TheSamba.com :: View topic - Lifted Sedan, Class 11, Full Body Baja, etc (pics 1st trip)

Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:35 pm

This is how I went about doing the stops...

- remove front suspension and dis-assemble, including removal of torsion leaves.
- Stand the beam on end (tubes will be vertical).
- put both arms back in the tubes, tighten on spindles (remove drums & backing plates so you are not dealing with the weight of these components).
- First thing you need to do is determine the location for the rod. Find the location where both hooks contact the rod squarely as seen in the photos above. The position of the arms does not matter at this point since the surface you are welding the hooks to on the arm is round. Hard to describe, but easy to do and will make sense when you are playing around with the pieces. Just make sure one of the hooks is not contacting the rod at the tip of the hook ,etc. Both should be in the "radius".
- once you find the location for the rod, mark the spot and drill through both sides of the brace between the two tubes.
- slide the rod through just far enough to be able to weld on both sides. Don't slide it in too far or it will not make contact with the hook.
- I welded a gusset on the back to keep the rod from bending... added insurance.
- Now, to locate the stops. (this kinda depends on what shocks you are using, I am goind with the Bilstein "cut & turn" front shocks which provide slightly more travel than the balljoints do, if you are using other shocks you will probably have to do this with the shock installed). Set your suspension to full droop (you will feel the ball joints bind), take a reference measurement (from the shock bolt to top of shock tower works well) and then back-off about 1/4" to 1/2" (this keeps the BJs from binding... that's what the stops are for!). Place the hook on the bottom arm, up against the rod and weld in place on the arm.
- do the same for the top hook... suspension at full compression, measure, back-off about 1/4" to 1/2" and then put the upper hook against the rod and weld in place.
- repeat for the other side.

Have fun!

Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:53 pm

feuer_kampfer wrote: Hey Nice job...
I am looking to do similar on a 65 sedan. I want it to look like a militaryish "kdf" ( just a faint resembelance). What is the hook and rod deal on the control arms and axle,(i assume to limit wheel travel) and can I purchase a "pre lifted" beam or do those adjustable axles only lower? Any info you can throw is great..

Your 65 has king/link pin front suspension (vs balljoint on mine). There is alot more you can do to your suspension to gain ride height and travel... not sure what all you want to do. The Jeff Hibbard book on Baja Bugs and Buggies is a good starting place to understand what all you can do... I'd suggest you get yourself a copy.

Mon Apr 14, 2008 3:15 pm

I did mine the same basic way, but I made a tool out of a piece of 1/2" all-thread with a tube welded on the end that fits over the lower shock mount, the other end goes through the upper shock mount, I also used it to pull the arms up to get them past the stops, which can be a real bitch with out some kind of mechanical help, I also mounted the beam to a old engine stand to make it easier to work on.

I only put the hook on the bottom arm because I'm going to make a snubber for the upper so it wont bottom out so hard. I went a little over kill on this beam but when I get the tig torch in my hand I get kinda crazy!

IT IS NOT I AM WHO IS CRAZY, IT IS I WHO AM MAD :twisted:

EARTHQUAKE

Mon Apr 14, 2008 3:46 pm

Wow, you do some nice work. I really like your "overkill", very nicely done. The threaded rod looks like it does the trick well, and should make that lower arm install alot easier. What is that beam going into?

Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:45 pm

That totally rocks!! Does the stop rod go all the way through your beam? I'd like to see your snubber when you get it done!

Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:19 am

Thanks guys
The front beam is going in the front of my 74 class 11 look a like to replace the one that some one bushwacked in it now, next I'm going to figure out how to replace the floor pan with 16 gauge steel to replace the rust laden original pans in it now. [you cant lock the dog in it bacause he will climb out the rust hole]

Earthquake

Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:39 am

Couple more questions: did you fab those shock tower and spindle gussets yourself, or get them at McKenzie's? And, when you welded the seams, did you just lay a bead on the edge, or did you attempt to put some sort of groove/bevel on the pieces where they meet?

Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:53 am

neanders
I did every thing my self, I bought some spindle braces from a guy here in town but they were a real POS so I made my own, I made them out of 3/16" steel because I thought 1/4" was to heavy and 3/16" was all I had. the shock tower braces I made out of 1" x 3" x 1/8" stainless tube [I did not realise it was stainless] I just made a card board template and started cutting with the cutoff wheel. I justed a new job running a waterjet machine and I have a lot of ideas I going to try next, custom brackets with my logo [Team Huge] ECT... I'm going to try cut my own wheel centers out of 1/4 plate with some sort of trick pattern.

Casey

Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:08 pm

Did I mention progress was slooowwww? Anyway, this week I decided I would replace the inner tie rod ends and set the toe-in. I buy the new end, pull the ends off the pitman arm and find out that my '71 had small tie-rod ends on it (from I '67 I gather)... so instead of getting the smaller ends I decided to replace the pitman arm so I could use the bigger ends. Today I finally got is all sorted out and in the car... steering feels nice and tight! Even had a little daylight left to snap some pics of the car. I measured ground clearance and I am at about 15.5 in front, and 14.5 in the rear... not bad. Once I get it off-road I am sure it will settle and drop a bit.

Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:50 am

That looks VERY cool!! I notice you don't have any glass in it. Is this going to be a daily driver? Are you planning to put the glass back in?

Fri Apr 18, 2008 6:46 am

Looks awesome!! how did you do the front alignment? or make sure you get it done... don't want to waste those tires with a toe out/in.

Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:02 am

Nice work! that thing looks KILLER! I love the Class 11 look!

Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:28 am

neanders wrote: That looks VERY cool!! I notice you don't have any glass in it. Is this going to be a daily driver? Are you planning to put the glass back in?

Thanks. It needed new window rubber, so I removed the glass for that. Also made cage install a little easier. Once I am done welding rear shock mounts and have painted the tubes I will re-install the glass.

Won't be a daily driver, but I do plan to use it around town when the weather is nice.

Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:33 am

GhiaBateman wrote: Looks awesome!! how did you do the front alignment? or make sure you get it done... don't want to waste those tires with a toe out/in.

I used a long bubble level to "eyeball" camber and adjusted the angle using so that the tires were almost perfectly straight up & down (set both the same, tilted very slightly inward at the top). To set toe I just picked a point on the groove of the tread and had my neighbor help me measure. Set toe-in at 1/4". I did it this way on my prior bug, had no tire wear issues... and you are right, don't want to mess up the new tires! :D

Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:44 pm

I love the tires, can you give me the specs on them?

Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:22 pm

The tires are Pep Boys Definity Dakota A/T P235-75-15... they go for $69 ea and if you watch their sales you can get 4 for the price of 3...

They also sell the "LT" version, it is around $105.

Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:26 pm

The car pretty much sat the whole month of May, however in the last couple of weeks I've been working on it a little more. Things I've done:

Installed new dash pad and Formuling France ($15 on Craigslist... score!) wheel.

Finally built my rear upper shock mounts. Diagonal tube ties into the torsion housing. I would have prefered the shock angle slightly more forward, however since I this is a full body with stock wheels there was not too much room for the shock and tire under the fender at full jounce. I'm hanging the transmission straps from the tabs on the horizontal tube. Excuse some of the ugly welds :(

Installed solid trans mount & straps. Also cleaned and greased the CVs with new boots. New cables, rebuilt the pedals, new engine compartment rubber.

And finally, did some work on the engine... new valve adjusters, gaskets, manifold seals, spark plugs, spark plug wires, fule line (ran metal line through the "front cooling tin" to the pump, will put the filter between the frame horn and "firewall", outside the engine compartment), belt, and some fresh paint...

Saturday and Sunday I hope to weld in some seat mounts and install the seats. I will also run some tubes from the cage forward to the front suspension and brace things up front.

After that, I need to do some wiring, install a carpet kit, put the glass back in, get it smogged and we're good to go! I bought this car at the end of July last year, started work on it in early September.

Thanks for looking.

Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:01 am

Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:03 am

I like what you did with the beam, since mine is apart think I will make some hook stops like you have before it goes back together!!!
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=303024

Sat Jul 05, 2008 10:18 am

sweet!!