Bent rear beam - idea on how to bend it back

I have bent rear beam on my 2003 wagon. The extreme toe out is very visible from the rear. When I removed the tires that the PO had on there they were worn down the the steel radial on the insides.


Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the middle of the beam gets bent downwards from the wheels hitting potholes, etc. The wheels go up forcing the beam to bend downwards in the middle. (I think)


What about jacking the car up with a jack on each side by the rear wheels and putting a truck jackstand right in the middle of the rear beam. The beam would be a few inches above the jackstand. Then you would release both jacks at the same time and let the car drop onto the jackstand. I would think the weight of the car should bend the rear beam upwards getting it back to where it should be.


Is this a crazy idea or not?

Forget it.

You'll never get it exactly straight, which is what you need to do. Find a car that was hit in the front at a junkyard and do a pick-n-pull on it.

Thanks. Why can't you get it straight?



I found a method online to help determine if the beam is bent by measuring the distance between where the shocks attach to the beam. I measured the wagon's beam today and it was 43 3/4". My other TDI's beam measures out at 43 29/32"



This would not take long to try and you could check whether the beam was straight by measuring between the shock attachment points. It seems much easier and cheaper than pulling a beam from the junkyard. And if you bend it too much, then hit the junkyard.

Or damage your mounting points and either kill the shell or spend 10 times the time and money getting it fixed

I wouldn't but as the old saying goes, not my monkey not circus...

Please tell us how it turns out and photos please

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Good point about the mounting points. Wouldn't they also be damaged when the beam got bent in the first place? Same force, just opposite.



I have read about people using a lift and a long bar to bend the rear beam back into shape. If the mounting points can be damaged that easily, then couldn't they be damaged with that method as well?


I'm not saying that I am going to do it, just tossing an idea out there. Hopefully we can get some other people's thoughts about this as well.


I do have another sedan that has accident damage and a previously bent rear beam that I could try this on first if needed. The car does run and drive fine though, so I don't really want to mess that one up either.

The one thing you need to realize is by just "bending it back", even if successful, is putting all that ride in the car at risk.

From a materials standpoint, you have already yielded the material into plastic deformation. Once that happens, you bending it back is going to send the material deeper along the deformation curve via cold work. You won't be far from ultimate yield...ie the material will fail. It won't take much force. A deep pothole maybe, who knows. Likely, over time too, if it doesn't fail, it will just bend back to how it is now. Know what happens when you bend steel back and forth a lot? It's a major structural component of the car that shouldn't be compromised.

Don't risk it. Not just for the sake of anyone in your car, but for those that are driving around you when it fails.

Can it be bent back? Depends what kinds of fabrication skill you have. Should it be? The short answer is no.

He has a wagon. Are those beams identical to the sedans?

If they are the same, they should be identical to the gas cars. In NMex. you ought to be able t find a corrosion-free beam pretty easy (if they are all the same). Probably even one "fresher" with less miles on the rear bearings.

Get one from the junkyard, KrashDH outlines why you shouldn’t bend it back. These rear beams don’t bend from most “normal” potholes. The PO hit a curb or something like that.

A gasser or diesel axle beam will fit, unless the wagon has something special about the rear beam any golf or Jetta should work. Maybe even a beetle but I’m really not sure on that one.

It's my understanding MKIV Golf FWD (2 & 4 door) and MKIV Jetta FWD (sedan & wagon) are interchange-able, but I recall the NB being different.


There are supposed to be a few models with a larger integrated RSB, that could be deemed more desirable, maybe 2004+ GLI and/or 20th AE/337 GTI's??

Always possible, but I would just replace it. Might try something like that with a 2 wheel trailer.
Good news is it's not a terrible hard job.

My question is are you trying to convince us or yourself? If you ask if it's a good idea and pretty unanimously it's not thought and then debate why you think you should do it, just do it and stop asking questions. maybe it works for you or maybe the jack stand misses it's mark and you ram it into the underside of the car and damage who knows what.

Good luck

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Trying to straighten it (aka having someone professionally do it) will cost you more out of pocket than just getting a new beam axle from a JY.

You're not going to be able to straighten it yourself so just replace it with a good one, there's plenty of them out there.

Steve

WildChild80 said:

............................. If you ask if it's a good idea and pretty unanimously it's not thought and then debate why you think you should do it, just do it and stop asking questions.....................

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He's just throwing it out there, this is how we learn.

mrfiat said:

Is this a crazy idea or not? ...............

I'm not saying that I am going to do it, just tossing an idea out there. Hopefully we can get some other people's thoughts about this as well.................

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Crazy yes.

How we learn is doing it the hard way or asking questions and following advice...or back to the hard way of not listening. It's a simple task to get the beam off, the first time sucks but when you realize it's easier than changing front control arms it's a no brainier...I'll never ride in this car so, like Nike says, just do it...

Throwing it out there...and debating...if you think you got it then go for it...and if you screw something up just eat your humble pie, I've gotten to the point in my life that I don't really care for the taste anymore and sometimes can't afford it.

At best you get it close and it chews tires slower...I just don't think it will work or be worth taking the risk. It'd be different if it were a sedan or something less rare. Different but not much...

BobnOH said:

He's just throwing it out there, this is how we learn.

Crazy yes.

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Thanks for everyone's input. I found a place to get a new rear beam pretty cheap, so maybe I should go that route. I may just wait until the tires I put on it are toast and then do the rear beam.



The thing is these kind of discussions help everyone that reads this forum for many years, so whether I decide to do it or not, it helps everyone. This is a common problem on these cars, so I think the discussion is worthwhile.

I've driven cars with that type out of align, they can do funny stuff at high speed. The tires, front and back will wear weird. Guess I'm saying I wouldn't wait too long.

mrfiat said:

Thanks for everyone's input. I found a place to get a new rear beam pretty cheap, so maybe I should go that route. I may just wait until the tires I put on it are toast and then do the rear beam.



The thing is these kind of discussions help everyone that reads this forum for many years, so whether I decide to do it or not, it helps everyone. This is a common problem on these cars, so I think the discussion is worthwhile.

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I guess I found this to be slightly absurd because it doesn't take much to affect every aspect of the geometry of the wheel placement and what you were talking about would be like cutting your toe nails with a chain saw...you have toe camber and track width that could be affected, and on a daily that's a bad idea due to tire wear or it's your spirited driving car and it seems like a much worse idea.

I struggle with the idea of selling one of my TDIs and with that I plan to keep them as long as possible. I invest in the parts to last and only have to do it once with the right part and focus on the other things that need attention.

This would be a great discussion with a premise of being stranded and this was the only option. Maybe because I've had the rear beam off and seen how flimsy it looks to me and knowing how tough it is to repair stuff like that on a unibody car especially one you want to keep blows my mind. If you were a sleazy used care salesman it'd be par for the course. I'm the first to admit that I love to try and fix stuff, I made a metal arm for my trunk release because the plastic one kept breaking but the worst I could have done was fail to fix it, not break a beam doing 60 with passengers.

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mrfiat said:

Thanks for everyone's input. I found a place to get a new rear beam pretty cheap, so maybe I should go that route. I may just wait until the tires I put on it are toast and then do the rear beam

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Why not do it now and get a bit more use out of the tires?
I would procrastinate if I could just get started.

OP........see post #2......end of story.


And......if I was going to keep the car, I would clean up the PnP beam and replace the bushings before swapping it out.....but I am kind of anal that way.

Are you 100% sure the rear springs have not bit the dust? Years ago my factory springs failed and it ate up the insides of the rear tires due to "excess negative camber."