WHY?: narrowed front beam

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:59 am

who here is running a narrowed front beam and why? how can I tell if I will need one? Can I tell before I order my wheels, while I have my manx apart? Thanks -Brian

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:17 am

Wish I had one, basicaly for a street buggy its better if you have the suspension set low, so that the tires dont rub the fenders,or you could get narrower and offset wheels that tuck under more and clear the fender lip. For offroad I dont see the use of a narowed beam.

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:55 am

I don't think you can run a narrowed beam on a glass buggy because the shock towers will interfere with the body.

jr_vw2 · Post by **jr_vw2** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:03 pm

I narrowed my beam 2" and welded in adjusters and I dont have any clearance issues. I narrowed my beam because I wanted to tuck my front wheels under the fenders more. I also wanted to adjuste for the wheel adapters that I am running which are about 1.25" thick. Once I switch to new drums that are drilled for my wheels they should tuck under very nice. You can check out my buggy pics for more photos.

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:37 pm

Did you move the shock towers in 2" also. On an original Manx the top of the shock tower actually fits up into a pocket in the body.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 3:19 pm

well, I am building a street buggy, so I would like to know if the shock towers would clear also. I'm running link pin, by the way. Do the tires rub the body or anything with a narrowed front beam? Thanks -Brian

5150bossman · Post by **5150bossman** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:32 pm

Here's an interesting post on the Texas Manx Club's site on the subject. http://www.texasmanxclub.com/bboard/viewtopic.php?t=199 :2cents:

jr_vw2 · Post by **jr_vw2** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:56 pm

I moved the shock towers in 2" as well my body is diff. from a manx it does not have a pocket for the shock tower. I dont know about any other bodies but It fits perfect on my body. I had to trim my shock stud bolts about .25" so they wouldnt jab a hole through the fenders. Other than that it fits perfect. The tires do not rub, but I still have all the spring plates in my torsion tubes and it is SLAMMED so the front end is VERY stiff on it right now.