Front beam bushings.

[harrycrown]

Quick question, that perhaps someone could shed some light on... I have a 71 Ghia. It came with a new EMPI 2" narrowed adjustable balljoint beam, that the previous owner never got around to installing. I'm to the point now, where I'm ready to put it in. The beam only has the needle bearings on the outer edge of the upper and lower tubes of the beam. Is there supposed to be additional bushing inside to support the back end of the torsion arms, once they slide into the beam? I'm getting conflicting info. Some say additional bushing are not needed if it has the needle bearings. Some others are telling me bushings are a must? Anyone out there with some experience on this? Thank you.

[jeffrey8164]

Yes. There should be another set of bearings further in.
I’ve seen many rebuilt beams come with one long bushing instead of the bearings.
I’ve never put anything EMPI on my Ghia except my current wheels so I don’t know how they do their beams. My stock ‘71 beam has inner and outer bearings. Maybe there is a bushing back there. Stuff a control arm in there see if there is any play.
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[Ian Godfrey]

if there is the needle roller on the outside, there definitely needs to have an inner bearing, it's Mica in a stock beam. I don't think the material matters as long as it is there.
this is the Wolfsberg West one that I have used: https://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=131401311

[simon varley]

I think the conflicting information is that the outer can be either bush or bearing, but in both cases an inner is required.

I confess i wimped out on mine. I bought the outer bearings but couldn't figure an easy way to remove the old ones or the inners. Since there was no movement I passed. Hope I don't regret it later

[harrycrown]

Thanks for the responses and the info.