[Oliver Knuf]

Hi!


...You mentioned Bilstien front shocks for my torsion beam front suspension. Are these coil-overs that allow for height adjustment as well as getting rid of the front leaf springs?

-No, just good working dampeners. I use HD springs.

...Or are you saying to just use torsion adjusters to lower the front? Would the dropped spindles be a better way to go without increasing harshness?

-I've got a stiffer adjustable front beam with 181 parts welded to it, then I use the dropped spindles from CB, together with a bolt-on vented disc conversion from Kerscher. I have to use 5,5 x 15 ET 40 rims (Porsche Fuchs, 914) to get the wheel as far in as possible, to have no problem with the fenders. I ride the front with original beetle Koni's in red and have heavy duty spring plates inside my front axle. This is just an example, but it's working pretty good.
The dropped spindles make the travel way really big, so you have to use buffers inside your front shocks, to stop the down travel before it's too late. The spindles are then much thicker, as you can see on my wheel choice.
It depends on your wheel choice, if you really want to go with 17", there's no use for dropped spindles, as there's no place for them, too. The wheels would be too far out.
16" with good rubbers would work with the spindles, but there's anytime the question, if a car has to be low or drive-able.

...How can I get these goods shipped to me in the U.S.A.?

-Some products are avbailable in the US, some from my father's shop, some from other shops in Germany, where I can organize them from. Problematic at the moment is the card payment, as it isn't working for a month now, but this will be solved in the next months, I hope!

...Would an aluminum front axle beam as used in off-road racers be a good way to go? Properly braced, it could be as strong as the Type 181's front axlebeam. What is it about the Type 181 axle that makes it better?

-An aluminum axle looks cool, works good on a spindle mount tire on dune buggies, but it's nothing for circle tracking. It's too weak, even if you brace it completely. Also you can't get ball joint front ends, so never use it.

...You mentioned that the front dampener mounts were weak if used with coil-overs. Why wouldn't I just seam weld and gusset this area? Wouldn't some type of 'strut tower brace' work as well?

-It wouldn't work, as you just can stiffen the top properly, but the 12mm stud way down is in no way good, to load the complete car weight on. It just works with completely rewelded axle ends or with a new front axle construction.

...Where can I get the adjustable spring plates you referred to? Are these the same as used in Porsche suspensions?

-They are produced by Remmele in France or KW in Germany, but you can get them from my father's shop, too.