I think it’s a thing beam

[joe cool]

It all happened kind of fast but I think I bought a type 181 beam for $410. Did I do good or bad? I don’t see these everyday.

[Vanapplebomb]

It is a thing beam, no question about that. Shock tower gussets are a dead giveaway. 400 is a bit steep in my opinion, but if you wanted thing arms/spindles, now you got them. Nice find.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[joemama]

Here in CA, 410.00 is a good deal, not to mention they are hardtop find. Many you see here on Samba, have rust.

[earthquake]

I thought a Thing had 5 lug brakes.

eQ
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74 CLASS 11 LOOK-A-LIKE
69 DUNE BUGGY
79 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT II
05 SCION XB SERIES RELEASE 2[#437]
95 Chevy C3500 dually
98 Ford E150
Link to Kelly J. Nolte 3/20/53 - 11/6/08
https://time-zonelabs.blogspot.com/p/about-kelly.html
DEATH TO CHINGERS!
[From a military recruitment poster in the novel "The Stainless Steel Rat" By Harry Harrison]

[dustymojave]

They did. But 4 lug drums are a "bolt-on" and are easier to find as well as less expensive when replacing worn drums.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[joe cool]

I wasn’t looking for this but a friend needed money to pay an expensive vet bill and so I went for it. Better than a loan.

I have never had a thing but I understand it has some lift built into the spindles and the ball joint arrangement is stronger. Also shock towers appear to be reinforced. Can anyone fill me in on wether it is worth installing on Farmin’ Ghia and what difference it might make?

Currently I am running a stock beam with a 1/4” cut and turn and some reinforcements I added myself (hook and rod stops for the ball joints, gussets on the steering arms and shock towers).

[joemama]

As you said, stronger ball joint set up, but the biggest thing is lift, while retaining a stock torsion leaf preload, so a stock front suspension ride.

[dirtkeeper]

It gives you about 3” lift over stock bug with no cut and turn needed , it is also I think about an 1” wider and the springs are a little stiffer along with the brackets for the brace mounts back to the floor pan and reinforced shock towers. And both ball joints face down which is stronger

[TDCTDI]

Yes, we’ll worth installing on the Ghia. The additional width also give you more clearance for your bigger tires on the inner fender. However, you may need to trim the leading edge of the fender & the lower apron a bit.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[joe cool]

[TDCTDI]

Run the discs, VAST improvement over the drums. The biggest advantage is the fact that they “self adjust” so you don’t have brake pedal travel issues as much especially since the larger tires put more wear on the brakes. I just got a disc conversion kit, primarily for the bracket. You will need to make, or make your Ghia splash shields work with the conversion. The wash from the opposite wheel soaks the rotors & makes the brakes nonexistent for the first 30’-50’ until the water is cleaned off. Not a good feeling if you aren’t expecting it.

Another thing you should do is to source a pair of Thing “Y” braces from the classified section, you can really feel them stiffen up the chassis.


Once you install the Thing beam, you will probably want to raise the rear yet again, I did this several times to finally get the car to sit & ride the way that I wanted it & after getting a pair of BFGs on the rear, I still had rubbing issues when landing or on large dips. I remedied this by installing a set of 29mm torsion bars. I REALLY wish that I had done this from the beginning, you set them so they’re just past the stops & there isn’t any preloading to get them to sit properly & the rubbing issues went away.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[dirtkeeper]

I converted my thing front brakes to ghia type using a bracket available and I modified the splash guard to work. Great improvement and later I changed out the rears to type 3 and my braking is fantastic now.

I fabricated my own braces to fit where the thing braces would have been.