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Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:10 pm

This is a Sand Rail I'm thinking of buying to transfer the components to my BAJA build. Can someone identify the front arms and let me know if they are decent.

Thanks,

Cy

Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:35 pm

they look cast.

Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:43 pm

You can measure the length for yourself. Stock linkpin arms have a perpendicular length of 150mm from center of the link pin to the center of the beam. Thats about 6" for the metricaly impaired. Trailing arms come in pretty standardized lengths, measured as an addition to the stock length. So, if your arm measures ~8.5 inches from the axis of the link pin to the axis of the beam, that would be a 2.25 or 2.5inch longer arm. If the spacing is about 10 inches, you are looking at a 4 inch longer arm. Smaller sizes exist, but it looks like yours is at least a 2.25/2.5 longer arm.

Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:09 pm

They look like 2" over Latest Rage units.

Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:05 am

I agree with Iguana here. When I 1st saw that type of arm, I was very skeptical. But I've seen some Class 5-Open cars use them with quite good results. I was surprised how well they held up. I suspect they are forged rather than cast.

Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:29 pm

So I should be confident with this set up?

Thank you for the information.

Cy

Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:17 pm

I don't like the way you are using coil over shocks with stock spindle carriers...ALL of the supporting force for the front suspension is running through the "bridge" of the spindle carrier, so it is a pretty flimsy set up as is.

If you weld a 1/4in thick gusset on the front of the spindle carrier, that will beef things up a lot, and will be a lot less likely to bend to the point of no return.

Sun Mar 29, 2015 11:28 pm

One way you can tell they are forged rather than cast is the very wide mold parting line along the length of the arm. If they were cast, the parting line would be narrow, almost like a butter knife edge.

For the use of stock spindles and links, the long arms will reduce the impact loads on the spindles and such because the longer travel allows the suspension to go over a hit which would break with stock length arms. But one should not expect to be able to hammer stock spindles as one would with combo link spindles. And gusseting the stock spindle carrier links would help them survive better.

Also note that this car as shown has sand front tires and wheels. So if the Baja is also intended for sand use, it is not likely to get hit as hard as a car to be used on desert or forest trails.

Mon Mar 30, 2015 11:59 am

I have a Baja Bug in the shop at the moment with the same arms ( tweed spindles) and it has had a lot of abuse and shows no issues.

I have never run them myself but if you search out Baja5 here and on ShopTalk he might be able to fill you in as it was his Baja Bug they are on.

I think as long as you build to what you drive and understand the potential result of failure then you will be fine.

Mon Mar 30, 2015 12:35 pm

Agreed, nothing wrong with the arms. Its the spindle carrier in the OPs case that is a weak link. The bridge on the front of the spindle carrier is doing major overtime. It isn't very strong in tension. It is less of a problem with torsion bars because the load is shared by the upper and lower arms. In your situation, its all on the lower arm. That puts substantial more tension on that little bridge. Gusset that sucker up and you will be much better off.

Mon Mar 30, 2015 4:35 pm

To confirm:

This is a link pin front end with stock spindles and forged trailing arms.

The bug is intended for trips to Mexico, car shows, Cruzin and maybe some trail rides. Not racing or serious abuse.... maybe a little... But not everyday.

As far as reinforcemnet of the spindle. Do you all have any pictures of this? Is there a kit? What would be a good replacment/aftermarket spindle?

Thanks,

Cy

Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:39 pm

Yup, stock linkpin spindles.

Give this a read for starters. Lots of good front end information hiding in there.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=101670&highlight=spindle+gusset

As for gussets, you can fab your own, or buy premade kits, like this...13 bucks is pretty darn good price for these by the way.

http://www.appletreeauto.com/FRONT-END-BEEF-KIT-6520/

Beefed up stock spindles are actually surprisingly tough. A step up are combo spindles, but that is a whole nother story. You will be just fine with beefed up stockers.

Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:02 pm

Ok. Purchased the front end and found that all of the link pin spindle parts are really loose. Is there a rebuild kit for these?

Also one of the trailing arms shaft that goes into the beam is loose and wobbling around. Can this be repaired? Or is it junk? Can you buy just one arm or do they always come in sets?

Thanks again.

Cy

Tue Apr 28, 2015 5:34 am

Kits are available, here is one supplier
http://www2.cip1.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=833

Ck out youtube for `how to` videos

Sun Jan 07, 2018 2:41 pm

what kind of front trailing arms and where could i find these?

Sun Jan 07, 2018 7:32 pm

Those are +4" fabricated aftermarket arms. There are a number of manufacturers. You might start in the classifieds on this site. Try shopping.

Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:30 pm

Remember that any arms longer then stock SHORTEN your wheel base. I'd leave the 2.5 arms on the unless you front half the car and push the front beam forward. Lots of guys do this to run the 4in arms.

Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:58 pm

dylandran9 wrote:

what kind of front trailing arms and where could i find these?

That is one bad @$$ baja right there. ..is this the same one I saw the videos on YouTube?
VeeWeeman 8)

Sat Jan 13, 2018 11:21 pm

Those arms are probably Latest Rage. I've seen them used to very good result in offroad race cars.

The one arm being loose in the beam is probably NOT the fault of the arm. It's probably the bushing that needs to be replaced.

The inexpensive alternative spindle assembly to replace the relatively weak stock ones would start with EMPI or Latest Rage "Heavy Duty" spindles. Stronger than stock, but not serious for off road. Next step up (and last I looked, a SMALL step up cost wise), would be Tweeds fabricated or Latest Rage forged Combo Link Spindles.

Sun Jan 21, 2018 1:50 pm

ok And i have the extra clerance, But what if i went stock in the back would it give it a little bit more of that prerunner styled look?