Front Beam Woes!!

[lee73]

Well, after writing a somewhat amusing post about the frustrations of a pan off restoration, only to have Samba tell me I got logged out somehow after writing for 20 minutes.........

I'll just post my question.

I am trying to get the leafs back in to the beam tubes, in order to put the front end back on pan. If anyone can offer suggestions or link to a "how to" site, please post away.

Or if you simply want to point and laugh, please feel free.

Thanks,
Lee

PS. Maybe when I get over the shock of the post disappearing, I will have to try to recreate my original post.

[MedicTed]

They should slide right into the tubes. Make sure you have the snub bolts pulled out.
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Ted Wojton
70 VW Bus Westfalia camper
2003 GMC Sierra

[lee73]

Does "should" mean the same thing as in a "normal" installation?

I have all of the grubs removed, and the adjuster hubs aligned so that the grub holes are visible through slot.

I have tried putting the leafs in left side trailing arm to keep stack toghether while attempting to get through the hub with no luck, then wire tying the other end. I did manage to get the uppers in, however, they seemed to be in 180 degrees off as the trailing arm had a positive angle to the ground rather than negative. So I am back to ground zero.

Sorry for the sarcasm, just been another frustrating day of dealing with this issue then my post disappeared on me.

Thanks for the idea.

Lee

[Towel Rail]

Sometimes, if I'm composing a long post, or need to leave the computer for a couple minutes, I'll copy the text so that if my connection dies, I can just paste it into the new reply.
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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

[lee73]

Thank you Towel.

[iltis74]

When frustration set in I searched and read a post that suggested a small rubber band on the end to keep the leaves all together inside. Of course the rubber band gets destroyed and ends up staying in the tube, but who really cares by that point. I'd say it for sure made it easier, but it wasn't like everything then just slipped together.

After a long write-up, which for me doesn't need to be very long to still be time consuming, I'll hit Command N which at least for me opens up a new window of whatever I am looking at, and submit from that. If I've been kicked off, I can sign back on, close that window, and submit from the first page.

[Towel Rail]

[suntour]

If I understand you correctly, you’re having problems getting the leaf stacks to stay together while sliding them into the tubes. Right?

I have done this about 4 times and found a trick that works for me. I don’t use the rubber band trick. I haven’t had much luck with that.

What I do is stick the leaf stacks into the trailing arms to get them lined up. I them tightly bind them with two to three wraps of drafting tape on each side just where the stacks emerge from the trailing arms. This keeps the stacks lined up and in the correct pattern for the center of the beam. I then slide it into the beam and jimmy it for a second until it slips into the center thingy. Since the stacks are greasy the tape will start too slid up the leafs and not jam into the center thing when you push them thru. I them pull off the tape on the out side end.

Yes, one band of tape is still in there but it doesn’t affect anything. When I pull the stacks back out I just pull them out the same way I put them in and the tape comes back out.

Hopes this helps.

P.S. I usually write my comments in Word, That way I get a spell check and don’t worry about losing anything I typed. Copy, paste, hit submit and I am done. ( The down side is Word only corrects my spelling not my crappy grammar. Oh well, maybe Word 2007 will have a language check for the English impaired....)
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Order of the Voodoo Spoon

[lee73]

All good ideas guys! Including the forum frustration. Thanks.

I'll have to get myself back out in that frigid garage and give some of them a try.

Thanks for not pointing and laughing.

[Ian Epperson]

I'm getting ready to do this same job, and heard about using zip ties (wire ties) to hold together the end that slips into the center section. Similar to what Suntour said, the person who did the wire ties just leaves them in the tubs.

I'm wondering if this trick may be used to remove the wire tie or Suntour's tape:

After fitting the springs into the center and centering the springs, push them past the center and pull them out from the other side until they almost fall back out of the center. This should push the zip tie (or tape) all the way out to the end of the spring. Then recenter the springs, and you should be able to remove the zip tie or tape easily.

No idea yet if this works or is that simple. I'll be trying it in the next week or 2.

[mattt]

[uberautowerks]

I like to wrap the leafs in a couple passes of electrical tape (it's nice and stretchy) AND install one of the trailing arms on the "long" end, the arm makes a nice handle and the tightened grub keeps the pack together. Also don't worry about leaving tape or wire ties behind, they won't hurt anything.
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--- The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair.
- Douglas Adams -
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'74 Thing (White)
'71 Single cab (White too)
'70 Weekender (White three)
'05 Evolution VIII (White also!!!)
'68 F-250 (White over black)

[Ian Epperson]

[gus111]

When I replaced the beam on my 73, I slid them in one at a time. As I remember, the last ones to go in where driving me crazy. But they did go in.

[lee73]

Well folks,

Persistence, patience, a bunch of great ideas, and I got those suckers in. I used the tie wrap idea, which worked like a champ.

Thanks again to all that offered up their advice/opinions.

Lee

[Ian Epperson]

[GregZA]

Ian where did you manage to find new bearings and bushes?

I tried to get some from a place in Germany, they were posted and never arrived, so I'd like to find a 'safe' source.

[Ian Epperson]

I bought an entire beam from The Thing Shop - it had the bushings and bearings pre-installed.

[GregZA]

Thanks Ian, as ever, the search for parts continues...

[kubelmann]

I just had a thought. Since you can swap any Thing, Ghia or Bug front torsion arm that means that the parts (bearings and such) must be the same parts. (NOT THING SPECIFIC) I only post this because, in all the VW front ends I have built, I have never replaced these parts. I suspect the reason for this is prior to a front end rebuild I do a severe external inspection and I reject front ends for a rebuild candidate for issues that precede dead beam bearings.

The point is buy T-1 parts

There is a second point I should make. I have helped others replace these part on lost cause projects. I have learned (for my own reference) that banging out the old parts and pressing in the new is.. more effort and risk of damage to new parts and risk of a failed assembly than the beam is really worth. Although I have never done this, if I was on a tight budget and had bad beam bearing, I would bang out the old and use Urethane. I have never done this yet but I sure do like Urethane bushing and seal components... K-mann