Beam Shortening

[richiep]

Anybody know the pro's and con's of beam shortening?

These are the ones I have come up with

Pros -
Larger choice of wheels available that will fit under the arches.

I can put a decent amount of rubber on the front ie 195s




Cons -
Increased spring rate due to shorter torsion leaves. Stiffening an already stiff lowered front end.

Steering geometry altered. (Can't remember the name of the angle but its the one that makes your inside cornering wheel steer more than your outside one)

Can you get shorter anti roll (sway) bars?

Room for error on the part of the person shortening the beam.

Just thought I'd aks before I completely rule out doing it.

[vujade]

one pro would be keeping your turning radius the same.
if you go with larger wheels & dont narrow your beam, your turning radius will be hindered.

[kdanie]

The steering concept you were thinking of is called "Ackerman".

Custom sway bars are necessary. Use dropped spindles for most of the lowering and the adjustment for fine tuning.

Don't narrow the beam yourself unless you are very confident in your welding/fabricating skills. Having a beam break at speed is very bad.

I narrowed my beam 1 1/4" on each side myself, this puts the shock towers 1/4" from the inner fender sheet metal on my '68. 195's on 5.5" Porsche 912 steel wheels fit easily under the stock fenders. I think 205's or 215's on 7" alloy wheels would be easy with the correct offset. I am working on a reasonably priced solution for a sway bar.
ken

[richiep]

Thanks for the info.

Do you know what the offset of your 912 wheels are kdanie. I am looking at using some 5.5in fuchs wheels if I can find any. I would also like to run 195 width tires if possible - Eagle f1s. If not then I thought I'd give some 175 Continentals a try.

Have you got any plans to post some pics of your car, I would like to see how the wheels sit in the arches.

Cheers

[John]

i had my beam shortened 4 inch. I am now running 195's on the front well let you know how it all looks and feels after I put the tie rods and custom shocks in. The beam was done by Ron Lummus Racing. At www.ronlummusracing.com great guys over there