TheSamba.com :: View topic - Adjustable Front Beam

Sun Jul 27, 2025 3:14 pm

Hi everyone,

I purchased a 50/50 adjustable beam from CB a year or so back. It has the Avis/Puma adjusters on the top and bottom tube. I am trying to get a slight rake for the front end of my '59 bug, and I bought this beam as well as a set of 2.5 drop-spindles with disc brake kit, also from CB.

I so far don't like this beam, because I can't get the car up off the tires with the car on the ground. The driver's tire has about 3/4" - 1" of clearance, while the passenger tire is contacting the passenger fender. I am running 185/50-15s in the front and 195/50-15s in the rear. I bought the 4 lug conversion rotors and a set of 4 lug short axle drums for the rear to allow me to run 8 spokes.

What I see is that although I can raise the bottom torsion leaf pack all the way up, the top is limited by the pesky bump stops that came with the beam, and so the top set of leaf springs isn't contributing anything to helping get the fender off the tire. I still have a stock front beam, and unless I can correct the above problem, I may just put the stock beam back on and take the 2.5" drop from the spindles, which should be enough for my purposes. Please see the pictures. Anyone else ran upon this issue? From what I see, unless I cut off the bump stop arms, the top beam adjuster is useless.

P.S. I know I need to lower the rear too, and will get to that asap.

thanks in advance for any helpful info.

Ted

Sun Jul 27, 2025 3:19 pm

If it was a bus I'd say pull the arms out just past the bump stops, adjust then prise/jack them up over the stops. I can't see why this would be any different.

Sun Jul 27, 2025 3:29 pm

Looks to me that the top adjuster is adjusted all the way low and the bottom is adjusted all the way up.

Sun Jul 27, 2025 3:41 pm

I’m not a fan of those adjusters and I’ve always run narrowed beams with no bump stop.

If you’re looking to raise it because the drop spindles have it too low, cut the bump stop off.

Swapping the drop spindles to the stock beam would also give you a good height

Sun Jul 27, 2025 6:14 pm

Put jack stands under the beam, and pre-load the top spring quite a bit more. That top adjuster isn’t doing much at all.

That style adjuster makes it harder to work with since it doesn’t have a jack bolt to pre-load it. The bump stop on the arm is also causing problems. Most lowered guys cut the stop off.

It also looks like you need a narrower beam to get the tires inside the fender lips. Aftermarket wheels, and disk drop spindles usually need at least a 2”
narrowed beam. 4” narrowed if you are hoping to go low.

Brian

Sun Jul 27, 2025 6:32 pm

fl59bug wrote: Hi everyone,

I purchased a 50/50 adjustable beam from CB a year or so back. It has the Avis/Puma adjusters on the top and bottom tube. I am trying to get a slight rake for the front end of my '59 bug, and I bought this beam as well as a set of 2.5 drop-spindles with disc brake kit, also from CB.

I so far don't like this beam, because I can't get the car up off the tires with the car on the ground. The driver's tire has about 3/4" - 1" of clearance, while the passenger tire is contacting the passenger fender. I am running 185/50-15s in the front and 195/50-15s in the rear. I bought the 4 lug conversion rotors and a set of 4 lug short axle drums for the rear to allow me to run 8 spokes.

What I see is that although I can raise the bottom torsion leaf pack all the way up, the top is limited by the pesky bump stops that came with the beam, and so the top set of leaf springs isn't contributing anything to helping get the fender off the tire. I still have a stock front beam, and unless I can correct the above problem, I may just put the stock beam back on and take the 2.5" drop from the spindles, which should be enough for my purposes. Please see the pictures. Anyone else ran upon this issue? From what I see, unless I cut off the bump stop arms, the top beam adjuster is useless.

P.S. I know I need to lower the rear too, and will get to that asap.

thanks in advance for any helpful info.

Ted

With a 50/50 beam you should have about 2 inches lowering ability and 2 inches raising ability. What I see in your pictures is the lower tube in full raise and the upper tube in full drop. The result should be a ride height close to a stock beam with 2.5 inch drop spindles.

