HeatAttack
Member
98 vw beetle DIY lift plans.
Hey everyone, I know this thread has been going on for almost 10 years and not sure if anyone is even following it anymore.
I just purchased a 98 VW beetle that I plan in running in the upcoming Gambler 500. Naturally I want to get some lift and larger tires on it to prep for the event. After reading through every page of the thread I am pretty sure I know how I want to go about it. But if some of you have any thoughts or notice something I have completely missed I would greatly appreciate the advice.
A couple of specific things to my needs and the use of this vehicle. It is not a daily driver. It will only be driven off road ever. It will be hauled on a trailer to and from any location it is driven. Overall road drive quality is not really an issue at all. The rear is going to be slightly heaver than normal. I plan on carrying toolboxes, gear, and 2 full size spare tires in the back. Back seat may be deleted.
I plan on completely removing (with a possible modification later to refit them) the front and rear bumper and fenders. Bumpers will be replaced with custom tube bumpers/guards. Ideally this is for larger than normal tire clearance. Although I am not sure what offset/spacers I would need. I would like to fit somewhere around a 30-31inch tire, preferably on the stock wheels. If a little bit of rubbing happens at max turn and I cant cut it out of the way that may be okay.
After reading through everything. My plan right now for the lift is, Wagon springs and shocks all around front and rear, 4x2 hex and 2 inch pipe spacer and angle iron bottom shock mount extension for the rear, and 1'' pipe spacer for the front. I would expect some where around 3 inches of lift from that combo? And then I would gain about another 2 inches from the larger tires.
I have no doubt in my ability to do the work, but I am not at all versed in the effects of what doing the work will cause the vehicle to do. I also know nothing about tire sizes, spacers, and offsets. Like i said it wont be a road driver, it might get 500 miles on it a year at most off road. I just dont want to over stress anything that it will break too quickly, or over lift it to the point that some linkage I didn't think about is binding.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
RTA
Hey everyone, I know this thread has been going on for almost 10 years and not sure if anyone is even following it anymore.
I just purchased a 98 VW beetle that I plan in running in the upcoming Gambler 500. Naturally I want to get some lift and larger tires on it to prep for the event. After reading through every page of the thread I am pretty sure I know how I want to go about it. But if some of you have any thoughts or notice something I have completely missed I would greatly appreciate the advice.
A couple of specific things to my needs and the use of this vehicle. It is not a daily driver. It will only be driven off road ever. It will be hauled on a trailer to and from any location it is driven. Overall road drive quality is not really an issue at all. The rear is going to be slightly heaver than normal. I plan on carrying toolboxes, gear, and 2 full size spare tires in the back. Back seat may be deleted.
I plan on completely removing (with a possible modification later to refit them) the front and rear bumper and fenders. Bumpers will be replaced with custom tube bumpers/guards. Ideally this is for larger than normal tire clearance. Although I am not sure what offset/spacers I would need. I would like to fit somewhere around a 30-31inch tire, preferably on the stock wheels. If a little bit of rubbing happens at max turn and I cant cut it out of the way that may be okay.
After reading through everything. My plan right now for the lift is, Wagon springs and shocks all around front and rear, 4x2 hex and 2 inch pipe spacer and angle iron bottom shock mount extension for the rear, and 1'' pipe spacer for the front. I would expect some where around 3 inches of lift from that combo? And then I would gain about another 2 inches from the larger tires.
I have no doubt in my ability to do the work, but I am not at all versed in the effects of what doing the work will cause the vehicle to do. I also know nothing about tire sizes, spacers, and offsets. Like i said it wont be a road driver, it might get 500 miles on it a year at most off road. I just dont want to over stress anything that it will break too quickly, or over lift it to the point that some linkage I didn't think about is binding.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
RTA