No Front Beam Adjusters??

[Bigvwhead]

I came across a L/p beam that was lowered the "old school" way accordingly to the seller back in the late 70's
Instead of pulling tortion leaves he and his buddy just cut and turned the beams (the amout is unkown, he forgot how much they turned them) and it lowered the bug 2"-3". The question I have is why put adjusters in if this works? Or should I recut this beam and put adjusters in and if so why? Is there any way to tell how much it has been turned?
Bigvwhead

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Cut and turning is pretty much a onetime shot and you have to cut the cut the turned piece lose to change things if you go too far. You may also need shims to go under the lower beam for front end alignments but you won't know that until you try to align it.

There are two types of adjuster that I know of: the AVIS style which I have been told are easy to install and work well on the street but can fail off-road as they use splines and bolts to lock the suspension in place. The other style of adjuster was developed by SAW (Sway-a-Way. There are several knock-offs of the design out there) and is stronger as it uses locking bolts; good for off-road and for on the street. I think it takes a bit more work.

The third option for lowering is dropped spindles which keep full suspension travel. When combined with adjusters can give a good suspension package.

Don’t forget the shorter shocks and buy good quality shocks to match what you have done.

Lee

[Bigvwhead]

Thanks Lee

I am trying to figure out how much this beam was turned, and or if I should recut it and put adjusters in.
Caster shim will be used wheither or not I use this beam or the one on my '65 Ghia. I supose I could just get it and put it under the car and see how low it is (not looking for a pan scraper) just a good stance for my car


Alan

[Dale M.]

Avis adjuster are not easy........ SAW style are.....

The problem is with AVIS adjusters you have to butcher the center section to get parts in as they do not come with new center section .....IT take hours of knuckle busting and brain strain....... HOWEVER.... IF you will get a piece of steel tubing the same diameter as beam and create a new "center section" as SAW style adjuster it goes real easy.... Avis adjuster kits are designed for BUS beams which have a different center section than a type 1 beam ...

Where the problem lies is there is the crimped in center section of type 1 beam that you have to remove and it makes a mess of the tube, bus does not have "crimp" in center section...

Note crimp in beam - that is your nightmare...

front beam.jpg

SAW style adjuster ...


Avis style ( note missing tube - that is the headache)


Yes there is a difference is how adjustors anchor to the tube (design) and that is the issue, the Avis has no tube....

To ease the pain just drop the bucks and get new beam with adjusters already in stalled...

Been there done that.... Forgot to get the "T" shirt.....

IF some manufacturer or retailer or vendor was smart they would sell AVIS adjuster as a "full kit" with new weld in center section like SAW adjusters...

Dale

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Thanks Dale; I think this has the makings for a sticky!

Like I said, I was told... , appearently is/was not true. Thanks for the update and clarification.

Lee

[Steve Arndt]

Your springs will sag with age, so having adjusters is nice vs a cut and turn.
Also it is nice for dialing in your desired ride height. It is just a guess and check affair with the cut n turn.

Go for the SAW style adjusters. The avis style wear out if you adjust the beam a lot. They also have less ground clearance on a lowered ball joint beam car because the lock nuts and stud point right at the ground.

s

[Marc]

...I am trying to figure out how much this beam was turned...

I'm assuming your front beam is of `60-`65 vintage. Identifying characteristics are provision for a steering damper, needle bearings rather than bushings, and dust shields on the linkpins. Compare the location of the grub screws on your beam to those mentioned on the diagram below:
(angles for the two earlier style beams are given in the first document, K&Lsusp1r.jpg)

[Bigvwhead]

Thanks Marc
Yes '60-'65 vintage L/P beam this will help me figure out what I got in this parts deal
and if I want to or should use it.
Alan

[Marc]

Note also that when the change was made from Micarta bushings to needle bearings, the diameter of the control arms was also changed slightly. Prior to March 1960 they were 36.93-36.95mm; the later ones (with the notch on the end for the linkpin dust seal) are 36.98-37.00mm. It's only a .002" difference so it's seldom a concern - usually the only time anyone cares is when they're trying to fit the late arms into an early beam and find they have to hone the bushings out to do so.
If you mix and match early and late arms you can't blindly follow the standard tables for shimming the linkpins to set the camber, the dust shields are as thick as two shims.

Avis adjuster are not easy...The problem is with AVIS adjusters you have to butcher the center section to get parts in as they do not come with new center section...

True, if working with an OE German beam (although I have seen them successfully installed without "butchering", by the heating and reshaping of the crimped section - once the slot is cut, a long bolt can be put into the inner slug by which it can be rotated to push out the crimp after it's orange-hot). But the Brazilian-made beams, at least the BJ ones I've seen, use a round inner slug with no flats and no crimps - it's simply plugwelded in place so all that's needed to allow it to rotate is to drill out the welds.
If you're prepared to cut the beam apart anyway (as you would have to in order to install the SAW-style adjusters, or if you're building one straight beam out of two bent ones as I like to do) then it's very easy to install the Avis adjusters into the ~3" piece cut from the center before you weld it back in place. With the center piece out, the inner slug is easy to push to one side (after heating the crimps or drilling the plugwelds) then reposition after you've slotted the tube and made it nice and round. You can also knock the slug to one side on an intact beam with a length of pipe passed in from the end.