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Wed May 02, 2012 8:09 pm

Hello all. I am wanting to lift my 1969 Baja 2-3 inches. I already know (in theory) how to lift it, the only thing that is stopping me is that I don't know if I will need to get new axles or anything like that. I have a 3 rib bus transmission and right now it is at stock height. I'm not sure what type of axles and everything I will need or if I can use the ones I have. I don't even know which ones I have now.

So my questions:
Is there any way of identifying them without taking them out?
What will I need for to work with my lift?

By the way, I am not trying to increase travel, if that matters.

Wed May 02, 2012 8:59 pm

As long as you are not putting longer and wider trailing arms on you can use the axles you have.

Mark

Thu May 03, 2012 3:45 pm

Crash Johnson wrote: As long as you are not putting longer and wider trailing arms on you can use the axles you have.

Mark

Okay thanks a lot!

So here's what I am going to do. If anyone sees anything wrong or has any suggestions let me know!

Front:
Cut and turn 5/16" (I think around 2.5" of lift)
Hook and rod so I don't pop a ball joint
KYB GR-2 3" longer shocks

Rear:
2 inner splines raised, 1 outer lowered (2.58" of lift)
I will raise the lower shock mounts by drilling holes higher
Limiting straps

Are there any suggestions on how to mount the limiting straps in the back and what length I will need? And for the front, are there any other shock suggestions? I would like Bilsteins but I am having trouble finding ones that are the length I need. I would also like to keep this fairly inexpensive because it's my birthday present from my parents. Thanks!

And here's a really good chart for reindexing the rear.

Fri May 04, 2012 7:32 am

looks good

For off road I would use the kyb gas adjust instead of the gr2 and the stock size should work. I found that the limit of the ball joints is the same as the limit of the stock shocks. SO if you put stops in the stock shock should work still. I just got the bilstein 6100 series shock for cut and turn ball joint beam.. They have a bit more travel than the kyb's and were worth the 100 bucks more.

Kybs run 40-60$ and the bilsteins are about $100 each

And when you set your rear torsion splines i would suggest that when you remove the spring plate that you check the actual current preload exisiting, compare to stock and then you may adjust the amount of preload you want to put back in and make the two sides equal preload ( which may not be equal spline adjustment)

Fri May 04, 2012 7:48 am

On the rear doing one outer spline should do the trick for you.

Fri May 04, 2012 11:11 am

dirtkeeper wrote: For off road I would use the kyb gas adjust instead of the gr2 and the stock size should work. I found that the limit of the ball joints is the same as the limit of the stock shocks. SO if you put stops in the stock shock should work still. I just got the bilstein 6100 series shock for cut and turn ball joint beam.. They have a bit more travel than the kyb's and were worth the 100 bucks more.

So would you suggest the bilsteins or kyb?

dirtkeeper wrote: And when you set your rear torsion splines i would suggest that when you remove the spring plate that you check the actual current preload exisiting, compare to stock and then you may adjust the amount of preload you want to put back in and make the two sides equal preload ( which may not be equal spline adjustment)

What exactly do you mean by this?

shred625 wrote: On the rear doing one outer spline should do the trick for you.

You think that will match the front pretty good? The main reason for this lift is that my new engine has a deep sump on it which lowers it about 3" so i was wanting to have around the same ground clearance in the skid plate.

Sat May 05, 2012 10:22 am

69bajaguy wrote: dirtkeeper wrote: For off road I would use the kyb gas adjust instead of the gr2 and the stock size should work. I found that the limit of the ball joints is the same as the limit of the stock shocks. SO if you put stops in the stock shock should work still. I just got the bilstein 6100 series shock for cut and turn ball joint beam.. They have a bit more travel than the kyb's and were worth the 100 bucks more.

So would you suggest the bilsteins or kyb?

dirtkeeper wrote: And when you set your rear torsion splines i would suggest that when you remove the spring plate that you check the actual current preload exisiting, compare to stock and then you may adjust the amount of preload you want to put back in and make the two sides equal preload ( which may not be equal spline adjustment)

What exactly do you mean by this?

shred625 wrote: On the rear doing one outer spline should do the trick for you.

You think that will match the front pretty good? The main reason for this lift is that my new engine has a deep sump on it which lowers it about 3" so i was wanting to have around the same ground clearance in the skid plate.

