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Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:15 am

That was the answer I have been looking for. Thanks very much.

Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:54 am

oring71 wrote: Hello all,
I just finnished narrowing a B/j beam by 3" and all went good till i put everything back together and on the car, It is not level and the front now sits 1" higher on one side.
Im sure everything is square and no flatbars are broken so what could be the problem.

Thanks for any advice.

Anyone??? :?

Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:56 am

do you have on the shocks , is one of them stuck ?

Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:59 am

Also , you might want to open the door on the higher side and stand in the door jam , hang on and jump up and down , there may be something that is not "SEATED" properly , after doing this remeasure !

Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:57 pm

why is this no longer a sticky? It was yesterday. :?:

Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:05 pm

westcoast-paul wrote: why is this no longer a sticky? It was yesterday. :?:
look again.....what happened to most of the stickies ? :lol:

Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:12 pm

ahhhhhhh :oops:

Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:53 pm

spotfreerynse wrote: Also , you might want to open the door on the higher side and stand in the door jam , hang on and jump up and down , there may be something that is not "SEATED" properly , after doing this remeasure !

Yes the shoks are in place and they are new, today i went for a small test dive and after the drive it looks to be abit better but still one side is higher, maby ill drive it for a few days and see if maby it just needs time (and a few bumps) for everything to "seat".

Thanks for the reply.

Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:18 pm

Also you may want to remember that if your torsion leaves are original , they may be slightly weaker on one side do to carrying the driver (without a passenger) over all these years ! also the weight of the person that drives the car is a factor in the wearing as well !

Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:07 am

Don't worry, mine's the same way. Check your rear ride height. When I set mine down one outer spline, an inner also accidentally got clicked. The driver's side was lower, hoping it's corrected when I do it again. If you raise the driver rear, it will raise the driver front and lower the passenger front to even them out (hopefully).

Sat Jan 24, 2009 5:42 am

spotfreerynse wrote: Also you may want to remember that if your torsion leaves are original , they may be slightly weaker on one side do to carrying the driver (without a passenger) over all these years ! also the weight of the person that drives the car is a factor in the wearing as well !

Are you saying my g/f is FAT????

:lol: Just kidding :lol: Thanks for the help

Mon May 11, 2009 4:15 pm

I just narrowed my BJ beam 3 1/2 inches. I'm a novice welder, but everything turned out fine once I got everything clean enough.
I put the adjuster in 90 degrees out the first try, and I had to cut them out and try it again.
I still have to dimple the outer ends of the tosion stacks, and do all the sanding and finishing on the beam, but all in all, it was a good do-it-yourself project for someone with a fair amount of mechanical ability and basic welding skills.
these forums on TheSamba were absolutely vital for this project. I never would have even attempted this before I found this forum.

Thanks Sambanista's!

Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:25 am

Hey All,

I am about to narrow the stock beam on my 66' project. I am adding adjusters and although I really haven't sat down and tried to figure it out, I will say that a quick read-through of setting the proper angle of the adjusters seems a little confusing. I was just hoping one of you could tell me the process in plain english. I have looked at all the DIY sites on the internet and everyone just shows a pic with the adjusters installed, but they don't elaborate about how they chose the angle. I even saw one guy use a protractor, but no mention of the angle used. I've read someting about a horizontal scribe through the center of the orig hole....but then where does that line hit the new adjuster slot? I don't have any desire to raise the front end, so I will probably be installing them for maximum drop (although I prob won't use it all). Also, I am installing EMPI adjusters (non ratcheting type). Anyway, any light you guys could shed would be great.

Thanks! First post....love the site!

Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:38 am

Hey All,

No takers on my request? That's okay. I got the beam narrowed this weekend anyway. It went smoothly. I noticed I posted this in the wrong category anyway (I have a 66'), but just FYI - the diagram included with the EMPI adjusters is labeled wrong. Once I finally sat down with the instructions and viewed as many photos of adjusters on the internet as I could, it was apparent that they mis-referenced different parts on the diagram and it really made it hard to understand. Anyway, FYI...

Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:38 pm

66 is a ball joint beam. 65 and down is link pin.

Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:27 am

I had bought my beam used with adjusters already installed , so for me I just marked a reference point to where they previously were !!! Otherwise I would have looked at someone elses beam to get an Idea of the angle , cause all that protratctor stuff is pretty confusing to me as well ! Congrats on getting it done ! :D

Mon Sep 14, 2009 10:41 pm

Derek Cobb wrote: I just narrowed my BJ beam 3 1/2 inches. I'm a novice welder, but everything turned out fine once I got everything clean enough.
I put the adjuster in 90 degrees out the first try, and I had to cut them out and try it again.
I still have to dimple the outer ends of the tosion stacks, and do all the sanding and finishing on the beam, but all in all, it was a good do-it-yourself project for someone with a fair amount of mechanical ability and basic welding skills.
these forums on TheSamba were absolutely vital for this project. I never would have even attempted this before I found this forum.

Thanks Sambanista's!

I wanted to add to this thread since it had such good quality pics on the process. Take a look at these two additional references on installing front adjusters:

http://laudeman.com/bug_front_adjusters.html
http://www.swayaway.net/joomla/images/InstallInstr...USTERS.pdf

It wasn't until I read Derek's comments above and re-read the two sets of instructions above that I realized the bolt that protrudes out from the round center adjustment disc (on the ball joint unit) does NOT lock the leaf springs into place. I always thought that WAS the grub screw that holds the spings in place (on the earlier link pin unit it is). But on the ball joint unit there is a separate small grub screw to lock the springs in place (see the swayaway diagrams).

It is THIS small grub screw (#6 in the swayaway diagram) that must line up with the original grub screw locatons to obtain stock height. The more visible socket set screw (#2) is installed 90-deg from the grub screw.

After everything is installed, the set screw will be located 90-deg further upward from the original grub screw locations when the adjusters are set at stock height.

This may seem silly to state for someone who has already installed ball joint adjusters, but for anyone who hasn't or for someone who has only installed the earlier link pin adjusters this is a significant difference.

Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:57 am

Glad I could be used as a cautionary tale. My entire life has ben an example of what NOT to do :oops:

Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:15 am

Will I get a stiffer ride if I'm gonna narrow my beam? :?

Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:21 am

econo_bug wrote: Will I get a stiffer ride if I'm gonna narrow my beam? :?

Yes