Narrowed front beam

Don't buy those ones Berg advertises, those things suck. The ones in the first pic from cb are nice.

I have the GB690 adjusters. I agree, they're not m third choice.

I had a beam long ago w/ the CB style......I liked them much better.

The GB adjusters are a bit of a pain to adjust unless you on a wheel rack. And when the car is low they are the first to scrape, Even if you have a short bolt. I broke the bolt off and lost an adjuster. Its now welded on. CB is way im going next. A little tricky to install for the first time So you need to understand the way holds the tortions and its all good after that.

Depends how much talent, time and/or money you have to blow. I agree the CB adjuster are the better choice for adjustability, but they do require you to disassemble the beam, cut it, weld in the adjuster(s), and reassemble. You need to make sure the welds are solid and the beam is kept straight. With the Berg unit, you don't have to cut the beam. Simply drill out the slot and weld on the locater plate. I've seen it done without disassembling the beam.

Kafer_Mike said:

Depends how much talent, time and/or money you have to blow. I agree the CB adjuster are the better choice for adjustability, but they do require you to disassemble the beam, cut it, weld in the adjuster(s), and reassemble. You need to make sure the welds are solid and the beam is kept straight. With the Berg unit, you don't have to cut the beam. Simply drill out the slot and weld on the locater plate. I've seen it done without disassembling the beam.

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Oops. Missed that you were looking to narrow the beam. In that case, go with the CB ones...

63Vdubmann said:

Just go with a 4" Aluminum one. There peerrrdy

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And they bend. Too light wt for a street car IMO.

Hotrodvw said:

And they bend. Too light wt for a street car IMO.

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Everyones ALWAYS got an opinion! I'm currently remaking the mounting hardware so well see if it holds up like I think it should.
Are you speaking from personal experience or here say?
Chad

Heresay of course. I will ALWAYS have an opinion. 8) I wouldn't run one based on what I've read. They're made for a sand rail.....for good reason. It's not necessarily the hardware that's the issue. The torsion arms being supported by the aluminum tubing is the issue I believe. I'm not trying to discourage you.......please, by all means prove me wrong. Just because you're wanting to run one doesn't mean it's a good idea though. How many street cars do you see running aluminum beams? I get to the poont where I have to concede on vertain things, and figure people run certain parts for a reason.

Aluminum front beam in my light race car which sees a lot less abuse than a street car will, bent my aluminum beam.

They don't bend like you think they do though. They twist. Resulting in a LOT of negative caster which makes the car very hard to control at speed.

Dune buggy's get away with aluminum beams because they clamp to the chassis out near the towers, not near the middle like on a stock frame head.

I have a 'like new' aluminum beam in my garage that is unusable now. Too purdy to throw away though. lol

Right, it's a torsional twist related to the upper and lower tubes. The upper tube goes forward, the lower one stays or goes backward....You now are in 'negative' caster. Things get real interesting when that happens.

Has anyone tried Thing style outer beam mounts to keep this from happening???

How far is everyone going as far as narrowing their beam? I know most people are not using the shock towers after narrowing the beam 4" and more, is that safe in a car that sees track time? I want to get a narrowed beam for my 59' but I'm not cutting or modifying the body to get one with shock towers to fit so should I stick with a 2" beam?

I think you can go 4" w/ shock towers......I wouldn't go any narrower if you're hitting the track.

Yeah but then you have to cut out the body for it to fit and thats what I am trying to avoid. Ball joint would be the way to go but I'm kinda partial to my original pan for my 59'!

Lanky said:

Yeah but then you have to cut out the body for it to fit and thats what I am trying to avoid. Ball joint would be the way to go but I'm kinda partial to my original pan for my 59'!

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I did 3 1/2 inch narrow. I did not have to cut out the body on the 61' sedan.

Build mounts off the top of the Shock tower. Simple fix

I really think it boils down to who's building the beam. I have seen some w/ shock towers @ 4". I know nothing about LP beams though. :happy:

Hotrodvw said:

And they bend. Too light wt for a street car IMO.

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:agree: Aluminum is a soft metal. It's pretty, but not something I would trust to stand up to potholes & curbs. I certainly wouldn't want to be the one to find out how an aluminum beam would fair in an accident. If this is going in a street car that will see road duty, I'd say you're better off having a beam coated. The finish will be much easier to keep looking nice vs. trying to keep aluminum polished.

Jrice said:

I did 3 1/2 inch narrow. I did not have to cut out the body on the 61' sedan.

Build mounts off the top of the Shock tower. Simple fix

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Do you by any chance have any pictures of it?