Bought A 306 Rear Beam With Discs What Parts Will Fit My 1.6 Cti

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

I bought a 306 rear beam with disc setup last year and jumping the gun have stripped and cleaned/painted all the bits and ordered new everything to fit my old rear beam with the intention of swapping over the trailing arms seeing as i found out the hard way that its approx 100mm wider than my 205 beam one arm shaft is well fubar'd, tube too i should imagine the other side almost like new but have bought 2 new ones anyway. Can anyone say whether the arms will fit correctly to my cti? thanks

 

ps i should add that my 205 beam is still on the car and have no idea what condition its in yet but have bought all the parts already. Its not seized and doesnt make any noises squeaks etc. Just hoping someone can confirm that the trailing arms can be used safely.

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Yes you can fit the trailing arms complete with the disc brakes if required to your CTI, yes the 306 arms are slighly wider but will still easily fit under standard arches with either 1.6 or 1.9 alloys fitted.

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

brilliant, thanks tom you've made my day as ive spent a lot of time prepping everything before the bearings and gubbings came today yay

[1 FAT PUG 39]

tom did me a beam a bit ago, also makes them handle better

[damo 17 2 Cars]

sorry to high jack this, maybe a blonde question as I think the above answers it anyway would a 306 XSI read beam and disk set up fit also? Assuming all 306 rear beams are the same ?

Edited May 31, 2012 by damo

[Anthony 1,003]

Yes, the arms would fit exactly the same as those from a GTi-6

 

There might be slight geometry differences on the arms, but to all intents and purposes an XSi beam is pretty much the same as a GTi-6 one, assuming it was from an ABS model.

[stef205 92 1 Cars]

Yes the rear disc set up would fit you need to take it all bar the arms. Only difference is the gti6 caliper pistons are 32mm

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

the tube, anti roll bar and torsion bars are of no use from a 306 for a 205 as they are all approx 100mm wider!

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

The 306 GTI 24mm anti roll bar can be very successfully shortened to fit a 205 or 309 width beam.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Silly question here I am afraid.

 

What are the benefits of fitting GTi6 trailing arms? Wider track? Similar effect a 309 beam would give?

 

No camber benefits as with the VTS ones is there?

 

I am interested in learning more about shortening of bars. Are there any recommended competent companies? Torsion bars can be shortened also can't they?

 

Seeing as I have hijacked this thread I will continue. I have a ph1 Xsara VTS which will be killed shortly, and I am keen to invest in coilovers for my 205. I started looking at thicker ARBs and TBs and quickly came to the conclusion that the rear would cost as much if not more to stiffen than the purchase of the coilover kit. If I can put my VTS stuff to good use by shortening the bars and fitting those to a rebuilt 205 beam I am all ears.

[Anthony 1,003]

What are the benefits of fitting GTi6 trailing arms? Wider track? Similar effect a 309 beam would give?

 

No camber benefits as with the VTS ones is there?

GTi-6 rear arms give 1.2 degrees negative camber and a little less toe-in compared to Xsara VTS arms.

 

Track is fractionally wider due to the different hub offset, but nothing like as wide as a 309 beam.

 

Torsion bars can be shortened also can't they?

No. To shorten the bars you need them to be thick enough that you can cut them and respline, which you can't on any OE torsion bar. You would need a 24mm or thicker torsion bar to be able to respline, and there isn't such a thing fitted to any PSA model thaat I'm aware of.

 

ARB's are easier as they're thicker to begin with (GTi-6 is 24mm for example) and the splines are a smaller diameter. Some people cut and weld them with varying degrees of success, but I'm not a fan of this approach.

 

Seeing as I have hijacked this thread I will continue. I have a ph1 Xsara VTS which will be killed shortly, and I am keen to invest in coilovers for my 205. I started looking at thicker ARBs and TBs and quickly came to the conclusion that the rear would cost as much if not more to stiffen than the purchase of the coilover kit. If I can put my VTS stuff to good use by shortening the bars and fitting those to a rebuilt 205 beam I am all ears.

The ARB you can shorten, and you can use the rear arms, but that's about it. The VTS coilovers you should be able to make fit as you can with regular 306/Xsara struts, but the drop link sits at a slightly odd angle and quite close to the hub.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Sorry Anthony I didn't make the coilover part clear. I was looking at the 205 coilover Group Buy on here, and having priced that up was then looking on to how much I would need to spend on the rear to 'make it worth' doing.

 

I'm weighing that up againts just fitting my Eibach springs on GTi6 shocks and rebuilding the rear keeping to original spec. All obviously depends what you want out of a car. I hardly use mine unless its for pleasure. I don't commute in it. I have got the track bug and want to start moving in a direction I'l be pleased with.

 

I am happy to pay the price of the coilovers and a few hundred on a beam rebuild with the VTS arms and perhaps using the VTS ARB modified, but I am not sure if I want to shell out another couple of hundred on thicker torsion bars.

 

I'm currently thinking 225lb springs with the VTS ARB and standard TBs. 225 are said to be a bit much for a standard rear, but with the heavier lump up front I am wondering if it is going to be ok until I then go on to source some thicker TBs down the line.

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Some people cut and weld them with varying degrees of success, but I'm not a fan of this approach.

 

 

100% success rate of the ones I have done, obviously I am doing something right with my 4 stage welding procedure. If it is good enough for Peugeot (this is how they do it on one side of the anti roll bar on 206 beams) then it is good enough for me.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

When the time comes Tom would I be able to send you my VTS ARB to be shortened please?

[Anthony 1,003]

100% success rate of the ones I have done, obviously I am doing something right with my 4 stage welding procedure. If it is good enough for Peugeot (this is how they do it on one side of the anti roll bar on 206 beams) then it is good enough for me.

Fair enough, I've not seen one that you've done Tom, although I've little doubt a man of your skills could make it work

 

Unfortunately, that's not the case with others out there, and hence I've seen several that have broken a few weeks/months later or that haven't be welded correctly aligned on the other end, thus pre-loading the ARB and the issues that go with that.

[petert 587]

The problem is joining dissimilar metals. One method is to preheat to 300-400 deg C (definitely <450) and use a stainless filler rod.