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Brian Samba Moderator
Joined: May 28, 2012 Posts: 8340 Location: Oceanside
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Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Vanapplebomb wrote: |
Whats wrong with Torsion bars? |
They're in the way. I wanna cut 'em out so I can fit in a 5 speed. _________________ Wash your hands
'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper
Only losers litter |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: March 17, 2003 Posts: 40
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Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:45 am Post subject: Re: straight stock needs upgrade |
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dirtkeeper wrote: |
pHenrichsen wrote: |
alright guys, i'm quite new to baja bugs, about to buy my first one.
it has a 1776 motor (so its got a little more umph) and a 3 inch body lift, fiberglassed fenders and all that, but it has stock suspension...
the main purpose of this car is to be a daily driver, but be good enough to drive out to glamis and rip around for a weekend and drive it home, and ive been told stock suspension just won't cut it if I wanna be going crazy in the sand. Rule #1 for offroad fun is never drive the car you intend to play in to its destination of demise. Tow bill from Glamis to HB would be more than a trailer.
now, I'm 20 years old and I bag/check groceries at my local market with no real fab skills so a whole new kit is kinda out of the picture, so i'm wondering what is out there that I can 1. afford and 2. install and put together in my grandpa's garage down the street.
is there a company out there making something that simple or will there be custom fab work involved no matter what route I go? and how crazy do I have to go with the setup? is it just shocks? or is it a whole kit I want to be looking for?
tl;dr version, im buying a daily driver Baja bug but want to upgrade suspension to be able to have fun on the weekends, but im young with no fab skills and a tight budget, what do you suggest? |
You might want to post these questions in the main forum and get better response. The basic suspension is pretty good and is fine for daily driving and a few trips into the woods and sand. You said to daily drive and rip around at glamis...then you mentioned "going crazy in the sand" Well the sand will beat your car whether its tricked out or not. For serious sand driving you need bigger tires...which need a bigger engine too push em...which may need a better tranny to hold up if you are abusive..If you plan to do a lot of jumping then you may need to do some extensive suspension work AND you still may not be able to drive it home when your done. going crazy in the sand or dirt opens you up to ...damage There really aren't any basic kits but several things you can do to beef up what you have or get some additional clearance. A few days reading through the stickies and some builds may give you some ideas. Good shocks are nice place to start but you need much more than that if you really want to hit jumps regularly or go crazy in the sand. Good luck and welcome |
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thresher61 Samba Member
Joined: January 12, 2013 Posts: 33 Location: United States
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 10:09 am Post subject: it's a go for me!!! |
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It's a go for me, I am there now have a shock angle question now and not sure where to post it |
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thresher61 Samba Member
Joined: January 12, 2013 Posts: 33 Location: United States
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 10:55 am Post subject: I need some shock help .....will this 14° angle work |
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I am building a sand rail here in Texas. Not many rails here or kicking off road places to hang out at like like a small ma & pop store. So I am building this thing stumping my toes alot. Working my problems out via the Internet or phone. I really wished someone lived close to Keller, TX that could come over and check out my rear suspension and shock set up ai have. These shocks I am using are so expensive I don't want to damage them first time out. I am going with 930 CV Joints, custom made upper/lower shock mounts, Fox 14" 2.0 coil over shocks 7/8" shaft, behind that shock a 16"Fox 2.5 3-tube bypass shock 7/8" shaft.
When I call a couple of the bigger & better known buggy shops out west they start talking buggy termology that looses me like a choir boy in a lead chorious. I am very intelligent I feel I am but this shock thing is kicking my a...s. I saved this for last thinking I would throw in the cheap chrome EMPI coil oversshocks and back it up with a nice imulsion shock that would get me through but that was a quick wake up call especially to my wallet. I know someone out there has the knowledge and advise ai am needing. if there is someone out there with the time and would like to really here a fellow out you can text me or email me. I am really trying to understand this whole shock concept and it could be I am making it harder than it is. Thank you for looking. I am trying to post a couple pics so if I acvidently post this w/o a pic I appoligize before hand I didn't mean to thanks
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La5ome Samba Member
Joined: March 27, 2015 Posts: 1 Location: South Africa
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:52 am Post subject: |
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Is EMPI coilovers worth it on a stock Baja? |
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dirtkeeper Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2008 Posts: 3200 Location: Left of everywhere
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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La5ome wrote: |
Is EMPI coilovers worth it on a stock Baja? |
No
never had em' but everything i read says NO.
I was happy with KYB gas adjust for many years.......until i bought some bilstein very nice but expensive. |
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BUGGUTZ Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2007 Posts: 537 Location: Luzerne Mich
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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Ok im sick of reading so I will just ask.
My buddy has a pair of Billstein shocks. Off the car I can compress them about 3" fairly easy but then it stops, hard. They arent visually bent or dammaged. Is there some valving or something that changes as the shocks compress? If it were one I would figure it to be broke but they both do the same. It appears they are atleast 8" travel.
