Kustom1wherehouse narrowed beam, steers like a dump truck! WHY?

[smitty24]

My bad, I just saw that you pulled the beam and put stock back on, and problem fixed. And you said you fought to get adjusters at half point. Sounds like adjusters welded wrong angle for one thing. Can you post a picture of the beam and adjuster blocks close up? Someone would surely buy it on here. All I use and install is stock or cb 2”. Perhaps it was an Empi 2” which sounds more like something K1 would do.

[fifthcenturycheese]

Smitty 24,

Here is a picture of the beam before going on car. Yes, I installed the steering box adjusted, centered and lubricated. Yes, there was one set of Empi caster shims. Tie rods were checked by alignment guy, looked good, but he said ALL the ball joints were stiff. i mentioned this to K1 and he said he would "hammer" on them to break them in. I am not a person that beats on new parts to make them function. I don't believe the engineers of those parts said...."just let the customers beat them into place until they function"! Like I said, I resolved the my issue and am much happier with the stock beam I rebuilt, functions just as I wanted! DONE and moving on.....!

[smitty24]

Part of the problem is the way your beam is setup, I can see it...but as you said it’s done now. It’s too bad because the CB beams are usually pretty nice.

[Sharp64]

[smitty24]

Ill PM you...don't want to trash this guy's thread with debates of what's correct, blaming companies, and anyone's lack of skills.

[TDCTDI]

The adjuster studs are located in the wrong holes.
_________________
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.

[fifthcenturycheese]

TDCTDI.

The adjuster studs are located in the only holes I could find in the collars, I rotated them almost all the way around. These are the only holes!

[TDCTDI]

The second set of holes should almost be visible in the upper portion of the slot, they’re 90° from the ones where the stud is now. If they’re not there, the wrong collars were used and the adjuster teeth were welded in the wrong position. This angle would cause the front end to be oversprung & the balljoints would be binding because they were at their max angle.

Since you have confirmed that the adjusters do not have these second set of holes, then you should be able to return this beam as it is built incorrectly.

It sucks that you had to go through all of that, you should definitely contact the seller/builder of that beam to get a refund.
_________________
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.

[Keith]

[Mos6502]

Wheels, tires?

People do realize the scrub radius changes with tire height and wheel offset right? And the larger the scrub radius - the heavier the steering.

If you're using wheels with more backspacing than stock - that increases steering effort. If you're combining more backspacing with low profile tires (less height) that again increases steering effort. If the tires are wider than stock - again, steering effort is increased. Combine all three with new ball joints, and whatever else has been done to the front end, and you can end up with pretty unwieldy steering (on any car!).

Not saying that's problem here, but it's something I almost never see anybody consider.