Tube Diameter

[eddie bullit 37]

Fighting the arrester clamp back on the replacement beam and it's loose! The new beam is a smaller diameter than the original one we took off . I wasn't aware of a smaller diameter beam is this normal? Measured the length and that's the same.

Cheers

[Anthony 1,000]

Your replacement beam tube is likely a base model one.

 

That's the difference between GTi and base model tubes - GTi tubes are fatter in the middle, and as such you can't fit a GTi clamp to a base model tube (or vice-versa) as you've discovered.

 

To be honest you don't really need it anyway - I've never refitted them on my own cars, 205 5dr models don't have them and nor do 309's.

[eddie bullit 37]

Any effect to running a base model tube?

[Tom Fenton 1,525]

Where did you get the beam from, I would double check that its got GTI torsion bars not base model!

[Anthony 1,000]

Base model tube itself seems to be fine and I've seen plenty of cars running them with seemingly no ill effects, even on ally cars and track cars running big torsion bars. I imagine that the GTi tube is probably theoretically stronger, but certainly I can't see you noticing any real world difference, least of all on a road car.

 

As Tom says though, make sure that it's a GTi beam that's been rebuilt into a base model tube and not actually a base model beam! Certainly there's plenty of base model beams out there claimed to be 1.6 GTi...

[eddie bullit 37]

The beam was from Jord a while ago so I reckon it will be fine. It was a barely used unit that he'd built and then taken in part ex for a 309 beam if my memory serves me.

Edited July 21, 2014 by eddie bullit