I have had kybs for ever and again and they really seemed like a pretty good shock. The bilsteins i just got are noticeably nicer and have convinced me to get rear ones when i can. So. kybs if your on a budget but bilsteins if you can upgrade a little.

What i meant by the spline adjustment is that i think its kinda shooting in the dark if you " just turn one spline". By checking the current settings you can get an idea of where you are at now, how the two sides compare to each other and how much adjustment you want to make . And it is easy to do. In addition When you are removing the torsion bar and resetting it isn't that hard for the bar to come free and loose you reference point... but if you use the angle finder to check and set your preload it doesn't matter..if you move the torsion bar or loose your reference point you can still make the correct and equal adjustment. The vw manual explains how to check and adjust. Basically when you pull the spring plate off the stop..but not free of the splines you put upward pressure on the plat till its feels snug and you check the angle with a handy dandy $10 angle finder and reference to level with the body , typically the shift tunnel. There is a write up on how to do this somewhere.

I think 3" will be hard to get without notching the spring plates which may lead to new cv's, shocks etc.

Sat May 05, 2012 5:49 pm

Oh okay so basically you're saying that I need to be sure that the sides are adjusted to the same place to start with. Makes sense. Do you think a 2.5" lift would be okay?

And how about limiting straps for this? I really am not sure how to mount them and I don't know how long of straps I need.

Tue May 22, 2012 6:56 pm

What kind of ball joints do y'all use? The last ones I got were from Chirco and they wore out pretty fast.

Tue May 22, 2012 9:24 pm

69bajaguy wrote: What kind of ball joints do y'all use? The last ones I got were from Chirco and they wore out pretty fast.

just ran into this

AZ-BUG wrote: Thanks for the info. My brother checked out different type of balljoints available in Mexico several years ago and found a huge difference in travel.

He bought some "German" ones (probably cheapo chinese labeled as German), some "Nakata" brand, and then some at the VW dealership.

From left to right... cheapo "German", Nakata, VW dealer.

He compared the travel on all 3, from front to back: VW dealer, Nakata, cheapo.

as you can see, a bunch more travel from the VW dealer balljoints. Would be interesting to see difference between what is available here in the US.

I hope your German ones are really German and not like the ones above... thought this might help. These went into a Class 9.

BTW, please share on the T3... I've always wondered what could be done with one of those front suspensions.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3...p;start=60

Wed May 23, 2012 6:36 am

Thanks a lot for that. I knew I had seen it before but I couldn't find it again. After a bit of reading, I have decided that I want the Febi Bilstein ball joints. The only problem is, I've been searching the internet for an hour and a half and I still can't find anywhere to buy them. Help?

Wed May 23, 2012 8:55 am

Febi W0133-1635208 Ball Joint

Part #: W0133-1635208 Mfr #: W0133-1635208

List Price: $110.00 Our Price: $13.95

This was for lowers, at auto parts warehouse. To good to be true? Probably!

Wed May 23, 2012 8:57 pm

i may have missed it...but why are you going to use limiting straps in the rear for just a torsion crank lift instead of the stock spring plate stops?

Thu May 24, 2012 7:25 am

Thanks, Failproof. Maybe I'll give that one a try.

vwracin2win wrote: i may have missed it...but why are you going to use limiting straps in the rear for just a torsion crank lift instead of the stock spring plate stops?

I hadn't mentioned it in this thread but My lower stops are beat all to heck.

Thu May 24, 2012 1:58 pm

69bajaguy wrote: Thanks, Failproof. Maybe I'll give that one a try.

vwracin2win wrote: i may have missed it...but why are you going to use limiting straps in the rear for just a torsion crank lift instead of the stock spring plate stops?

I hadn't mentioned it in this thread but My lower stops are beat all to heck.

gotcha. that there would be a good reason :shock:

Tue May 29, 2012 3:17 pm

Hallelujah!! Called McKenzie's today and ordered some Febi-Bilstein Ball joints! :D :D $16 for upper and $18 for lower.

Tue May 29, 2012 4:18 pm

Would you post McKenzies contact info? I need some ball joints too.
Tim

Tue May 29, 2012 5:10 pm

http://www.mckenzies.com/

Tue May 29, 2012 6:47 pm

The number is 714-441-1212. They're pretty easy people to deal with too.