Bottoming out in my Beetle

Hey Y'all,
I just got a '99 TDI NB yesterday. I have to travel about 100 yards of gravel road to get to and from my house and am bottoming out way too much, even with driving slowly with one tire in the middle and one on the edge of the road. Didn't see this coming and it's freaking me out. Any suggestions?

How many miles on your buggy?

The suspensions, at least on the golf and jetta, tend to wear out around 60,000 miles. At 148,000 I was bottoming out all the time too. I went to a get to gether and Jetaah and GeWilli put on a nice set of Bilsteen TC's. I have not been able to bottom out sence. (Tho, they did install a 1" lift at the same time. )

-Jason

I, too have a gravel driveway-- it's about 1/4 mile to the sort-of-paved road. I have only bottomed out 2 times in 4 years and that was immediately after a hard rain in one particular spot. Try having your driveway graded. BTW, at 271,000 miles, I still have the original suspension items...

Y2K Buggy

My Y2K bug is buggy!

It has 85K miles on it. I'm brand new and clueless, what's a "Blisteen TC" and a 1" lift? We can't do a whole lot by way of grading the road (it's the road, not the drive that's bad). I wish we could jack the car up about 3" (is that sacreligious to say?!). Thanks for the ideas. I'll take any thoughts.

Call the state department of transportation (preferably the director or whoever is in charge) and complain. Let them know that the road is bad enough that it is damaging cars, etc. etc. If a public road is undriveable w/o damaging a vehicle, it is unacceptable... I had to do the same thing here when there was a 2 foot deep pothole, plus a bunch of other lesser holes... states don't like to pay for damage caused by roads they are required to maintain to at least some minimal standard... if the state doesn't maintain the road, they should be able to help you pressure the country or whomever is responsible... if you can't get the bureaucrats to take care of it, your elected officials should help you... the squeaky wheel gets the grease-- we actually got part of the road sort of paved-- better than the chip-and-seal that had been done in the past!

Y2K Buggy

My Y2K bug is buggy!

Blisteen is a brand name of strut/shock. 1 inch lift is increasing your car's heighth over the road by 1 inch - could be caused by the strut / shock, or by springs.

Most everyone I know with a Beetle has a 2" lift on it and it looks great plus is very functional! Check with Metalnerd and mosey on up to MI and we'll install it for ya!
DieselGeek sells some mighty nice skid pans too....help protect that aluminum oil pan hanging down 4" from the rocks!!!!
Gotta upgrade my picture to show my Green Monster along with the lifted Golfs!

I need to wash the car and get a pic of it too I haven't taken any sence Marty's...

-Jason

It has 85K miles on it. I'm brand new and clueless, what's a "Blisteen TC" and a 1" lift? We can't do a whole lot by way of grading the road (it's the road, not the drive that's bad). I wish we could jack the car up about 3" (is that sacreligious to say?!). Thanks for the ideas. I'll take any thoughts.

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At 85k miles, the stock struts and shocks are likely well on their way out. The Beetle sits low to start with. The front upper strut mounts compress as they age, letting the car sag further.

It really got to me that I would constantly scrape with my mud guards and had to be very careful, even with normal speed bumps or niveau changes.

I replaced my struts and shocks (with Bilstein Heavy Duty "HD") and the strut mounts and bearings. The change is amazing. The car sits maybe an inch higher but that makes all the difference in the world.

I could not get a lift kit that would go with the Bilstein HD. For the Bilstein TC (Touring Class) there is one/will be one available from metalnerd (search for his name or check the group buy posts).

Personally, I also recommend a skid plate for the Beetle (an OEM steel one and several aluminium types are available). I mounted mine in the fall and this winter I have been hitting so much frozen debris, it is unreal.
The difference is, that it does not make me cringe anymore!