just thought I'd share the wealth regarding bump steer bushes.......if you have lowered your fug at the front, your steering arm tie-rods are probably at a stupid diagonal angle when viewed from the front of the car - with the outside ball joints pointing upward - just like mine were........

So I bought some simple top-hat type inserts, which feature a tapered bore which sits on the ball joint......... which when fitted, allows the outer ball-joints to be installed upside-dowm, which makes the tie-rods nice and horizontal.......

They were ball ache to fit as you need to get the upright eyes drilled out to 17mm by a machine shop.........but I took the car out for a spin on saturday and I must say the grief was well worth it.........previously under hard braking the front end just locked up and skidded badly, as the front wheels had a visually major dose of toe-out, as the tie-rods had completley run out of travel........now it just stops harder than ever before B) B) B)

fitted some to mine when i built it. Handles good and like you say the arms sit nice and level even if i adjust the suspension to the lowest setting. Dont know how much difference it makes as i havent driven it with them the other way up.

believe me, it was a good move fitting them, braking is pretty bad without them, as the nose just dives down and the wheels get a massive dose of toe-out, and you just skid into oblivion

my next update will be a quick-steer bracket which will increase the length of the steering box arm, as the bug steering is currently a tad slow.........I bought one from bug-pack but it was for LHD :angry:

...or fit a smaller steering wheel for the same effect B)

Sorry I missed you at Stonar Knighty, I 've been away with work :(

Hi Knighty,

Some time ago now - but do you remember where you got these inserts from?...and what they were called? (probably can't do a Google on "top hat thingys so you can turn your ball joints off a beetle upside down")

Cheers

Paul

http://www.vwheritage.com/ssp/Steering/?templateID=ssp

5th item down.

Thanks

make sure these are drilled out by a machine shop with a pillar drill.......do not try and drill them out by fitting a 17mm drill to your hand held pistol drill, it just dosent work........they need to be centred to the original hole, clamped down firm and drilled out using a conventional 17mm drill........then you will find its a nice interference fit for the bush, I used a vice to clamp the two together.......dont hammer them in place as you will probably damage the bushes.......best of luck B)

Hi guys

Just to add a bit extra I bought some bump steer bushes from a guy I found on t'internet. His name is Simon Butland and he sells the bushes for £6.50 inc. p&p for a pair. It's a no brainer and he is really helpful and does them for early or late types.
His email address is butty01@tiscali.co.uk (so you can email and paypal him) and in his words 'As to posting the details on the forum , no problems , the reason i started doing these was the fact that everyone was getting there trousers pulled down on the price and i dont like that'. Nuff said really :D

Now I just need to start putting the front end back together so I can fit them and try them!!