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Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic
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Coffee Freak
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd like to lower my 72 SB about 5" up front. It was set up as a Baja by the previous owner so the fenders are cut WAY back. I can drop 5" and not come close to them. If I start with some 2.5" springs, what else will I need? It looks like adjustable struts and inserts, correct? I'd like to keep it cheap as I only have $600 into the car so far including the 2.5" springs. If I can cut and weld stock stuff that's ideal. I've read this and there is a lot of abbreviations and conflicting info in this 25 page sticky. Not to mention the fluff posts. 😀
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 2:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you do it do it right. Do it for the safty of it.. Toplineparts.com RB
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Coffee Freak
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 5:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

RailBoy wrote:
If you do it do it right. Do it for the safty of it.. Toplineparts.com RB


I'm all about safety, but I just have a problem with plunking down money that I don't need to when I can make the same part myself. For example, I can go to Lowes and get a pair of conduit clamps for a buck each and voila, I have their "Brake Line Clamp kit" that they charge $8 for. They charge $50 a piece for strut inserts when you can order them from rockauto.com for MK1 Rabbits for around $15 a piece. I know they are a business and need to make a profit, but I'm a pretty resourceful guy. I will research the hound out of something before I spend the bucks. Honestly, I like the idea of the adjust-a-strut versus me cutting and welding the stock housing because when I like at the time I'd spend cutting and welding (I don't have access to a machine shop), I'd be money ahead with the adjust-a-struts.

So, if I can use MK1 struts in the adjust-a-strut housings and the 2.5" Mid America springs, I'd be about $200 into the setup. My question is how low will that combination get me? Is it a cumulative drop (meaning that you add the 2.5" to the 2-4" adjustable struts for 4.5-6.5" or does the adjust-a-strut dictate the final height?
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RailBoy
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 5:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Freak, those are questions to put in to the guys at Topline. Thing is it is there business is to lower Super Beetles and they do it right. Like you mentioned, they are "Plug & Play" so in an afternoon you are up and running.

Thing is they do make set-ups that puts your car on the ground to the point you have to do ball joint flips so they don't bind nor drag. Yep, real low, thing is also you said about heating springs to lower them, the point here is Topline Kits lower the car but keep your suspension working, not just bottoming out.

Also, yea, put the call into Topline Jon, he is a very nice guy and also knows about wheels, have you thought of the wheels & tires you plan to run? That is a whole nother topic for fitment has to be correct to keep them from rubbing, and yep, and if you go disk, you have the selection of Toyota, Honda, Porsche, all kinds of wheels, but the point here is what you have or plan to get, you have to know measurments of the diameters, widths, and ET's for proper fitment, also, on this topic, did you know the wheel bases change from year to year on the Supers over there whole production lifespan? RB
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obesepolice
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Topline all the way! Jon is fantastic and so are his products. Here is how low my super was with adjustable struts springs on the lowest setting with 145/65.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


It was way way to low, I hit everything could barley get out of my driveway. I switched up the wheels and put a bigger tire size in front to get the front sway bar off the ground a little bit while still tucking the tire.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Im running 195/65 in the rear down one inner click and 175/65 up front with topline struts and springs all the way down. With the bigger tires in front I now have about 4 inches clearence rather than 2. Much much better to drive. I dont have to swerve around everything.

ALSO I have a pair of almost new MAXX struts laying around that I might sell for cheap PM if interested.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 7:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yea I bit the Bullet and went all the way Topline, Disk F&R, Rear Sway Bar, HD Front Lowered Sway Bar, plus drilled rotors for Porsche Wheels for they were the best deal going when I did mine. I am running 205/50/16" Fronts Tires, 225/50/16" for Rear Tires.

It is set-up for back roads driving with Chatter Bumps and All so I Run Oil shocks on all Four Corners, I figured that GR-2's(Excell G's) would be to stiff for the chatter bumps of the crummy back roads, and we all know that KYB Gas Adjust are even to stiff for race tracks do to how light Beetles are.

But here are some photos, have enough suspension movement to handle daily driving condictions which was the plan for the car. Something else it was all second hand with the suspension, just checked the classifieds for a while to find it, but the disk were new and a few other parts, and as for the brake line brackets, zip-ties, even cheaper.... Smile

Thing is there are 3 companies world wide that makes these kits and all, one out of Germany that uses Porsche Stuff, then out out of Australia, which both I forget the names of, but google it for a bit, maybe you will get a better price, after shipping and machine work which the German Company one requires. RB

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Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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TheAmazingDave
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

obesepolice wrote:
Topline all the way! Jon is fantastic and so are his products. Here is how low my super was with adjustable struts springs on the lowest setting with 145/65.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


It was way way to low, I hit everything could barley get out of my driveway. I switched up the wheels and put a bigger tire size in front to get the front sway bar off the ground a little bit while still tucking the tire.


Reminds me of what I did. Put my struts on at the lowest spring setting, and after a few weeks, the new springs settled and the front was much lower that I anticipated. I brought the rear down to match, but it was just too low. Looked great, drove like shit. I also neglected to flip my tie rods, and they got crushed against the body. Had to raise the front up a bit after munching my frame head on a few pot holes. Luckily, it didn't destroy the frame head, but I'm going to need it on a rack to make sure my control arm mounts are still straight. It aligned okay, so not too worried about that yet. It's on my list...

