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Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:31 am

Just finished installing a 3" Narrowed/Lowered beam on my 71 Std Beetle. It came with the narrowed tie rods. After "centering" the steering box and hooking up the tie rods, do you just "eyeball" the orientation (straight-ahead) of the wheels/tires to prepare for toe-in adjustments?

I did just as described above, set a rough toe-in to take to the Alignment Shop and everything feels excellent on the road except ONE thing.....
Good turning radius on left turns, not so good on the right. What am I missing?

Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:15 am

Are you sure the steering box was centered? I know it seems too obvious but it's easy to be off a little and it's the first thing I'd check.

Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:22 am

OK, how is the gearbox properly centered?

Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:10 pm

There may be a more scientific or VW specific (?) way of doing it but what I've always done is to disconnect the steering box from the steering linkage (so all you have is steering wheel, column and box) and turn the steering wheel all the way to lock in one direction. Then turn it in the other direction to lock while counting the revolutions of the wheel. Divide the revolutions in half and turn that amount back to find center, stopping when the steering wheel is straight. Then hook the steering linkage up with front wheels straight.

...and then take it to the alignment shop, of course. :)

Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:45 am

what *looks* like center for the steering box may not actually be center.

similar to what dubilyou said, but do with steering box. . .

Disconnect steering coupler, turn steering box opart to stop in one direction, then count turns to get it to stop other way . . half of that is exactly center . . set itto center, then hook up steering wheel to be level.

after that, what I did was attach 2 rods, one on each hub, extending 5' to the front of my car.then I eyeballed it to adjust the passenger side wheel to be pointing straight ahead, then used a tape measure, and points on my rods at 3' and 5' from the hub, to get the toe in I wanted, adjusting on the driver side.

Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:07 am

I beleive there is a notch on the steering box where it comes outto the coupling. That is the center. it should be centered on top looking down on it.

Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:31 am

69vduber wrote: I beleive there is a notch on the steering box where it comes outto the coupling. That is the center. it should be centered on top looking down on it.

that may be true but it may be rotated one revolution to the right(because he has more left steer)

don't go off the steering wheel, go off the box, if the steering wheel is crooked when you hook it back up, remove the steering wheel(NOT steering column) and rotate-the hub is made of splines so you can fine tine for a centered steering wheel

Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:08 am

I agree , I would center the box , attach the column , you may need to agjust the tie rods and eyeball the wheels centered, keeping the notch in the middle. Then adjust the steering wheel after aglinment,

Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:50 am

Well, Dubllyou, you were right - I did not know the proper way to "center" the steering box. The process seems very logical and I'm certain will fix my problem!

Thanks for everyone's input - I will try all of the above. I could not find an adequate procedure to center the box any where else on theSamba.

Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:48 am

Dubllyou, is the steering linkage the "drop arm" in the bentley manual? In other words, is it the arm that hangs below the steering box that connects to the tie rods? If so, then it looks like I need to remove that arm from the box and move it over a bit.

Once the box is centered, how should that drop arm normally be positioned (any notches?). Am I getting into trouble by messing with repositioning that arm?

Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:09 am

Yes the "drop arm" or pitman arm is what you need to disconnect from the steering box in order to center it. You should not run into any trouble by doing so. The important part is that the steering gears are in the center of their movement when everything is hooked back up. If there is a notch in the splined shaft, as indicated above, then that should be center, top but can be off a revolution. If the "center" of the box leaves the steering wheel crooked, just pull the it and realign it.

Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:40 am

Doggone it.....the drop arm of the steering box has 5 splines and so does the shaft coming out of the box itself. No way to adjust......help!

Mon Jul 16, 2012 1:16 pm

It looks like there is no "fine" adjustment with the splines as the shafts are notched for the retaining bolts. When the box is centered, the notch for the drop arm should be in the right position. If the wheels are still not straight you may have to re-adjust the tie-rod ends...if there are enough threads. If everything is straight and centered and you still don't have full travel in one direction then there may be something binding somewhere or...? Maybe someone else has suggestions.,

Mon Jul 16, 2012 1:29 pm

Yeah, I think my problem is with the "shortened" tie rods that came with my narrowed beam. The right tie rod (long one) measures around 22 3/4"....i thinks it's too long since it's already adjusted to min length with the tie rod ends all the way in. I think shortening this tie rod will allow me to adjust everything properly. Plenty of adjustment avail on the short (left) tie rod.

Anyone know the proper length of a tie rod narrowed (shortened) to work with a 3" narrowed beam?

Thanks again for all the replies.

Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:04 pm

If logic prevails, both tie rods should be about 1-1/2" shorter than stock. Maybe they gave you one stock length by accident...?

Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:07 pm

shankeroid wrote: Yeah, I think my problem is with the "shortened" tie rods that came with my narrowed beam. The right tie rod (long one) measures around 22 3/4"....i thinks it's too long since it's already adjusted to min length with the tie rod ends all the way in. I think shortening this tie rod will allow me to adjust everything properly. Plenty of adjustment avail on the short (left) tie rod.

Anyone know the proper length of a tie rod narrowed (shortened) to work with a 3" narrowed beam?

Thanks again for all the replies.

Take the tie-rod end off and look inside the tube. You have to make sure there is enough threads otherwise you may need to tap it. Then you can cut an inch off and re-thread the tie-rod end into the tube. re-install and check your adjustments. There should be a line(groove) in the bottom of the box, it should be lined-up horizontally with the beam. Also, as stated sbove count the rotation right to left and then line up the groove. When centered correctly, the steering knuckles(mounting points for the tie-rods) will not be even. the driver's side will be slightly higher.