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I am parting out my bus soon, and I am thinking, which is dangerous. Maybe instead of going to short torsions to stiffen it up and fit 33+ tires, I will cut and weld in my bus torsion housing, which should be stiffer, and then get some 0x3 arms and run bigger tires. has anyone tried this? modifiying the spring plates to work w/ bug rear end should be trivial I would think. I wonder if I can compare thickness to konw how stiff it will be. Woods buggy, its all about ground clearence and stiffness, not soaking up woops.

or so i am told, still only driven it once...

why go bug with allthebus parts we have we shouldbabale to get it all togeter

what is a bus?

its when you don't pull your toy out of your toyhauler in time, you end out with a little scamp that is perfect for all your needs

Reason # 732.

Fuser, I am a little confused on this one ; are you saying that the bus torsion housing (I haven’t been able to find any information on Bus torsion tubes or bars yet) is wider than a sedan torsion arms and that by narrowing it down that then the that fit in the narrowed bus torsion bar housing and will accommodate some 0" wider and 3" longer trailing arms? I have found this a couple of times:

Model year vs. application

Size Description Applications
21 ¾ long Short Torsion Bar 60-68 Type I Swing Axe
24 11/16 long Intermediate Torsion Bar 49-59 Type I Swing Axe
24 11/16 long Intermediate Torsion Bar 69-72 Type III IRS
24 11/16 long Intermediate Torsion Bar 65-67 Type III Swing Axe
26 9/16 Long Torsion Bar 73-L Type I IRS
Note: Measure tube extension past spring plate intermediate 4”, long 6”

From an old EMPI catalog


Application Stock Preload Angle
Bug, up to 1960, 24 11/16” long bar, 24 mm diameter 13
Bug, 1961-1968, 21 ¾” long bar, 22 mm diameter 16 1/2
Bug, 1969 & up, 26 9/16” long bar, 22 mm diameter 20 1/2
Type 3, all, 26 9/16” long, 23.5 mm diameter 23 1/2

Sway away application chart

If you go to a 0 X 3 set of arms, will the spring plates have to be lengthened or will there have to be longer mounting plates added on the arms to accommodate the big swept back trailing arms (single or double arm spring plates?). What will be the effect on the shock absorbers; e.g., mounted angles, etc. What drive axles will you be able to use (stock?) and are they available. What about CV angles, will you have to go to bus/924/944 CVs or even 930s (ca-ching!)

Interesting concept but…

Lee

well what I want to do is use bus torsion BARS to account for the extra leverage the wheel will have on the torsion bar thanks to longer arms. I will probably finally upgrade to real shocks at that point, and by that i mean some used special i find on here. trailing arms will likely be home made, trying to do that penny pinch thing, and rather than buy SAW torsions, just go w/ stock parts i'll have for 'free' spring plates will probably be bus plates welded to bug plates, or bus plates welded or redrilled to custom something.

re reading your question, here is the goal, to replace THINNER (softer) bug torsoin bars with THiCKER bus torsion bars, so i need to cut the center or whole housing out to install the splined center of the bus, then us bus ends as well to complete the conversion. hopefully width is similar between the vehicles

Ahhh… it is now beginning to get as clear as mud but I think am beginning to understand. So… after you replace the bug center with the bus center, will you have to replace the bug ends with bus ends (remember, I am not converse with bus other than CVs);, e.g., do the bus trailing arms have the same diameter where they ride in the donuts as the sedan trailing arms? Will the torsion housing have to be lengthened or are the bug and bus torsion bars the same length, just a diameter change?

I understand penny pinching especially when schooling or post schooling is involved.

Creativity is good… or is it can be good.

Lee

I hope the width is similar, but I have a bus that is gonna see the saw in the next few months, so i will know for certain soon enough. I have bar lengths in a book somewhere, i'll dig that up and see how it looks. I have a feeling it will be +-3 inches

I can grab the one inthe barn and measure it saturda if I remember while im out there and even bring it back for you to play with.

no its cool, the manual lists lengths as well as thickness, so that should do me, I know they touch in the middle so its easy math. or i could just measure the housing, but its wet out

if the idea is to stiffen up the rear why not just get a set a bars from a Porsche 944?
DWP

Becaus I have a donor bus, so price is free. But yes, that is the idea