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Narrowing rear torsion housing
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Infamousaircooled
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:09 am    Post subject: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

I have been looking into narrowing my torsion housings to fit my wheels on my oval. I have narrowed a ton of beams and have been a welder and fabricator for 20 years. I can't seem to find a lot of info on this subject, or photos. Any help, or instuctions even the do's and dont's would be greatly appreciated!
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FullFender
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:21 am    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

What are the dimensions of the wheels?
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sled
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:04 pm    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

Infamousaircooled wrote:
I have narrowed a ton of beams and have been a welder and fabricator for 20 years.


You really shouldn't need much help then... cut it and weld it.
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Infamousaircooled
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:34 pm    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

Quote:
You really shouldn't need much help then... cut it and weld it.


Right! Just don't want to fuck it up!
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Infamousaircooled
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:39 pm    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

FullFender wrote:
What are the dimensions of the wheels?


17 x 7.5 and I believe they have a 30mm offset but I would have to double check.
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sled
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:47 pm    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

mock everything up with the standard torsion housing width and measure how much you need to cut out to fit your wheels. Next cut the needed material out of the torsion housing and weld it back together shorter. Whatever that measurement was, cut and extend the splined snout of your spring plates so your torsion bars still fit correctly. lastly you will need to figure out how to mount your spring plates to the axle end castings with the offset.

as long as you know how to weld, which Im assuming you do after 20 years, then its hard to fuck it up. if you do, just cut it apart again and fix it. metalwork is more forgiving than woodwork.
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Infamousaircooled
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:52 pm    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

Very true Sled, I also design parts on my plasma table at work and was thinking of making new weld on brackets to weld on to the axle tubes.
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sled
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

Infamousaircooled wrote:
Very true Sled, I also design parts on my plasma table at work and was thinking of making new weld on brackets to weld on to the axle tubes.


keep in mind that there is a huge amount of the cars weight being carried by the axle end casting, NOT the axle tube itself. Welding a bracket to the axle tube could cause the tube to bend slightly when driven which would wreak havoc on the bearings and the axle.
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EVfun
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:17 pm    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

If you plan to use 3 inch shorter axles, available from Sway-A-Way, then it looks like you could use '61-'66 torsion bars with '59-down spring plates and covers. The biggest thing would be a good solid weld on the rear torsion housing as those ends carry quite a bit of vehicle weight and road induced forces. In a stock Bug body there would also be some rear inner fender issues to sort out.
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txoval
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 4:09 pm    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

7” rims should fit with the right backspace/offset

Cutting your torsion tubes/bars for 1/2” of rim is a shit ton of work for not much gain.

I’d rather widen my fender an inch then go thru that hell

If you had an extreme drag only car and needed a 10” rim, I’d understand

Just my 2 cents
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type4split
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2022 4:26 am    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

Any pictures of this being completed ?
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Chip Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2022 1:45 am    Post subject: Re: Narrowing rear torsion housing Reply with quote

type4split wrote:
Any pictures of this being completed ?

Ron Lummus Racing has photos on his Facebook page that might be useful. He also sells a sleeve that helps keep things fairly square when reconnecting the halves together. Might be worth jumping over to his website.
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