front beam

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:05 am

anyone ever replace one?? Mine has some rot and I was wondering if it is sometihing that an average joe could do. tnanks.

volksbugusa · Post by **volksbugusa** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:56 am

bill
it will take you 8 hours to complete.yes you can do it.what ever you do go german only.

go to my site
http://volksbugusa.shutterfly.com/

matt

volksbugusa

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:36 am

Matt: looks like four bolts on the beam and two more on the body. Why does it take so long?? I have the brake lines, etc. already removed.

volksbugusa · Post by **volksbugusa** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:06 pm

Bill
I never do anything quick. When i pulled my beam i stripped everything off of it including the steering box,stripped all the paint off and pulled off all the torque arms and replaced all of the seals and went as far as replacing the ball joints,new steering box and all new tie rod ends.I even pulled the drums off and install brand new fag races as well as bearings. All the brake shoes where replaced and all back plates sanded and also sprayed.everything GERMAN no crap put on my beam...
Yes it took me 8 plus hours to complete a number one job. You need to tell me what your installing? The beam is heavy you need to make a jig brace to install , beams have a nasty habit of always wanting to push forward and out when installing...Follow your torque specs on everything....
matt

Post by **jmartini** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 6:11 pm

I don't think of eight hours as being a very long time (unless I'm at work

). Heck - I've spent more than eight hours on a lot of simpler projects! I've seen Matt's work - it's top notch! Thanks for jumping in here Matt, I don't think many people on the forum have attempted this before.

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:03 pm

I did get it off. took about an hour. I plan to replace it with an OEM one that I have a lead on (hopefully)

Matt: on shutter fly (?) the first picture has a shock/piston attached to the top/angled right side of the beam. What is this?? this was missing from my front beam.

Taking the advice to heart, I too will attempt to replace all the ball joints, seals, etc. as best as I can. All the ball joints on the old one were shot anyway.

fatalifeaten · Post by **fatalifeaten** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:03 am

bill hauck wrote:I did get it off. took about an hour. I plan to replace it with an OEM one that I have a lead on (hopefully)

Matt: on shutter fly (?) the first picture has a shock/piston attached to the top/angled right side of the beam. What is this?? this was missing from my front beam.

Taking the advice to heart, I too will attempt to replace all the ball joints, seals, etc. as best as I can. All the ball joints on the old one were shot anyway.

That'd be your steering damper. You're probably going to want one.

You're going to have to get a shop to do the balljoints, they're not a home garage deal unless you've got a press. If you do them yourself, make sure to look at how they're installed now and line the slots in the new joints up the same way. FWIW, it set me back a whopping 20 bucks to have a machine shop press them in. For that price it wasn't even worth trying to do it myself.

Make sure you get some new clamps for the swaybar. It's a rare occasion when they come off in reusable fashion. If you manage to get them apart without destroying the clips, the rubber's usually shot. I've heard good things about the Wolfsburg West kit.

Is your replacement beam already assembled (IE leaf packs and bearings are already installed)? If so, make sure you've got some grease on the ends of the leaves before you reinstall the trailing arms. Speaking of grease, make sure your zerks get swapped over if your replacement beam doesn't have them, and once you get it in, grease the tar out of it. When I swapped my beam, there were no zerks. Annoying, but it was a simple clean and swap to fix.

While you've got it all apart, have a look at your front brakes, wheel cylinders, wheel bearings, etc as well. You've already got them off, if things need replacing this is the perfect time to do it.,

When you get ready to install, you might want to get a burly friend over to help you hold the beam in position while you start the bolts in. When I did mine, I found it easier to start the top two body bolts, then get the 4 frame head bolts started and snugged up, then back to the 2 top bolts and a final torque on all of them.

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:41 am

Matt: thanks again for the assistance. I did have a damper: the pix just looked different.

will use your advice on the machine shop, etc.

Q: what are zerks??

fatalifeaten · Post by **fatalifeaten** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:46 am

bill hauck wrote:Q: what are zerks??

grease nipples. There should be 2 on each tube of the beam (2 upper, 2 lower)

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:13 pm

gottcha

volksbugusa · Post by **volksbugusa** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:58 pm

Bill good for you you seem to always win when you start your projects...

Matt

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:27 am

Matt: do you happen to have, or did you prepare, a parts list for a front beam rebuild??

volksbugusa · Post by **volksbugusa** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 3:05 pm

bill
no I did not .But if you like I can make a shopping list for you.Are the ball joints good? That will be the most expensive part of the rebuild.Does the ball joints have grease fittings? The reason why I am asking ...if they have fittings time to replace then. The ball joints today are sealed.There is a big difference in purchasing German ball joint over the other junk...what every you do invest in the German ball joints..
Let me know if you need a list I can take you from the steering donut , right out to the spindles...is will cost about $500.00 to rebuild if you go with a new itw steering box...which I strongly suggest.

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:39 am

Matt: if it is not a big deal, I would appreciate a parts list. Thanks again for the assistance.

volksbugusa · Post by **volksbugusa** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 4:27 pm

Bill here you go
Shop with wolfsbug west or bughause
I would not use any RED BUSHINGS the make too many sweaks

Strip the complete beam take lots of pictures...take note on the steering box angle...
-locking tabs for the four main beam bolts you can make out of sheet metal..
-new beam mounting body rubber pads
-steering donut..GERMAN ONLY---clean the horn connections while it's off
-steering damper----
-torsion arm seal--going to need two for the top,two for the bottom-also going to need a big c clamp to compress the torsion arm against the seal so that the grub bolt will seat ---easy stuff...you will see why
-upper and lower ball joints---GERMAN ONLY you will need a machine shop tp press off and on...read up on how to line up the notches.
-sway bar ---you are going to need new rubbers and clamps both sides GERMAN ONLY
-new shocks
-new tie rod ends inners and outers...for long rod and short rod GERMAN ONLY
-ITW steering box --will make all difference in the world... shop around for the best cost...
-brake shoes
-new races and bearings---if you are using different spindles...or if the bearing looks burnt...what every you do remove the old grease and force in the new....
You know how to find me if you need more information
Cheers
Matt

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