73 thing front end and other stuff

[dodge this one]

Ok, so I'm not a huge VW guy, but I'm fairly handy. I just spent almost a grand in getting my thing's engine running and some extra servicing. The front end of mine looks like a street rod, I thought it had been lowered, but the guys at VW Paradise out in San Marcos told me the front end is pretty much shot. They said the guts were bad, the springs and such and that I need new stuff. What am I gonna be looking at, my girlfriend gave me her lightly used front shocks, which will be a nice upgrade from what I have now, but do the Things have leaf springs, or do I need a new front beam or can I just get the parts and fix it myself? The front beam looks to be in fairly good shape so its not rusting apart. But does someone have cheap parts or maybe a whole front beam I can purchase cheap
I'm gonna go ahead and let it go soon, but it needs more work before I can sell it to someone with good conscience. The electrical is getting better, the engine does great, the tranny just got serviced, but the shifter bushing needs replacing and aligning, got a clean tranny bill of health, but 1-2 and reverse fight a bit and going from 3-2 it fights me bad. Cheap floor pans anyone, the drivers seat is falling through the floor and the pass side has little pinholes everywhere. Any and all help would be awesome, thanks everyone.

[Towel Rail]

Sounds like you've got a couple grand more to go. Could you take some pictures of the front end for us?

Good luck, man.
_________________
1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car

049 > 070 > 053 > 009

[markie61]

[Ian Epperson]

I'm rebuilding my front end now, and "springs shot" may actually be "someone pulled out the originals and replaced them with bug springs" which have a lower spring rate and would make the car look lowered.

I understand that dune buggy folk often buy old Things then sell them "lowered" - that is, they pull the springs for their buggy then put bug leaves in them. The price I heard for a new set of NOS Thing leaf springs was $320 - but out of stock.

I've been having a heck of a time getting NOS Thing front end leaves to replace my old, busted set. Right now my plan is to get some new bug springs and beef them up with Sway-a-way kit which replaces some of the leaves to make it stiffer. Full set of bug springs: $70ish, Sway-a-way kit 6002: $135. Then you've got to dismantle the front end to get to them - it's quite a job. I'll know here in the next few weeks if the spring rate is the same as stock.

If you want to go really cheap, you may get some of the cheapie coil over shocks which will raise the front end. Usually, the torsion on the leaf springs in the tubes provide the spring and hold up the car, and the shocks just prevent bouncing. Some shocks also provide spring, which will transfer more of the stress to the outer portion of the suspension (for better or worse) and spread out the job of providing spring. With the cheap coil overs, you can adjust them to get it just right. The downside is that they're cheap and probably won't last and when they go bad, you're front end will fall again - but they look cool. New shocks are also much easier to install than new leafs.
http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC%2DC10%2D4076


Your girlfriends shocks won't help - you need more spring, not better dampening.

[Towel Rail]

I've been following that on Topica -- I had no idea that NOS Thing leaves were so hard to get!
_________________
1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car

049 > 070 > 053 > 009

[dodge this one]

well I've got a pair of shocks from my girlfriends car, just need to find out if they are in the backyard, or got stolen in the car before I got new keys made to lock it up. But the shop mentioned I could maybe use the new shocks, and they are the ones who said it was shot, not lowered, so. I think they previous owner has had the car in his possession for nearly 20 or more years. So I'm doubting the dune buggy theory, although for others it could be plausible. Thanks all so far, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

[Ferretkona]

I wonder if bus springs would be stiffer?

[lostinbaja]

First, make sure it still has a Thing beam and spindles on it. A friend recently bought a Thing with a Bug beam on it. The guy installed it to lower the front end.
Jerry...

[Towel Rail]

The beam itself is no different from a Beetle beam. It's the torsion leaves, trailing arms, and spindles that are different.
_________________
1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car

049 > 070 > 053 > 009

[suntour]

[lostinbaja]

The Beetle beam itself will not affect the ride height but the differences from a Thing beam should make it easy to tell if infact there is a Bug or Thing beam under the Thing.
Jerry...

[Towel Rail]

[kubelmann]

A long discussed issue has been mentioned here. Shocks are intended to absorb shock thus slowing or limiting up and down movement (refered to and bounce and jounce) They protect the various front end parts. Shocks are not able to have a long term effect on ride height. When used for this purpose early shock failure will occur. The torsion springs in front and the torsion bars in the rear control ride height. The Thing front beam is not the same as the bug beam. If they were the same then offroad guys would not pay big $$ for a Thing front end and its combined parts. Bus front end parts will not fit on a Bug or Thing front end. But Thing front end parts will fit on a Bug front end..

[dodge this one]

That's what vw paradise told me, if I put new shocks on it'll raise it up a bit, for a bit, then they will sag right back down.