VW Thing Spindle & Arm Kit - Complete - 1973-74 Thing - 66-77 Beetle - Ghia

VW Thing Ball Joint Spindles - Arms - Complete Kit

• Brand new forged arms
• Brand new forged spindles
• Complete with ball joints installed
• Eccentric cams and washers
• Includes grub screws, nuts and caps
• Bolt on 3" lift for Beetles and Ghias

The EMPI VW Thing spindles and ball joint trailing arms are new, not rebuilt, and are forged just like the OEM models. EMPI pre-installs ball joints so the spindles and arms are ready to bolt on with the included grub screws and nuts. New eccentric cams and washers are also included along with trailing arm caps.

Thing spindles and arms were designed by VW to install on to a standard Type 1 (Beetle or Karmann Ghia) ball joint front suspension beam. They are different from the Beetle or Karmann Ghia spindles in that both ball joints point down, and the spindle is offset roughly 1/4", and the axle sits about 3" lower on the spindle. This increases the width and the height of the Thing front suspension. The best part is, the spindles and arms bolt on to a Beetle or Karmann Ghia ball joint front ends. If you have a 1966 through 1977 Standard Beetle, or a 1966 through 1974 Karmann Ghia, you can bolt on a 3" lift and maintain the stock ride comfort!

The Thing spindles accept original, ball joint, drum brake backing plates, so you can unbolt the entire backing plate from your current spindles, and bolt them up to the replacements. Things use 1968.5 and later bearings and tie rod ends, so if you are installing them on your 1966 through early 1968.5 Beetle or Karmann Ghia, you will need to swap out to the later model inner bearings, wheel seals, along with the left and right outer tie rod ends. Both stock 5x205 ball joint drum brakes, or 4x130 drum brakes can be bolted to the Thing spindles. Thing spindles will accept the bolt on 5x205 front disc brake kit for those want to upgrade to disc brakes.

Fitment Details:

• Direct replacement for 1973-1974 Things
• Bolt on 3" lift for 1966-1977 Standard Beetles
• Bolt on 3" lift for 1966-1974 Karmann Ghias

These spindles and arms are modeled directly from original Thing spindles and arms which our own Sam Mebane used to lift the front of his son Nate's Baja Bug in our JBugs Father and Son Build series on YouTube. You can check out the video here.