Any ideas? _________________ 66 Baja
73 standard
14 Jetta TDI
95 Escort
89 CUMMINS in whats left of a dodge body
Everyones gotta be somewhere! |
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Brian Samba Moderator
Joined: May 28, 2012 Posts: 8340 Location: Oceanside
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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So it should have 8" but you can only get 3"? Valves are present but what does a hammer have to say about it? _________________ Wash your hands
'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper
Only losers litter |
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BUGGUTZ Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2007 Posts: 537 Location: Luzerne Mich
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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Just about to that point. He was tossing them so I grabbed them. Dont want to hurt them til I know. _________________ 66 Baja
73 standard
14 Jetta TDI
95 Escort
89 CUMMINS in whats left of a dodge body
Everyones gotta be somewhere! |
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Brian Samba Moderator
Joined: May 28, 2012 Posts: 8340 Location: Oceanside
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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Every shock Ive tested new can fully compress. So I dunno man. If it is stuck then one solid bump will free it up _________________ Wash your hands
'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper
Only losers litter |
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BUGGUTZ Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2007 Posts: 537 Location: Luzerne Mich
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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I'm gonna thump it tomorrow. _________________ 66 Baja
73 standard
14 Jetta TDI
95 Escort
89 CUMMINS in whats left of a dodge body
Everyones gotta be somewhere! |
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PhillipM Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2010 Posts: 595 Location: UK
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 5:34 am Post subject: |
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That's usually a good sign that all is not well inside |
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BUGGUTZ Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2007 Posts: 537 Location: Luzerne Mich
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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The body got a lil squeeze. I got them moving freely and they were free so I may run them once and see. _________________ 66 Baja
73 standard
14 Jetta TDI
95 Escort
89 CUMMINS in whats left of a dodge body
Everyones gotta be somewhere! |
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PhillipM Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2010 Posts: 595 Location: UK
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 3:58 am Post subject: |
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You might find they go back oval once they warm up. |
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BUGGUTZ Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2007 Posts: 537 Location: Luzerne Mich
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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Worth a try. They gotta be better than whats on there now. When I push the rear down theres no shock resistance for a pump or two. Then I hear the oil. _________________ 66 Baja
73 standard
14 Jetta TDI
95 Escort
89 CUMMINS in whats left of a dodge body
Everyones gotta be somewhere! |
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sloboatnova Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2009 Posts: 989 Location: Broken Arrow, Ok
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:44 am Post subject: |
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Came accross my reciepts for the shocks on my baja so I thought I'd post up the part numbers for reference. My car is cut & turn about 5/16" and re-indexed in the rear about 2.5" or so. They are just long enough that they don't over-extend or over-compress on my car. stock suspension parts.
This is the summit racing part number. They are KYB Gas- a-just.
KYB-KG5408 rear
KYB-KG5456 front _________________ Ms Hoover, I glued my head to my shoulder.
3BT Baja build page
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=417564&highlight=3bt+baja |
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sixfootdan Samba Smartass
Joined: February 13, 2002 Posts: 4848 Location: \Lo*ca"tion\, n. 1. The act or process of locating.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 5:40 am Post subject: |
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sloboatnova wrote: |
Came accross my reciepts for the shocks on my baja so I thought I'd post up the part numbers for reference. My car is cut & turn about 5/16" and re-indexed in the rear about 2.5" or so. They are just long enough that they don't over-extend or over-compress on my car. stock suspension parts.
This is the summit racing part number. They are KYB Gas- a-just.
KYB-KG5408 rear
KYB-KG5456 front |
That's too funny! This is the info I was searching for and it was the last post on the last page. _________________ Schrodinger's cat walked into a bar and it didn't.
GO SEAHAWKS!!! |
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BryceSegatto Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2015 Posts: 94 Location: North Phoenix
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:11 pm Post subject: Re: SHOCKS SHOCKS SHOCKS |
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About to order the conversion front axle beam from bugzylla that is +6 wider, 10 inch shock towers, should I get it with or without adjusters? If I get it with adjusters, will it be weaker? |
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GoMopar440 Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015 Posts: 491 Location: Montana
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 8:33 pm Post subject: Re: SHOCKS SHOCKS SHOCKS |
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BryceSegatto wrote: |
If I get it with adjusters, will it be weaker? |
Not if you use the Sway A Way (SAW) adjusters. The Avis adjusters have fine teeth and a locking plate that sits on top of it. They reportedly don't seem to hold up to off road abuse as well as the SAW adjusters. IIRC the Bugzyla beam had the SAW adjusters on it in the pic in the classifieds, but it would be a good idea to check it (along with the tower type) when ordering your beam. FWIW, I plan on running the SAW adjusters on my rail so I can fine tune the ride height. _________________ Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 7:23 pm Post subject: Re: SHOCKS SHOCKS SHOCKS |
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I bought some Bilstein B46-0493VW front shocks for my 1969 Baja with a Thing front beam. One shock came with a dust boot and one didn't.
I contacted the vendor I bought them from, and they said, according to Bilstein, boots aren't used on that particular shock. I wonder why one was in the box then.
So, has anybody else bought the B46-0493VW shocks ? Did they come with boots ? If they don't come with boots, does anybody know where I can find some that fit these shocks ? _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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