Ride Heigth with a Ball Joint Beam

Mike-Presley · Post by **Mike-Presley** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 5:16 am

Where does a stock BJ front end ride in a Manx? My car is off road style and I want it to ride toward the top of the front end travel for ground clearance. Stock torsion bars, sway-a-way torsions, or will I need at least one torsion adjuster to get the proper ride height?

Ed-Chenal · Post by **Ed-Chenal** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:52 pm

I would be tempted to get raised spindles. They give you the added clearance without sacrificing the ride and your ball joints.
Modified stock spindles seem to hold up well. After market raised spindles drilled for a speedometer cable sometimes fail. Ask Stewart.

BuggyBob · Post by **BuggyBob** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 7:12 pm

Hey sandwinder,

I was with Stu when his spindle broke and I still havent figured out why. I have the same set up as he does but I havent broke it yet, knock on wood.

Installing raised spindles does help with ground clearance. after installed my buggy front went up 3.5 inches. I run street radials on the front so

my tires are not too agressive. Stu has offroad style tires and was turning right at the time his broke. Could that be the cause? I dont know. It could have been just a little loose which caused the spindle to break. I dont know. I would recommend installing the raised spindles but if you can not go with the ones drilled for a speedo cable. It really depends on your needs and set up.

MELFOL · Post by **MELFOL** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 2:55 am

I bought a used buggy with an avis adjuster. Formerly it was for drag racing / street. I adjusted it as high as it will go and it still didn't have enough height. So I put coil-over shocks on the front. That raised it about right but the cheap coil-overs don't last. That may help you eliminate what to do. If you can find a cheap Thing front end that will raise you a bit over two inches. Cut and rotate the tube is another way. Sway-a-way is easier to adjust than avis in my experience. Hope that helps.

Mike-Presley · Post by **Mike-Presley** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:25 am

Thanks for the info. I had bug with an Avis adjusters, what a pain to adjust. Sounds like what I need to do is use sway a way adjusters and tune it to exactly the height I want. Now back to the garage to plug away on in this project.

nroadrunner · Post by **nroadrunner** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:24 am

[b]BuggyBob[/b] wrote:Hey sandwinder,
I was with Stu when his spindle broke and I still havent figured out why. I have the same set up as he does but I havent broke it yet, knock on wood.
Installing raised spindles does help with ground clearance. after installed my buggy front went up 3.5 inches. I run street radials on the front so
my tires are not too agressive. Stu has offroad style tires and was turning right at the time his broke. Could that be the cause? I dont know. It could have been just a little loose which caused the spindle to break. I dont know. I would recommend installing the raised spindles but if you can not go with the ones drilled for a speedo cable. It really depends on your needs and set up.

What broke the weld the swindle part or the other half. Any photos of the broken part.
Nate

jsturtlebuggy · Post by **jsturtlebuggy** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:33 am

Stuart's spindle broke on the threads.

Nut, thrust washer, with end of spindle were all found together.

He was told it was american made.

nroadrunner · Post by **nroadrunner** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:59 am

Thanks for fast reply. I make my own raised spindle. I use OEM parts I use a large ball joint spindle with a link pin spindle cut off the parts I do not want dress the sides I well weld together with a large belt sander. Weld them together with a cold wire welder O yes they call that a MEG welder to day never had on Brake Nate

jsturtlebuggy · Post by **jsturtlebuggy** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:02 am

Nate,

I don't quite understand what you are saying about dressing the side and welding with a belt sander. Can you explain.

Manx-Australia · Post by **Manx-Australia** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:38 am

I have found the best option is to get a set of 181 Spindles. They give you the height and strength you are after without any of the issues associated with fabricating them. You also get the added benifit of larger ball joints and both ball joints being pressed in from below which is a far stronger design.

Mike-Presley · Post by **Mike-Presley** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:10 pm

If you go with the 181 spindles do the ball joints fit the type 1 lower arms? Do the ball joints press in from the other side or do you switch the arms to the other side of the beam.

jsturtlebuggy · Post by **jsturtlebuggy** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:54 pm

Using Thing/Type 181 spindles it is best if you get the trailing arms with them.

The upper trailing arms of a Bug can be used if the 181 ball joints are used.

The lower arms I don't know for sure if you can turn them upside down (using them on opposite sides) and using 181 ball joints will work. There was a thread on another site that covers Thing/181 where it was talked about.