CB Performance Narrowed Beam
Matt takes a look at fitting a height-adjustable, two-inch narrowed beam. Time for a touch of liposuction, perhaps?

BY MATT KEENE

The American company CB Performance has come up with a very neat solution to the problem of tyre-to-wheel-arch clearance on lowered Bugs and Buses. In a nutshell, lowering the front of your vehicle beyond a certain point can cause tyre-to-wheel-arch interference issues. This is a potentially dangerous situation taht could lead to accident or injury.

Fitting aftermarket wheels with different offsets can also upset the track width of a vehicle, which can cause tyre-to-arch problems.

Furthermore, the increasingly popular dropped spindle approach to lowering a Bug will gain an extra inch or so of track width, as does fitting some brands of aftermarket disc brake set-ups. The net result of all this? Plenty of tyre rubbing and potential for disaster.

The lovely 1961 Beetle featured in this article is a perfect case in point. It had been fitted with dropped spindles and disc brakes, causing an increase of over two inches in track width! The owner wanted to restore the width of factory spec without going down the route of an overly narrow-looking front end.

The CB Performance kit was the perfect answer. On a stock Bug, it will reduce the track width by a whole two inches giving that 'tucked' look. On one with all the bells and whistles such as our feature car, it will restore stock track width - ideal!

As an added bonus, the CB beam comes with quality height adjusters built in, so if you want to lower your Bug as well as tuck the wheels in under the arches, you can do so.

The CB narrowed beam kit is fully comprehensive and comes with everything you need to do a complete installation: narrowed track rods, narrowed leaf springs and a narrowed anti-roll bar, all of which are brand, spanking new. The best part? The whole thing costs just £330 from the VW Speedshop in the UK. Call 0161 881 5999 for further information.

One point i feel i should mention in advance is that if your vehicle is right-hand drive, you will need to cut off the steering damper bracket and weld it in the RHD position, as it is set in LHD format from the factory. You will need to use a MIG-welder for this job. Otherwise, the kit is a fully bolt-on affair that can be done in a day - easy-peasy!