It looks like you may need to pull the front end back apart and set the upper adjusters to full raise without the arms in place. You should be able to push the arms up and over the stock bump stop, you have to with a stock front beam when assembling. With the front full up and the bottom full down you should be right about where you are now for ride height (each adjuster at the opposite end of its range). You should them be able to raise the suspension from the bottom adjuster to get where you want.

We used to just cut and turn a stock beam about 1/4 inch. That resulted in a drop of about 1.5 inches and a decent ride. With the rear at stock height there was a nice mild forward rake. Since the rear suspension on almost all old Bugs has sagged more over the last 35 years drop spindles might better copy the look, but about 1 inch lower all around. I know the untouched rear suspension of my buggy has drooped enough to have a slight negative camber when I get in it, and its is only about 1200 lb worth of Bug.

The drop spindles, and those rims, are pushing the front tires out a fair bit. I see it's now 4-lug, what do you have for front brakes? A Ghia disc brake conversion for older bugs pushes the front tires out a lot, and 5 to 4 lug adapters do too.

Mon Jul 28, 2025 7:25 am

NJ John wrote: Looks to me that the top adjuster is adjusted all the way low and the bottom is adjusted all the way up.

That is exactly the case. I am going to look into the suggestions others have generously provided (thanks everyone!) but until I do the top adjuster is stuck in the all the way down position.

Ted

Mon Jul 28, 2025 7:27 am

txoval wrote: I’m not a fan of those adjusters and I’ve always run narrowed beams with no bump stop.

If you’re looking to raise it because the drop spindles have it too low, cut the bump stop off.

Swapping the drop spindles to the stock beam would also give you a good height

Thank you. I may well cut off the bump stops.

Ted

Mon Jul 28, 2025 7:31 am

Brian_e wrote: Put jack stands under the beam, and pre-load the top spring quite a bit more. That top adjuster isn’t doing much at all.

That style adjuster makes it harder to work with since it doesn’t have a jack bolt to pre-load it. The bump stop on the arm is also causing problems. Most lowered guys cut the stop off.

It also looks like you need a narrower beam to get the tires inside the fender lips. Aftermarket wheels, and disk drop spindles usually need at least a 2”
narrowed beam. 4” narrowed if you are hoping to go low.

Brian

Thanks Brian. I'll look into pre-loading the top arms. Maybe I can get them out past the bump stops, pull them all the way up, then pry they arms back over the bump stop.

I agree, the track width is pretty far out with the drop spindles and disc brake conversion. I wish 4 lug drums were available and could be used with the stock spindles.

Ted

Mon Jul 28, 2025 8:26 am

Zed999 wrote: If it was a bus I'd say pull the arms out just past the bump stops, adjust then prise/jack them up over the stops. I can't see why this would be any different.

Thank you. I'll give that a try.

Ted

Mon Jul 28, 2025 8:29 am

EVfun wrote: fl59bug wrote: ...
With a 50/50 beam you should have about 2 inches lowering ability and 2 inches raising ability. What I see in your pictures is the lower tube in full raise and the upper tube in full drop. The result should be a ride height close to a stock beam with 2.5 inch drop spindles.

It looks like you may need to pull the front end back apart and set the upper adjusters to full raise without the arms in place. You should be able to push the arms up and over the stock bump stop, you have to with a stock front beam when assembling. With the front full up and the bottom full down you should be right about where you are now for ride height (each adjuster at the opposite end of its range). You should them be able to raise the suspension from the bottom adjuster to get where you want.

We used to just cut and turn a stock beam about 1/4 inch. That resulted in a drop of about 1.5 inches and a decent ride. With the rear at stock height there was a nice mild forward rake. Since the rear suspension on almost all old Bugs has sagged more over the last 35 years drop spindles might better copy the look, but about 1 inch lower all around. I know the untouched rear suspension of my buggy has drooped enough to have a slight negative camber when I get in it, and its is only about 1200 lb worth of Bug.

The drop spindles, and those rims, are pushing the front tires out a fair bit. I see it's now 4-lug, what do you have for front brakes? A Ghia disc brake conversion for older bugs pushes the front tires out a lot, and 5 to 4 lug adapters do too.

Thanks EV, I'll give this a go.