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


So I lifted it back up one "click" and put on much shorter tires. Here's how he sits now.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


And my clearance at the frame head, no passengers and a quarter tank, clears a Bic by about 1/4".

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Then, I did an engine refresh a few weeks ago, which included a merged header and "phatboy" exhaust. Now I found the rear too low. Header was dragging everywhere with a slight incline, and I destroyed the first muffler in a week (6 days and 22 hours). I like the way it sits though so instead of re-indexing the rear again, I installed some Monroe air shocks to lift the back when I'm out running errands and I know I have driveways to hit. Works great.

I am probably going to step back up to bigger tires to close the fender gap back up, and I'm debating whether I want to add air management for the rear shocks, or just save my pennies and do a full air ride.

Don't forget the tie rod flip kit! Can you spot the carnage?

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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obesepolice
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had mine really low but it was terrible to drive plus with the OG sprint stars there is no way with the offset.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 9:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

obesepolice wrote:
I had mine really low but it was terrible to drive plus with the OG sprint stars there is no way with the offset.


Did you do anything to your rear end to get it down that far? In my top pic above, that's sitting on the stock bump stops. I took them off (the rubber bumpers) as a test, and only had about an inch of clearance between the stop mount and the stop "plate". It was not drive-able like that, and not as low as yours is there. Curious how you got the extra clearance.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="xBigDx408x"]
obesepolice wrote:
I had mine really low but it was terrible to drive plus with the OG sprint stars there is no way with the offset.


Did you do anything to your rear end to get it down that far? In my top pic above, that's sitting on the stock bump stops. I took them off (the rubber bumpers) as a test, and only had about an inch of clearance between the stop mount and the stop "plate". It was not drive-able like that, and not as low as yours is there. Curious how you got the extra clearance.[/quote

That set up was with two inner clicks and 165/80. All I did was cut the bump stops. It basically rode on the bump stops.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey all I know this has probably been listed and documented somewhere

I have a 74 superbeetle -2 bolt. If I wanted to move to a 73 -3 bolt. I would just need

1973
Center tie rod
Left and right tie rods
Ball joints
3 bolt struts
Both control arms
Spindles

Then out of that I could really get everything from topline, except the control arms and spindles, correct?

For those that have done the conversion.. was it worth it for that extra few inches.

Thanks
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 7:15 pm    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

74 Sunbug here
I did the 3 bolt conversion
73 control arms
tie rods
73 spindles
73 ball joints
Topline Super Low Kit and Sport + Springs
flip kit

I went 2 spindles in the back and third rung from the bottom on the strut
175/65 all around

The height of it looked great but it rode pretty bad Sad .. steering was pretty jumpy and harsh.

Did I go too low??
I am going to try and have my shop raise it one rung next week.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 7:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

It sounds like you have bumpsteer. You need the flip it kit from topline.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

I just finished lowering a 71 with all topline stuff which is awesome but no one had talked about get the front end aligned did anyone have to buy the extra camber kit that they sell to get it to align up correctly I lowered it about 3.5 to 4 inches. Let me know.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

i raised mine up one rung and its just right.. I also used the extra camber kit.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 9:44 am    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

Pardon my ignorance....When I bought my car I got a set of 2.5 lowering front spindles that were never installed by the PO. I just want to lower the front. Is this an acceptable way?? Has anyone gone this way?? Had planned on installing this weekend.

BTW, I went on the topline website, wow great products!!

Mike
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 1:09 pm    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

galencurrington wrote:
I just finished lowering a 71 with all topline stuff which is awesome but no one had talked about get the front end aligned did anyone have to buy the extra camber kit that they sell to get it to align up correctly I lowered it about 3.5 to 4 inches. Let me know.


Don't hold me to this, ask Jon at Topline instead, but I think if you go lower than 2 inches, you need the camber kit.
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 8:58 pm    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

question for all you guys...


I have a 73 super, 3-bolt front end, currently on stock 4.5j et42 steelies with 185/65/15 tires. so far it has tapered springs, but no other modifications.

I was thinking of getting a super low kit and dropping the front about 2~2.5" max from where it sits now. from what i can see i have decent enough clearance now, but was wondering if this setup will work with my current tires.

Also- i was looking at getting the EMPI 5.5/15 4/130 cosmic wheels, and they say they have a 35 mm offset/ 4 1/2 backspacing. numbers come from the EMPI catalog but the wheels are for sale here:

http://carcraftstore.com/newcosmo5wheelsforwide5and4lugvw.aspx

any ideas?
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:19 am    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

Going to to a 2" drop up front (cut/re-weld strut housing). What year/type of Scirocco strut insert will fit the factory housing cut down 2"?
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:33 am    Post subject: Re: Official "Super Beetle" lowering topic Reply with quote

Why cut good original housings? I'm sure someone out there would buy those for a stock resto (I just bought a pair) and u can find good used drop housings out there too (I have a pair).
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