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Westy Steve
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2006
Posts: 1095
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 Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 7:45 am Post subject: Getting a lowered beetle to my house |
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Hey all,
I'm going to buy a bug from a shop about 4 hours from my house. It is supposed to be a daily driver.
It's been lowered, and is running a 5-inch narrowed beam with 1/2-inch added back due to disc brakes.
Will a towbar pull this?
If not, I have access to a trailer, but maybe I could just drive it back. What would you do?
Steve
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Have nice 914, want nice Bug |
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joe56vw
Samba Member
Joined: June 24, 2004
Posts: 3202
Location: Olympia wa
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offshores
Samba Member
Joined: February 08, 2012
Posts: 1085
Location: So Cal
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:24 am Post subject: Re: Getting a lowered beetle to my house |
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| Westy Steve wrote: |
about 4 hours from my house. It is supposed to be a daily driver.
What would you do? |
I would trailer it. A lot can happen during a 4 hour trip especially if you have no first hand knowledge of the car. A DD to one guy might be a complete cluster @$%& to another. |
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mrmdls
Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2013
Posts: 410
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 9:10 am Post subject: |
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I would tow it even though it's suppose to be a daily driver as you really don't know the car and it's quirks just yet. U-Haul is cheap and a lot better then the possibility of being stuck in the middle of nowhere. If you knew the car, it would be a different story then I would drive it.
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75 model 110 (Basic Bug) - Project Daily Driver |
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inzel
Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2014
Posts: 196
Location: Spokane, WA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:26 am Post subject: |
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| I agree on using a trailer. Better than being stuck in the middle of nowhere... |
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obfuscurity
Samba Member
Joined: December 01, 2012
Posts: 320
Location: Westminster, MD, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:34 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, I would never trust an engine from someone who lowered their Beetle. 
I'm kidding.
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66 Sedan L456 "Ramona" |
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inzel
Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2014
Posts: 196
Location: Spokane, WA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:36 am Post subject: |
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| obfuscurity wrote: |
| Yeah, I would never trust an engine from someone who lowered their Beetle. |
I would be more worried about the way they lowered it as well as the what has or has not happened to the transaxle myself  |
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Gratsoy
Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2009
Posts: 316
Location: Vancouver, B.C.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:50 am Post subject: |
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| Chances are you'll be driving out there to get it. Why not drive out with the trailer and a buddy and drive the car back? If it breaks down it's no big deal cause you have a trailer right behind you. |
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cyclehobby
Samba Member
Joined: August 29, 2013
Posts: 156
Location: North Jersey
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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Trailer it. No matter what, this car is old and modified and new to you and even if its a great driver, it would make the exciting time of getting a new bug a bit of a drag if it craps the bed on the ride home.
I bought my bug from a guy near Boston - a 4 hour ride from my house. He bought it from a guy in San Francisco and DROVE it home to the east coast for his vacation!! Pretty cool. But, even though my test drive showed the car drove great, I had it trailered home. Well worth it.
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1967 Beetle
Northern NJ |
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irvanm
Samba Member
Joined: January 09, 2008
Posts: 609
Location: Lawrence, Kansas
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| trailering a "new" used car home sometimes saves a lot of money and problems. |
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Kiptere
Samba Member
Joined: February 13, 2013
Posts: 419
Location: Houston
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 2:42 pm Post subject: |
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Those tow bars only lift up so high. My current bug isn't lowered and the tow bar just barley lifts enough to reach the ball on my pickup (and my pickup is stock). If my bug was even lowered 1 inch, I couldn't hitch it to the ball on my truck.
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Dasvoldus
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2010
Posts: 4
Location: Leander, TX
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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I would trailer it.
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current: 1965 beetle sedan |
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ThingBeast
Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2012
Posts: 363
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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| I would do like someone mentioned, go with a buddy and a trailer and drive it back. U will have the trailer if anything happens. Do not rent a U HAUL trailer as it will not fit with a 5" narrowed beam. My 4" narrowed beamed bug barely fit. |
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hoghead5150
Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2007
Posts: 989
Location: oklahoma
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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trailer. also take you a cinder block or two, and if you can a couple 2x12's about 6 to 8 feet long.
lowered cars don't usually like to go on a trailer without scraping badly. you can put a cinder block under the trailer jack and lift the front of the trailer (lowering the back of the trailer) to help get the car on without scraping. (leave the trailer attached to the truck during this!!).
if it's real low, use the 2x12's about half way up the trailer ramps to "extend" the ramps out. makes for a more gradual slope for the car to go up.
my 69 bug was 1/2 inch off the ground at the front beam, the rear was lowered 5 inches. she was in the weeds. only way to get it on a trailer was cinder block AND the ramp extensions. with those it was no problem, no scraping!
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"i got a friend that knows a guy who's best friend has an uncle that used to have a bug just like yours!"
i measured once, cut it three times, and the damn thing is STILL to short! |
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