The front brakes are the 2.5" drop disc kit CB sells.

Ted

Mon Jul 28, 2025 8:30 am

There are disk brake drop spindles, and drum brake drop spindles.

4 lug drums are no problem at all, you just need the right combo of parts.

What you have going there is pretty good for the drop spindles and the brake kit. I think you just need a different beam to get the tires to fit. Is yours narrowed at all, or just stock width and adjustable?

What size front tires are you running?

Brian

Mon Jul 28, 2025 8:42 am

I’ve seen worse, as far as disc/drop spindles offset goes. Maybe just a smaller tire. Your basically flush.

Mon Jul 28, 2025 9:13 am

Brian_e wrote: There are disk brake drop spindles, and drum brake drop spindles.

4 lug drums are no problem at all, you just need the right combo of parts.

What you have going there is pretty good for the drop spindles and the brake kit. I think you just need a different beam to get the tires to fit. Is yours narrowed at all, or just stock width and adjustable?

What size front tires are you running?

Brian
Good point, I forgot about the K&L drop spindles designed for disc brakes. The spindle itself is the ball joint size and the later Ghia disc brakes fit on with minimal increase in track width.

Mon Jul 28, 2025 9:45 am

Thanks guys.

I didn't know there was still a link pin beam drum option for converting my 5 lug '59 to 4 lug where all I had to do was find the right spindle! Had I known I would have done that.

At this point, since I've bought all the parts I'd like to keep them and make them useable rather than add more expense by purchasing new parts.

Right now the front tires are 185/15-50s, but I'm planning on switching out to 145/15s. Doing that should suck the tires in some on each side.

Ted

Mon Jul 28, 2025 12:01 pm

Just know that 145’s are like a bicycle tire…you’ll get the clearance but you’ll lock the front tires up easily when braking and know you won’t stop as well.

Plenty run 145’s, but you need to be aware of that

Mon Jul 28, 2025 1:12 pm

Very true about the 145's. They have about a 3x2" contact patch and they lock up easy when coming into a corner a little hot. I have been using 165/65/15's and they have a similar sidewall, but a bit wider contact patch.

For the 5" wheels some 185/55 are about right, but I am betting you will need at least a 2" beam to make it all work without clobbering the fenders on turns and driveways.

Brian

Mon Jul 28, 2025 2:40 pm

145/65r15’s or some other Smart car type of size. 155/60r15?

Mon Jul 28, 2025 5:26 pm

fl59bug wrote: Thanks guys.

I didn't know there was still a link pin beam drum option for converting my 5 lug '59 to 4 lug where all I had to do was find the right spindle! Had I known I would have done that.

At this point, since I've bought all the parts I'd like to keep them and make them useable rather than add more expense by purchasing new parts.

Right now the front tires are 185/15-50s, but I'm planning on switching out to 145/15s. Doing that should suck the tires in some on each side.

Ted
The smaller tires will suck the edge of the tire in about 20mm. If you have a recent pair of the 8 spoke wheels I'm seeing them at ET+30mm and that is only 3mm out each side over the stock wheels. The stock wide 5 wheels are ET+33mm. The aftermarket chrome wide 5 wheels you have pictures of are typically ET+25, so they push the tires out 7mm each side over stock.

The problem is those spindles and brakes. Pretty much any drop spindle is going to push the tire out some. With newer spindles that might be only 6mm per side (older welded ones where a lot more). The problem is the late Ghia brakes on the king pin spindles pushes the tires out a lot per side, something like 20mm per side. Ghia disc brakes ball joint spindles only widen the track about 3mm per side over the drum brakes.

So your wheel choice moves the tire IN 4mm compared to aftermarket "stock" wide-5 wheels (typical, there is some variation) the problem is the brakes plus the dropped spindles are moving the tires OUT about 26mm. That adds up to about 22mm out (7/8 inch OUT) per side compared to where you started.

If those are stock Ghia disc brakes a spindle swap or a narrowed beam will fix your tire rub. The spindle swap would drive a little better. Widening track at the brakes and wheels results in heavier handling. Of course, measure the parts you where using, there has been a lot of variation in aftermarket parts over the years and I'm just using some typical numbers.