I'm running a custom 6" narrowed BJ beam and I did have to make some modifications to the sheet metal inboard of the towers. IMHO, a 4" narrower BJ beam "shouldn't" require any bodywork. The 6" chop was necessary for me because I am running a Chevy pattern and my 16"x7" front rims still have a significant amount of dish to them. The wheels also sit inward about an inch as well. My turning radius has increased, but it is only ever noticeable when you need to make that really tight turn. Otherwise, parallel parking and other such manoeuvres won't be affected.
You will have to shorten your tie rods, however. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brian Blakesley Sent: February-25-09 1:59 PM To: Air-Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List Subject: Re: [vintagvw] 4" Narrowed front beam (UNCLASSIFIED) On Wed, 25 Feb 2009, Pieretti, Luis A Mr CIV USA FORSCOM became famous by...: > I am seriously thinking about buying one of these for my '63 T1. > I will be using BRM wheels with 145 tires on front. > Any comments? I'm running one of Pete's (Airkewld) 4" ball joint beams in my '66 and I love it. The one thing I'd suggest is that you make sure 4" is enoug for the backspacing on yor BRM's. I'm running 5 spokes and I wanted to fill the wheel well so I went 4" If you want it "tucked" with those BRM's you might look at 5 or 6" and you'll probably end up sacrificing some turn radius. Why not 165/45's instead of 145's? They're actually smaller overall diameter and give you a wider footprint (IE more stopping power) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Brian Blakesley | "We think we are free. We are not. Our leaders Unix Systems Admin | have us believe we are, because the perfect Freelance Human | slave is the one that believes he is free" Tie Fighter Pilot | -- Christian Gossett 'The Red Star' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 3893 (20090226) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 3893 (20090226) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
