Ghia Suspension:Lower, Narrow, Adjust - Custom & Stock

[jeffrey8164]

[xzener]

Received my custom rear air ride kit from JJ Vintage today. Sent some of the pieces to my powder coater. Will post pictures of the Ghia after installation... She's gonna lay on the ground.

Before...

After...

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My 70 beetle was totaled Now to build the Ghia I always wanted. Rest in peace Ruby, I will miss you. Hello <insert Ghia name here>!

[Evil_Fiz]

Don't be fraudulent, the second picture doesn't look anything like the first.
... some people
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“…It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia.”
kiwighia68

See my build on TheSamba at:
The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted

[John Ghia]

Where did you get the rear airbag/shocks? and how much? I looked up JJ vintage and didn't get anything good information.
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BUS BOYZ

[xzener]

Look up Airthed on Facebook... He has all the answers you're after.
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My 70 beetle was totaled Now to build the Ghia I always wanted. Rest in peace Ruby, I will miss you. Hello <insert Ghia name here>!

[didget69]

[xzener]

Wow. Very appropriate. Thanks.
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My 70 beetle was totaled Now to build the Ghia I always wanted. Rest in peace Ruby, I will miss you. Hello <insert Ghia name here>!

[TDCTDI]

While those look cool & will raise & lower the car, the upper shock mounts weren't designed to support the weight of the car. You're likely to run into issues with the shock mount breaking.
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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.

[xzener]

[Evil_Fiz]

[neon_guru]

Hi all I’ve just bought my first KG, 71 which has been lowered by the previous owner.
Up front are empi drop spindles, problem is I have very little (about 1”) suspension movement up front giving a hard ride. I thought that one of the benefits of drop spindles was that it doesn’t adversely affect suspension travel and maintains stock suspension performance. Any suggestions what could be happening?
Thanks

[didget69]

- you don't have to post the question twice.

bryan
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I never found the need to impress people with any mechanic certifications, trophies or track wins... unless it was for Mom to post on the refrigerator door.

[John Moxon]

[neon_guru]

Thanks for your reply, any guidance on the suspension question?

[didget69]

[TDCTDI]

[neon_guru]

There are no adjusters in the beam but I don’t know about the shocks. If lowering on drop spindles do you need shorter shocks?
You are right about the wheel arch clearance. The tyres don’t hit on full lock when stationary but I can see where they have with a it of bouncy.
From reading the forum it would seem that for drop spindles to work well the beam needs to be cut. How do I find out if my beam is stock or cut?
Thanks for your help this is all very new to me although I’m really excited about learning

[jeffrey8164]

I've had a '71 and currently a '70 which are essentially the same in this regard.
I bought CB dropped spindles back in '01 and the tires rubbed with a stock beam American Racing 15X5.5 Rivieras with 4.5" backspace and 195/50 tires. Thought I'd get stock chrome smoothies with Kleber 145's to solve the issue but no. The chrome wheels had 3.5" backspace so the outside of the tire sat in essentially the same place.
Fast forward to today and I have 15X5.5 Gasburners with 5" backspace with 195/50 on the rear and 195/45 in the front.
Long story short, every Ghia is different but I searched for a combination that would work with a stock beam and I accomplished that. I don't really like the look of a narrow beam.

In your case, you can get away with what you have but cross speed bumps and curbs straight and slow or you'll end up curling a wheel well.
Your beam is probably stock by just looking at the photo. In all my years, I haven't seen a narrowed beam that didn't have adjusters as well.

Lowered spindles were made so the suspension geometry doesn't change so you don't need different shocks or sway bar.

When a beam is narrowed you have to match the tie rods and sway bar as well. Somewhere back in the day 2" was decided as the defacto standard though there are outfits that offer 4" or even 6" narrower beams. I've often thought there should be a 1" option just for us guys that want to use stock rims but just want that little drop.

As far as the suspension being stiff, incorrectly installed ball joints could be a factor. These old VW ball joints are unique now days as there is a definite travel alley so to speak. Todays ball joints are omni directional so the orientation doesn't matter. As I was refreshing my '70 I had a shop press in my new ball joints. Even though I told them how the notch was supposed to line up they still did it wrong and they had to re-do them. I made them buy new ball joints as you really don't want to press them in twice as the little fingers or whatever they're really called that grip the control arm socket wear away. Ball joints are fairly cheap though.

Keep in mind though that there isn't really any mass in the front of a Ghia so unless your standing on it, it will be very difficult to bounce. Also if the ball joints are new they might just still be stiff. In my case, with new ball joints, I can put it on the ground from being jacked up and I can compress the suspension but once it has sat down, there is very little bounce.

Ball joints will have a notch that you can visually see. These need to line up parallel with the body as they sit in the arm.

I wish I could find a proper photo. This shows them incorrectly installed.

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Volkswagen!
Turning owners into mechanics since 1938.

“Let he that is without oil throw the first rod”
(Compression 8.7:1)

[neon_guru]

Thanks for the responses all very helpful. I don’t want to do anything with the beam if I don’t have to and actually I would rather raise it up again if it’s going to be trouble. Is it possible to get spindles with different drops on them? So maybe in could go for a 1.5” drop rather than 2.5” or are they all the same?
I would like to change the wheels at some point but I guess that’s a whole new topic.

[TDCTDI]

The spindles have nothing to do with your rough ride, they are designed lower the front but retain the original suspension travel.

Limited suspension travel is caused by an adjustable beam that's set too low, shocks that are bottoming out, ball joints that are incorrectly clocked, or, it's possible that someone removed leaves out of the spring packs to achieve "the look".

Drop spindles tend to widen the track width by 1/2" to 1" per side, or one to two inches total. This is the reason for narrowing the beam, to correct this increase in track width that usually results in tire/fender interference. In addition to this increase in track width, different width/backspace wheels will push the tire out even further, thus the reason for even narrower beams.

Drop spindles are only available in the 2.5" drop.


You need to ascertain what combination you have, look for adjusters in the front beam (Post pictures of the center of the upper & lower tubes of the front beam.). Post pics of the ball joint orientation. Post pics of your spindles.
_________________
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.