Super Beetle Lowering

[turbo2275]

After reading for days on this subject there's one idea I haven't seen. I've got a 72 Super and am contemplating lowering it. It has the 3 bolt flange style struts. Has anyone tried cutting off the 3 bolt flange, cutting the bottom of the strut down let's say 3 inches and welding the flange back on to the shortened strut? This makes sense to me but I haven't taken one apart yet and don't know if the shortened strut housing would still accept the stock insert.

[Ohio Tom (DdK)]

Yeah, the insert goes all the way down.
If you checkout TopLine's website, they have shortend strut housings and they use Rabbit inserts.
Not too expensive to buy their kits either.
Work great.
Also, you should consider the tierod end invertion kit. It corrects the steering geometry when lowerd.
Lastly, Camber compensator bushings are a good idea to keep the "super shimmy's" away.

[The Inspector]

After reading for days on this subject there's one idea I haven't seen. I've got a 72 Super and am contemplating lowering it. It has the 3 bolt flange style struts. Has anyone tried cutting off the 3 bolt flange, cutting the bottom of the strut down let's say 3 inches and welding the flange back on to the shortened strut? This makes sense to me but I haven't taken one apart yet and don't know if the shortened strut housing would still accept the stock insert.

  SELL it and get yourself a Ball-joint car!

[superdrag]

  SELL it and get yourself a Ball-joint car!

Screw you.

[Ian Godfrey]

I have also cut the spring perch of the strut housing and rewelded it 2'' lower. Could be any height you choose. Cut the bump stop a bit to regain travel. Then you still have a range of strut inserts to chose from.

[superdrag]

I have done all 3 options mentioned.  My street car has a kit from Topline.  The kit comes with a shorter strut housing with "rabbit" inserts as mentioned above.  It has sway bar bushings with the holes drilled offset to add some caster, a heavier duty sway bar, the sway bar is built with better geometry for the lowered car and also has more caster built in.  It uses stock springs.  This kit is adjustable from like 1" lowered to 5" lowered with a snap ring.  I also added the tie rod flip it kit.
On my drag car, I currently have stock strut housing that I have cut off the lower spring perch and rewelded it on 3" lower.  I used the caster-fix bushings and the tie rod flip it kit.  Stock springs, stock inserts.  Stock sway bar.  It works well, but I hate how high the front end sits.  I want to get down around 6" lower.  For this winter I have plans to cut 3" out of the strut body and reweld it back together, and use the rabbit style insert. 
A 3" lowered super is usually about right for a street car, but my super is very light in the front and it sits up quite high even with the 3" lowered setup.  I have swapped struts between my street and drag car and the street car always sits lower with the same exact setup. 

[gkeeton@zbzoom.net]

  SELL it and get yourself a Ball-joint car!

Screw you.

Yeah, why would he want to sell the Super, and buy a s**ty handling Beetle?

What type of inserts are you using? The KYB ones are pressurized, and usually lift up a little more than normal. I don't know what the actual "rabbit" insert part number is, but maybe look into some inserts that are oil, and dampen only. I just installed a set of replacements in a stock 71 SB Strut from OE, and they were oil only, without pressure, and they road quite well.

[Ohio Tom (DdK)]

for my race car <<<<<, I have stock oil filled struts that I drilled and filled with kerosene and re-plugged.
I also just cut 3 turns off the stock coils. This means I do not have to compress the spring at all to assemble.
For drag racing haveing zero pre-load gives the best weight transfer converting to a wheelie on launch.
Ask anyone who watched me drag race last season. I had the "working" just right with some of the best weight transfer of anyone at the track.

[superdrag]

Tom, are your springs loose when the strut is out of the car?  I want as little preload as possible with my setup, but I have a fear of the spring actually popping out of place.  I guess you could figure out a way to clamp the spring into the perch or something if you had to........I have talked to you in the past about this. 

[Dougzilla]

Quoted from Ohio Tom June 2009:


"I guess my car's a deathtrap then.

Or, M+H slicks are pretty close w/o balancing.


I use Kerosene in my shocks too..."


His modfied stock Super Beetle suspension flat out works.
Best hooking Super I've ever seen.

[Ohio Tom (DdK)]

yeah, they are kind of floppy loose, but they have never come out of thier perches. I think the friction of the bushing keeps the play taken up when installed in the car.
The front end lifts real easy and you can't really feel much when they leave the ground. Same coming down too. No funny bounces or anything. Just smooth. Normal ride hight is about 2" from bottoming out. All that "up" travel is letting the springs slowly un-load and transfer weight to the rear and onto the wheelie bars.

[superdrag]

yeah, they are kind of floppy loose, but they have never come out of thier perches. I think the friction of the bushing keeps the play taken up when installed in the car.
The front end lifts real easy and you can't really feel much when they leave the ground. Same coming down too. No funny bounces or anything. Just smooth. Normal ride hight is about 2" from bottoming out. All that "up" travel is letting the springs slowly un-load and transfer weight to the rear and onto the wheelie bars.

OK, thanks.  I did a small wheelie once in Maple Grove and I felt a slight shutter when the tires touched back down.  I remember saying "What was that?"  Then I watched the video and figured it out.  Do you have a bigger picture of your avatar?  That is a great shot.

One last question if you don't mind Tom, what rear torsions do you have?  My car transfers very well, but I had stock torsions up until this winter.  I bought 27mm ones and I am curious if my car is going to hook better or worse.  I had to do something though because I was knocking my sump loose.

I am also in the process of taking about 60 lbs off the nose of the car this winter.  That should help!

[Ohio Tom (DdK)]

I run 30mm bars. The car only squats about 2" in the rear on launch now. I can feel that the car reacts quicker. No more wrap-up, just go forward...

Thanks to K+L Motorsports for the great shots...

[Ohio Tom (DdK)]

.2sec before the first photo... YOu can see the car transitioning...

[Ohio Tom (DdK)]

Here is the car sitting at the line for comparison. Note the tire to fender clearance in rear doesn't change much , while the front does major leapfroggin'.... (finals at pittsburg classic, Pro-Outlaw final, Dougzilla got me).

[Dougzilla]

Pretty cool pic of that final Tom! I've never seen that one before.
Couple curved window Super Beetles in a Pro Outlaw final! Yea!!
That was one hell of a matchup too. Very close race. Turbo vs. N/A.

[John P]

20 years ago I ran a 1971 Super Beetle with a 2017 engine and Topline's kit, including their lowered struts (2.5", if I remember), using the aforementioned rabbit OIL filled inserts. I also fitted larger front and rear sway bars with bushings, camber kit, lowered rear end (by one spline) with adjustable coil overs, running 205/60/15s (rear) and 195/50/15s (front).

While this was years ago, the parts from Topline were great, fit well and lasted. 

I drove that car everywhere, up and down the east coast, and it was a lot of fun. It handled (and rode) incredibly well, and I even did some light autocrossing with it (including running it on a banked oval).

Fond memories.