beam parts

Gary1719 · Post by **Gary1719** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:46 am

Okay i noticed that there are bearings and some sort of plastic black sleeve that comes out of the beam when you pull the arms out. now i have seen the orange type you can put back in here when you replace the arms. but are you using bearing with these also .

manxdavid · Post by **manxdavid** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:54 am

If the bearings are still good them keep them, they're much better than the replacement urethane ones. If your inner bushes are plastic then it sounds like you may have a replacement, ie not genuine VW beam.

5150bossman · Post by **5150bossman** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:20 pm

California Import Parts has all the parts for the inside of the beam. When I rebuilt our BJ beam, I tried the poly bushings first. I was not pleased at all with how they functioned. It basically locked up the front end on all but the biggest bumps. Going down the freeway was like being on a boat going through heavy chop. When we replaced the poly bushings with the needle bearings and mica bushings, the ride went back to normal. The only issues to watch out for are that once you break out the old mica bushings, you need to be careful pressing the new ones in (I destroyed a couple before I was successful in getting all the new ones in - DON'T press them in past the stop dimples!) and that the upper and lower needle bearings are a different size. The attached link has an exploded diagram that you can click on for the different parts. http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp ... %2D021%2DF

Gary1719 · Post by **Gary1719** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:28 am

So bossman there are bushings that the bearings are sitting in?

5150bossman · Post by **5150bossman** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:39 pm

No, it's the torsion arms that actually ride on the bushings. The bushings are to the inside of the beam, and the needle bearings to the outside. Both the bushings and the bearings are gently pressed directly into the beam (don't try to pound them in as they will break). Just make sure everything has a good coating of grease as you assemble it. Then load the void with grease through the zerk fitting once everything is reassembled.