axle beam

gus · Post by **gus** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 2:31 pm

My wife picked up a 73 thing last fall and its about time to get it out of its storage.
Last year before putting it away we noticed that it had a front end shake at speeds over 50 mph. I believe or know the tires need replacing, but the front beam is rotted badly where the shock towers are.
My question is, will a type 1 from a beetle work on a 181?

Post by **Marc** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 2:36 pm

The center section is dimensionally the same; torsion bars, control arms, spindles and brakes are all different but can be transferred from one to the other.
I believe that 181 beams were made a little stouter too (certainly they're made of thicker stuff than a new Brazilian bug beam is) - but anything would be an improvement over what you have now.

waynek · Post by **waynek** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 3:14 pm

Gus,
Just finished replacing my axle beam
this past weekend.It's not difficult if all
you are doing is swapping parts.As Marc
said,you need to totally swap all parts
to the new beam and the car will sit level
as before.Unless you are using the car offroad,that's all you need to do.
I had to replace ball joints and tie rods,
it was no fun....
Good luck with it.

Kubelmann · Post by **Kubelmann** » Wed Mar 26, 2003 12:25 pm

The Thing beam is significantly stronger than the bug or ghia. There are a number of Thing owners who have just dissassmbled a beam and would perhaps sell you a new/old beam in solid condition. If you are interested put out a request for a beam on the Thing topica discusssion list. Or email me and i will list the request for you.
K-mann