TheSamba.com :: View topic - Front height adjustment-raise or leave it low

Wed Feb 05, 2014 8:53 pm

I've read the stickies but just making sure I understand the raising/lowering of my front beam on my 71 squareback.

The prev owner slammed the front so with a flat tire I might have about 1/4" between beam and pavement. The back is fine (perfect IMO). Its running 195/60r15s rear and 185/60r14s front. It's so low up front that they removed the rubber bump stops and I can't quite get my fingers between the stop mount and the arm. How many splines would you guess that is? 4 or 5?

It looks awesome but the roads up here SUCK and I'm worried I'd bottom out and hurt the beam or appron. At least there is only 2 speed bumps in the whole town (avoidable too).

So its to my understanding that if I raise one outer spline its 2.5" and one inner spline is 2".

I'm shooting for 1" to start so that'd be up 2 outers and down 2 inner splines right?

Wed Feb 05, 2014 9:00 pm

Here's the car stance, best pic I can take

It's raked forward. I'm thinking 1" will level it and still have front fenders "full" looking like the read.

Does those guys who run it this low have problems? I've considered leavin it alone but don't wanna hurt beam/appron. I have to be able to have a few adults in it. Will often hold me, girlfriend and our kid but sometimes have another adult in it too.

Wed Feb 05, 2014 10:14 pm

Flamer rides low with 195/55's and 2" narrowed control arms. once in awhile ill bump on a speed bump but with me, wife and 3 teenagers rides just fine
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Wed Feb 05, 2014 10:53 pm

Best to just try it, really.

You will know when the beam clamps hit the ground.
Likewise, you will also feel the stops smack when there are no bumpers on them.

Cars that are too low, you will feel like a ridiculous bobble-head doll going down the road.
And the slamming of the stops, you can feel it hammering the car apart.

But that's the price some eagerly pay to look "cool".

Unfortunately, a height that works well doesn't really look that low in the end...
My experience has been of setting the car by looks, then lifting it back up a bit after some use.
It all really does depend upon your roads, how fat you are, how fast you want to drive, what you carry, how long you want your car to last, and how image-conscious you really are! :lol:

Thu Feb 06, 2014 12:11 am

Does the flame car still have the rubber bump stops? The rear looks same height as mine. Front is hard to tell with my poor pic angle.

I'll leave it and if it sounds like its bad I'll change it. Slow speed limits here and I don't drive fast anyways. I keep it 45-50 on the "highway" and its 25 through town.

Cool pic btw

It needs tires and I was thinking about getting 195/60r15s back (same) and swapping in 195/60r14s up front. Would prob level it out a lil more.

Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:06 am

Raise it 1 inner spline in front. You will be much better & you should be happy there? I'm 2 inner splines in front on 185X60X15. That gives me 3.5" to the beam and I never scrape! I'm 1 spline down in back on 205X70X15. I have a 1.5" forward rake. You only want about 18&24 pounds air pressure in your front&rear tires.

Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:07 am

Flamer front is 22" from ground to top center of wheel well and 21" in rear. The bump stops are there but trimmed the top down a lil

Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:09 am

Too much rake.. but your rear tires are small.. id go taller rears and taller fronts if you arent raising her.. imo id raise it one notch up front.. but it will have a bit of fender gap I believe with 60 series tires up front.

Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:13 am

You might have to raise the rears 1 inner spline, which is even harder than raising the fronts.

Thu Feb 06, 2014 5:59 pm

Thanks for the measurements! Mine with the tires being a little low on air sits 22.5" rear and 21.5" front.

Will just prob see how it goes. It needs tires but i don't wanna get huge ones (I think). I thought about going to 195/60r14s up front instead of the 185s it has. Would just bearly raise it. The beam with air has maybe 4" of clearance to ground. Just gets real close with a flat tire.

Will continue to look at people's tire combos until I get the $ for a set of new tires to help me decide. Meanwhile if anyone wants to post pics of thier lowered t3s and list the tire size (height at finder would be sweet too) that'd be cool.

If needed I'll raise front and back after I know. I have lifted the back of a bug a few times and it was pretty easy. If I do raise it I likely won't go a whole spline, would use outer and inner splines to split the difference.

I don't drive like a madman. I'd say like a grandma but my grandma drives FAST hehe.

Fri Feb 07, 2014 10:02 am

Clatter wrote: Best to just try it, really.

You will know when the beam clamps hit the ground.

And the slamming of the stops, you can feel it hammering the car apart.

But that's the price some eagerly pay to look "cool".

Unfortunately, a height that works well doesn't really look that low in the end...

Yup, I agree with all of this. And in my area, you can't really have a really low car (unless it's on bags, or you like rebuilding stuff). My own cars are 2 inner splines down up front, and either stock height, or 1 spline down in the rear. Anything lower gets you hitting parts of the car on rail road tracks, bridge ends, frost heaves, and even some cross streets. :shock: They might not be as low as west coast cars, but I build my cars to drive (and not just around town), which means I need some suspension travel, and I don't want my body (not the cars) to be beat to death on a road trip. :o
But, it's your car, and you can do with it what you want.

Fri Feb 07, 2014 10:39 am

I'd i have always heard that small tires in the rear are not good for a old vws.. i guess im saying if you like mashing on the freeways at 75 your small dinky tires height in the rear is going to max your rpms out.. just what i have heard so i try to keep my tire height above 24" in the rear

Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:55 pm

I'm likely going to raise the front 1" up.

Up here in alaska they're no railroads and speed limit is 55. It's mostly 45mph though. In a bug with stock tires (72 bug) 4th gear is a little low for me. I'd prefer a little more rpms. I'm guessing the square is geared the same (will look into it).

It does need rubbers all the way around, I've been looking and reading to figure out what size I'll use. The 14" rims up front dont help things.

The squareback will never be used in the winter time. Salt is rough on cars up here. I have a bronco and a baja for that ;-).

Thanks for the input. I realize looks and function don't go hand in hand. I'd like a happy medium and am not too happy with the front bump stopa removed.

The read has plenty of ground clearance. I'm thinking the front raised 1" would better match the rear.

Would love to see people post pics of thier car dropped and tire sizes.

Oh and there are no roads off the island. A road trip would be in the far future.