lowering my thing

surferdudedav · Post by **surferdudedav** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:05 pm

i know i know, scold me and tell me im an idiot.. lol. well, i dont care

i was wondering do they make dropped spindels for things or do i need to buy a new beam? or does anyone here have or know of any lowered things? any helps nice! thanks!

Post by **Marc** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:12 am

The Thing beam is just a sturdier version of a balljoint Beetle's. The torsion bars are different but interchangeable, as are the control arms/balljoints. It's popular to put these parts into a baja beam so there's definitely a market for them if you don't think you'll ever be going back.
I would buy four bug control arms (reconditioned ones with new balljoints are surprisingly inexpensive, so you don't need to settle for worn-out junk) and a pair of bug - or `Ghia if you want disk brakes - spindles and spring stacks and swap 'em in. Be sure the spindles are March `68-up production, earlier ones used smaller tierod ends and inner wheel bearings. That'd drop it ~3", if you really want to slam it use bug lowering spindles instead.
You'll also need a pair of bug camber eccentrics...and the big washers for the upper balljoints too IIRC.

surferdudedav · Post by **surferdudedav** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:30 pm

ok, so will i be able to use thing brakes on bug spindles??? what about tie rods? bug or thing? would these work? http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... ?id=111941 thanks

Post by **Marc** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 8:24 am

Thing front brakes are the same as `66/`67 Beetle (IIRC the backing plates have a Thing-specific part number, perhaps they're thicker steel, but they'll bolt to bug spindles). Same goes for the tierods, although they have a Thing P/N they're interchangeable.
Flex hoses and speedo cable may be too long with bug spindles but you should be able to use them, just make sure they don't rub on the tires when you turn the wheel.
The CBPerformance spindles should bolt up without any problem (you'll still need bug control arms/balljoints, on bugs the lower balljoint points UP rather than down as it does on the Thing) - I think they'll increase the trackwidth slightly - but how low you can go before tire-to-fender clearance becomes an issue is going to depend upon the wheels/tires. Someone who's actually put them on a Thing could tell you what to expect there.

BKZ · Post by **BKZ** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:57 am

surferdudedav wrote:i know i know, scold me and tell me im an idiot.. lol. well, i dont care i was wondering do they make dropped spindels for things or do i need to buy a new beam? or does anyone here have or know of any lowered things? any helps nice! thanks!

Why is that, it's your thing. lower him if you want to.

You only need a lowerd beam and beetle arms.
If you take the dropped spindels and a lowerd beam the adjusters do not come at the end, so it's double but nothing.
The 15" wheels will rub your fenders if you do both.
You can putt it to the ground without the spindels.

surferdudedav · Post by **surferdudedav** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 2:35 pm

what if i run 145's? and dont have the beam bottomed out? why will it rub? because of the offset? thanks!

Kubelmann · Post by **Kubelmann** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:03 pm

If you simply replace your Thing arms and spindles with like parts from a ball joint Bug or Ghia you will instantly lower your front end 3" If you are sure you never want to go back to Thing height, you can more than pay for the conversion by selling your Thing parts. They are sought after by offroad folks.

baja1432 · Post by **baja1432** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:35 pm

If you decide to go that route, I'd be interested in your existing (thing) parts.
Thanks:
J.R.

BKZ · Post by **BKZ** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:38 am

surferdudedav wrote:what if i run 145's? and dont have the beam bottomed out? why will it rub? because of the offset? thanks!

You can run 145x65x15(Smart tire) with only a lowered beam.
The tyre's are to high for bottoming out.
You can only bottem out if you place 14". and then a lowered beam is enough. With 15" the tires will run against the inside of your fenders.

surferdudedav · Post by **surferdudedav** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:41 pm

my only problem w/ that is, its going to ride like trash man... ive got a buddy who did adj beam and stock spindels.. drives like pure crap.. got any pics of what your talking about? im a bit slow when it comes to suspenion..

nope, im not selling my parts, im not that dumb.. lol if i sell my front end parts and in the future decide to sell my thing.. chances are the next owner will never return it.. and itll prolly become a beater.. and that wouldnt be good

BKZ · Post by **BKZ** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:13 am

This is 14"x5,5J with 155-65-14

http://www.volksforum.com/forum/attachm ... 6095&stc=1

This is 15"x7J with 195-50-15

http://www.volksforum.com/forum/attachm ... 5401&stc=1

Iltis74 · Post by **Iltis74** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 4:31 am

ive got a buddy who did adj beam and stock spindels..

Was this in a Bug or a Thing? When you suck the car down with the adjusters the ride does go to crap, that's why people lower with drop spindles and use the adjusters to "fine tune" the height, but stock Beetle spindles are drop spindles as far as the Thing is concerned. I may be repeating for no reason but that last reply didn't compute in me noggin.

surferdudedav · Post by **surferdudedav** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 11:26 pm

thanks for all of the replys.. i understand that bug spindles are like dropped spindles, but i want to be able to "fine tune" it w/ adjusters w/o riding like crap.. so anybody have any pics of what it would look like w/ these diff. combinations.. ie: stock bug spindles and stock beam.. or adjustable meam n dropped spindles.. lets see what were going to look like here... wait, would there be anything wrong w/ a stock bug beam and dropped spindles? would it ride crappy, thats what im concerned about, thank!

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