Thing is basically the same as Bug, just with slightly heavier springs - the big difference on Thing is the spindles are different, and all 4 ball joints point down for more ground clearance - not really what you're after. There's some reinforcement of the shock towers and additional braces from the outboard ends to the pan on the Thing beam too, but those are there for off-road rigidity and don't really do much for load capacity. You can buy 15% stiffer-than-stock torsion leaves to add some capacity to a Bug front end, but more than an extra couple hundred pounds up there is too much. For 700 pounds you'd need to graft in a Bus beam - that'd be do-able but quite ambitious. It'd be a similar major fabrication project to make a Type III beam fit and that wouldn't gain as much. The next point of failure would be the chassis "frame head". If you can put most of the battery weight right behind the front seats it should be feasible to do this based on a stock pan, but a purpose-built chassis would be better. And if it's a SUPER Beetle, I'd look for a different car - their McPherson strut front suspension is marginal with NO additional weight on it.
Brakes should be upgraded too - you can use Karmann-Ghia components or an aftermarket kit to fit discs to the front. Disc rears can be done with aftermarket stuff or Porsche 944/924T parts (some modification is required and they take 5-lug wheels). Type III rear drum brakes should be sufficient though, and they're a straightforward bolt-on (even the e-brake cables hook right up). Rear torsion bars from an IRS Squareback are 23.5mm (vs 22mm for the Bug) which should be enough, but again aftermarket springs are available. Torsion bar spring rate is proportional to the diameter raised to the fourth power, so 23.5s are ~30% stiffer, 24 ~42%, 25 ~67%, etc. http://www.swayaway.com/VWLeafSprings.php (note that these do not have the grubscrew divots in them, there'll be additional expense involved there). http://www.swayaway.com/TorsionBars.php (IRS takes the 26-9/16" length). --- Dan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have been contacted by someone doing a electric > conversion to a kit car > who wants to put some batteries up front....like 700 > lbs worth. I'm > thinking he will need a heavier duty front end. > Will a Thing or Type 3 > front end fit on a Beetle chassis? If so are they > heavy duty enough? What > are some other options? > > -Dan ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
