Narrowing a VW Beetle front beam

[VW Dave]

To accomodate stock or slightly smaller front wheels & tires while lowering a Beetle, folks have been narrowing axle beams for many years...and I have an easy way to do it in scale.

This Beetle has a beam that is 5" narrower than stock, and 15" wheels clear the fenders even after a 3"+ drop via adjusters and lowered spindles:

I start by drilling into the torsion tubes with a 1/32" bit, just a tad deeper than the arrow point:

The beam is then cut into pieces, and the short bits of tubing inboard of the shock towers removed:

Short sections of 1/32" wire are inserted into the holes for alignment/reinforcement, and the whole mess put back together...a scale 5.35" narrower than it was:

The whole process takes very little time at all, and all of the steps are laid out in my Fotki 'how to' folder, and here's the link:

TAMIYA BEETLE BEAM MOD

Edited March 24, 2011 by VW Dave

[Duntov]

Once again....simple elegance....very good, short.....HIGHLY WORKABLE technique.....Thanks!!

Reagds Bill (Duntov)