out the best way to go about this so I only have to do it once.

Thank you very much for any help and advice.

Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:23 am

i would say that if you are not looking to slam it i would just use drop spindles on a stock beam. that will give you about 2 1/2 inches. pretty mild in my book. if you get the cip1 spindles they claim to not give you any offset. i bought a pair and that turned out to be true and i have not had any problem with them. so you shouldnt have to get a narrowed beam and you shouldnt rub with stock tires. and if you use the spindles you can use the stock ball joints and you wont have to flip your tie rods either since you steering geometry will be the same. i wouldnt recomend running just a adjustable beam ride quality goes down the tubes very quickly. were as if you use spindles you retain the stock ride. as far as the lowred ball joints go i put them on just to be safe.
here is my combo
2 1/2 drop spindels
none narrowed adjustable beam (for fine tuning)
145/65/15 for tires
my set up rides pretty good. alittle more rough than stock but its no bad at all. i do scrape my beam every now and then but i live in north dakota and the winters are very tough on our roads if i lived down south i would go lower. now i did run stock tires with this set up for about 2 weeks. it rubed a little bit. just had to watch my turning. her are some pics

this one you can see ho much clearnace i have

what it all come to is what you are comfortable with and what works for you hope this helpled out alittle

Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:29 am

nodak_85 wrote: i would say that if you are not looking to slam it i would just use drop spindles on a stock beam. that will give you about 2 1/2 inches. pretty mild in my book. if you get the cip1 spindles they claim to not give you any offset. i bought a pair and that turned out to be true and i have not had any problem with them. so you shouldnt have to get a narrowed beam and you shouldnt rub with stock tires. and if you use the spindles you can use the stock ball joints and you wont have to flip your tie rods either since you steering geometry will be the same. i wouldnt recomend running just a adjustable beam ride quality goes down the tubes very quickly. were as if you use spindles you retain the stock ride. as far as the lowred ball joints go i put them on just to be safe.
here is my combo
2 1/2 drop spindels
none narrowed adjustable beam (for fine tuning)
145/65/15 for tires
my set up rides pretty good. alittle more rough than stock but its no bad at all. i do scrape my beam every now and then but i live in north dakota and the winters are very tough on our roads if i lived down south i would go lower. now i did run stock tires with this set up for about 2 weeks. it rubed a little bit. just had to watch my turning. her are some pics

this one you can see ho much clearnace i have

what it all come to is what you are comfortable with and what works for you hope this helpled out alittle

what is the thing hanging out your window?

Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:54 pm

Thanks for the response. Well unfortunately I have to get a new beam anyways due to the PO taking out the lower grease zerks for whatever strange reason and it filling up with water at some point. Due to the rust inside the beam I am just going to replace it and be done with it.

I called cip1 about the dropped disc spindles and whoever it was I talked too told me they would in fact push the wheels out 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch per side. That was my reasoning for thinking about the narrowed beam was to eliminate any problems with the spindles pushing the tires out into the fenders.

My ball joints were totally shot and after pricing out here locally what it would cost to have them replaced I am within 40 dollars of just getting the new arms with the ball joints installed from aircooled.net.

Thanks again.

BTW, that is a damn nice looking car you have there.

Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:29 pm

wizard17 wrote:
My ball joints were totally shot and after pricing out here locally what it would cost to have them replaced I am within 40 dollars of just getting the new arms with the ball joints installed from aircooled.net.

Danny's Volk Stuff on 6th? That place still around? I just noticed that you were from Amarillo. My condolences. :)

Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:53 pm

See Wolfgang for the best price on ball joints already pressed into the trailing arms. I couldn't believe the deal when I replaced my beam. Much easier than dealing with pressing them in and ruining one.

Sat Oct 31, 2009 5:18 pm

yeah i just looked on cip1 and they dont have the ones i got anymore. wierd. wonder why that is. so yeah you probally should go to a narrowed beam. but i have seen people put spindles on and get away with a stock beam. and the thing on my window is a swamp cooler made by thermador. it is form the early 50s i belive maybe a bit newer. it cools the car by evaporation by filling it with water and as you drive the air moving through it evaporates the water that has been soaked into a roll of horsehair and directs it into the car. when the air gets warm you just pull a coard that is inside the car an it soaks the horsehair in water again. its pretty cool

Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:41 am

Yup Danny's Volk Stuff is still around. Condolences hahhaha.

Thanks for the heads up Dreadnotmusic, I will look into that place for the arms. That saves a few dollars with the core thing.

Well I am going to go ahead and order my stuff tomorrow. I think my best bet is to go ahead with the dropped spindles and 2" narrowed/adjustable beam with all the goodies to make it work. I think by going that route with the dropped spindles will get me within an inch or so of where I want to be and I can use the adjustment on the beam to tweak it just a little. With that setup I shouldnt have to worry about the ball joints because I will not be lowering very much at all with the beam. Also with it being narrowed it will take care of any offset the spindles provide.

So as far as I have read....... If I dont adjust the beam down any farther than about an inch I should be alright with stock length shocks? If I go any farther than 2 inches with the beam adjustment then I will get the Opel shocks that Glen talked about to keep from jarring my teeth loose LOL.

Again thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.

Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:06 am

Welcome to the board. I can say condolences because I grew up there. All the roots are still there. As matter of fact, eat some Donut Stop donuts or a Green Chile Willy's steak. Helps my family pay the bills. :)

Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:19 am

that sounds good. thats exactly what i did. had the spindles do most of the lowering then brought it down alittle more to get it where i wanted it to be. i am runing stock length shocks on my car. i think i might want to try going to the opel shocks to try and get a better ride. i tried using kyb shocks set up for lowered bugs but if i remember the were still to short to fit. so i just went back to stock length. lets see some pics when you are all done.

Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:28 am

FYI, CB's adjustable beam is indexed low to begin with [not stock height]. Combined with lowered spindles at it's highest setting, you will not be able to run your stock 165/80/15 tires. You'll need to replace them with a lower profile 165 or go with something like the 145 mentioned above.

-jeffrey