PART 5- Installing a 5" wider Warrior Front Beam

The 5" wider Warrior front beam is an inexpensive way to to beef up the front end of your Baja Bug or Dune Buggy. It will also provide you with much more front travel and a variety of steering options. This beam needs four set of springs, so go to the local junk yard and pull an extra set. Each arm will move independently. This project will take the better part of a day and will give you years of enjoyment.
(It also looks very cool!!!)

First let me share with you that we have found some inconsistencies with the tube sizes of this beam. When we installed this beam, we used the largest poly urethane beam bushing we had and clearance them to fit the beam snugly.
The Warrior beam will bolt right on a link pin front clip. Make sure your front clip is clean and free of rust. First lets beef up your lower trailing arms so they can take a longer shock.
For this project we have decided to use the stock arms and beef them up. Your have the option to use after market wider arms also. You can also install 2 1/4" or 4" wider arms and really have a wide front suspension. We are welding on a 3 piece shock kit and cutting off the old stem where the lower shock hole mounted.
Now it is time to install the Bushings. Like I stated earlier, we have noticed some slight inconsistencies in the tube sizes. Try and insert the bushing and see if it fits snug. If it is to large, find a way to evenly sand down the width of the bushing until it fits snug to tight. Do not get it to loose!! You will then notice a shimmy when driving.
After you have put your bushings in, test the arms inside and see if they fit in snugly. Use a rubber mallet or a dead blow hammer to "tap" them in. So far so good. Now we need to get our 4 set of springs ready. You will need 4 19" lengths of cleaned springs. You can also get leaf spring that are 15% stiffer than stock and 20% stiffer than stock. For this project we are using stock springs out of the original beam and one junk beam.
Insert a section with the old grub screw holes facing down into the trailing arm a make a mark in the spring with a center punch through the hole where the grub screw goes. (We did not use the old holes) Remove the  springs from the arm and measure back 17 13/16th inches from the first mark and make another mark. (Please all ways double check) This should be exactly where your adjuster grub screw hole should be placed. When drilling your new holes, start with a small drill bit and work your way up. Check the tips of your grub screws, some times the arm screws have less of a tip than the adjuster screws. So drill your holes acrodingly.
Re-insert your springs until you feel they are centered on the adjuster and you can insert your adjuster screw in place. You will feel when the adjuster grub screw is in the hole you made. Tighten then grub screw in place and lock it down with the grub nut.
Now insert the trailing arm and get it lined up and put in the grub screw and tighten and lock it in place with the grub nut. All we have to do now is to insert our shock boss in to the bottom arm and line it up so the shock will be straight up and down. Run a shock bolt though the tower and through the bottom boss. Ensure the shock is vertical, and tack weld the boss in place. We are using a KYB 5530 Bus shock that fits very well.
Then just do the same thing three more times and put back on your spindles, backing plates, brakes guts, drums and tires. Double check that everything has been tightened down properly so nothing will fall of on your maiden voyage. After a few trips you will be able to adjust the beam to your liking.
That wasn't that hard, was it?  Now go have a blast with you new 5" inch wider Warrior beam.

If you have any questions or comments about Project Baja please e-mail don@chirco.com we sure would like to hear from you.