LEAKOIL Forum

Make sure it's ready for the Metro parks cruise

Damn! We will be away for a bicycle event that weekend. I hope we can make another cruise....maybe during the week? It should be more than ready then. Unless that list keeps getting bigger.

I've been focusing on the interior lately. Feels good to have gotten so far this winter.

Another shot of the 66 interior.

I recently installed 2.5" drop spindles on my beetle. I just noticed that the front suspension seems to be very tight when pushing down on the front bumper. The first thing that comes to mind is the shocks. Should I have replaced them with shorter ones or is the travel length still the same? OR was the front end that stiff and I just didn't notice until I rebuilt the front end?
I did replace the torsion arm seals and ball joints but didn't take the leaf springs out of the front end.
Is this a cause for concern?

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With just drop spindles, the location and length of the shock is the same. Only the spindle is lower.
I think the stiffness was something that I just didn't notice even before taking it apart (I hope) and the front end is almost new. Sucks not being able to drive it after you work on it. Its going to feel like a totally different car. I am going to make a list of all the stuff I need to check before I take it for a spin this spring.
Thanks everyone!

WideFive wrote:

trailmix wrote:The first thing that comes to mind is the shocks.

Easy enough to rule those out, just take them off.

If it wasn't tight before, maybe the new ball joints are just stiff? First thing that came to mind when reading your post.

If the arms were tight in the beam I'd think (hope) you'd of noticed that when reinstalling them. That's the next thing that came to mind. These front ends are simple, only a few moving parts.

Or the ball joints were not installed correctly. If I remember correctly there is a certain way the joints need to be oriented in the arm or they will bind.

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