How to Narrow Your Front Beam by spotfreerynse

[david58]

This was put out by VW tends magazine and Ron Lummis Racing , and This is what I did to Narrow My beam myself 4"s ! Maybe this can be a "STICKY" ok here we GO !

Here's what we started with, a typical German ball-joint beam fresh out of a Beetle and ready for the Lummus treatment. Incidentally, they will only narrow German metal


The first step is to break the beam down to its basic elements. Remove the mounting brackets (shown here) as well as the steering wheel lock stop. Pull out the torsion leaves, the outer trailing arm bushings (made from a flammable micarta) and grease seals from each beam.


Once cut in half, the appropriate amount of material is removed from each side of the beam halves. Also shown are the sleeves that hold Lummus adjuster screws, the original mounting brackets, the steering bracket and the wheel lock stop.

Since Ron does this so many times in the course of any given week, he has constructed this handy jig to make sure all of the pieces go together smooth and straight. On the top torsion tube the sleeve and the adjuster screw has been laid out.


Once in place, all of the pieces are clamped down, ready for welding.


Depending on the position of the adjustment screws, the angle is exaggerated by the time it is transferred to the spindles, allowing for a wide selection of stances, from barely off stock to in the weeds.



The angle needed is precisely measured for each adjuster.



Welding all of the pieces together is done with a high-powered TIG welder to ensure a clean, hot weld.




Next you'll have shorten the torsion leaves by removing from each end the amount equal to the amount the beam was narrowed. This is done simply with a radial saw.



Since the dimples that holds the leaves in place inside the torsion tube was cut off, new ones had to be drilled.


A variety of sandpaper grits are used to smooth out the rough weld marks up and down the beam.


After the beam has been smoothed, it gets a bath of acetone to remove any residue and dirt.



A fresh coat of paint finishes up another beam at Ron Lummus Racing.




Once installed in a car, the four-inch-narrowed beam really hugs the inner fender wells while helping to draw in any positive wheel offset or distance gained by adding dropped spindles.


GOOD LUCK !