Some questions about my front beam. 66split with bay beam.

Think its only a digit difference
Will check.

Koni may not help your bottoming situation Brad.

They are my personal favourite but you have an issue with bottoming or guard rubbing?

In such case you need to stiffen the compression stroke.
The konis are comfortable ( read , bit better than stock) on compression but the adjustment only affects rebound.
ie it prevents body lifting rapidly.

If I interpret your need correctly then Bilstein would be better suited.
They are not adjustable but are much firmer on compression than stock and Koni due to valving and gas pressure.
Still comfortable whereas kyb gas adjust or the new name? are a bit harsh.

Have not tried gaz but tempted.
Apparently adjustment affects both strokes ?

But having driven Bilstein I recon they would be adequate on a bay so moreso or even a bit stiff on the split.

Are your lengths/ height stock ish?

Might be able to grab a set for you to try.

 

Koni red . Suit T2 a, b.
Front. B 80-2110
Rear. B 80-2220

 

Anyone told you lately that you Rock Col!

 

Hey Brad,

Hope your well

68 -69 beams have different shocks than late bay due to different dimensions of the lower mounting stud

These are the koni parts numbers and specifications
Koni made two front and two rear shocks for the baywindow (I've also listed the splitwindow shocks for comparison):

Model Year


Part Number


Location


Valving


Max Length


Min Length


Mounting Hardware


Sleeve

55-67


80-1349


Front


900/450


390mm


255mm


M12


32mm

55-67


80-1350


Rear


1050/750


390mm


255mm


M12


32mm

68-69


80-1966


Front


1100/600


419mm


217mm


M12 top, M10 bottom


32mm

68-71


80-1967


Rear


1250/600


561mm


347mm


M12

70-79


80-2110


Front


1350/600


414mm


272mm


M12


42mm

72-79


80-2220


Rear


1250/600


581mm


358mm


M12


32mm

Note: The 80-2110 shock that Col listed only fits the 70-79 bus. This is because the 68-69 torsion arm (while it has a M12 stud) is too 10mm too short to fit. It also takes a 10mm nut but it's the length of the stud which is inadequate to fit the 42mm sleeve of the shock.
The early 68-69 beam uses the 80-1966
Guessing your front end is adjustable Brad so will need to work out suspension travel to make sure shock will not bottom out if bus is lowered too much
Also not sure if the bumpstops have been removed form your beam or not?
Really need bumpstops fitted on all suspension setups
Chttps://www.csp-shop.com/en/suspension/shock-absorber/koni/an get these shocks from CSP
Can also order these form the Australian Koni distributor Top Performance
The front 68-69 Koni are hard to get best to buy these from CSP
The rear Koni can get for a good price from Summit or Jegs in the USA
Just had these shocks in the past on my oval beetle and they rock,have these shocks for my 57
Bus not finished so cannot offer any feedback,but never a good idea to use modern gas shocks on air cooled early Vw's
Been there done that and the ride is shocking


Cheers,
Pete

 

Brilliant. Thanks Pete.
I was struggling ro find the others in stock as it was.
I will have a dig through the internet on Monday based on your info.

 

Hey Brad,
So sorry mate forgot to mention,there will be a wait for these shocks from most supplies even the Australian distributor Top Performance who will order these from Overseas
Summit took about 10 weeks
If in a hurry best to try and see if CSP have these in stock currently
Have a awesome week mate

Best wishes always,

Pete

 

I should stick to building. Just tried to lower beam. Raised bus. Undid adjusters. Felt like i got the wheels about 5mm lower. Gave up after an hour and did the adjusters up on as far as i know the same notch they were on.
Lowered the bus. Bounced the front ro make sure everything was tight. Creak, creak. Drop.

Somehow lowered the bus so the tyres are touching the wheel arches.

No idea how I managed that.
Is there a face palm emoji on here somewhere?

 

At least it moved.
Good chance it might go the other way with a bit of force now ??

 

Hopefully. Feel like a goose at the moment.

 

How do you think most of us have learned.?

 

Thought your beam was a late bay.?
112x 5 stud pattern?

 

Is is 5x112. But assume its a 68 beam with late bay disk brake conversion.

 

Btw, how do you jump on the wheels when they are off the ground? They roll around and i nearly stacked it. Tried to lever them down with a timber to the inner wheel arch instead. And jack them down from wheel arch. No joy.

 

Get the Mrs to sit in the drivers seat with her foot on the brake

If you stack it then, she has something to laugh at

 

I reckon I will have a house full of volunteers for that. Will try again tomorrow.

 

I haven't had to loosen one but expect that some innox or similar sprayed tonight into the adjuster areas may help the process tomorrow.

 

Make sure they have a device, to record the antics!

 

Hey Brad,
You are right regarding your beam being a 68 or 69 beam
Only these year beams will bolt straight into a splitty,the later bay beam have a slightly different bolt pattern and will not bolt in
They would have used late bay spindles and late bay disc brakes on your front,you can easily swap over the spindles between the 68-69 beams and later bay beams
Just means have to then have later bay stud pattern
Cheers,
Pete

 

We what a funny world vw's are.
Spent an hour and a half yesterday doing the beam and somehow slammed the bus.
Spent 20 minutes today and I think i did everything the same and managed to raise it as much as I think I will be able too.
How funny.
I think perhaps I did not tighten the top adjuster plate fully and the teeth slipped upon lowering the jack yesterday.

I still need smaller tyres I think, but i nave about 3 inches (still need to measure) from top of wheel to arch.