Need some help indexing Sway-a-Way torsion bars

[TouringBubble]

Guys, I'm hoping someone can help me with setting up my new torsion bars. I'm going from stock bars on my 73 beetle to 26 mm "long" Sway-a-Way bars.

When removing the stock spring plates, my angle measurement was approx 22* or so. That seems to line up with stock settings I've found. When installing the new bars I set the plate to around 20*.

Afterward I found the manual that was included with the new bars. Sway-a-Way suggests installing around 10.5* with the 26mm bar for stock height, which I want. That just seems extreme.

Does anyone have experience with this specific bar? Basically, I don't know what stock angle Sway-a-way used, so I don't know how that compares to my current setting and stock measurement.

[Dale M.]

Foggy memories seem to state SA plates are at 17.5° and IRS plates are at 20° (or maybe 22°)..

Would think 10.5° to be a little "light" for application... Think I had more angle than 10.5° on extremely lowered light weight fiberglass buggy with IRS long bars (stock) doing auto-x competition...

I would pick a angle, assemble car and drive around the block a few times for everything to settle in and trial suspension... They are not that hard to reindex if necessary....

Unfortunately I no longer have log book for car as car was sold almost a year and a half ago and log book when with it... What ever you do keep records of what you are doing....







Chart also works for raising car too....

Dale

[TouringBubble]

Thanks Dale. I've only got one bar in currently, so my thought was to maybe put the wheels back on and put it on the ground to see how much higher the one side is for a rough idea of how high it would be.

FWIW, I've got a full bodied car with OE metal, but gutted with a 4-point cage. I'm about 150lb lighter than stock.

[TouringBubble]

Thanks for the charts Dale. My confusion was that I was changing rate and index at the same time, so I had no baseline to compare to. 22º on a ~22mm bar is no where near the rate of 22º on a 26mm bar. So, I was just guessing at that point.

I ended up calling Sway-a-Way and speaking to their VW guy there. He was able to verify that 22º was about right for the stock index and that the 10.6º suggested preload (for stock height) was correct for the 26mm bar on a stock weight car. I got the plates back off last night but wasn't able to get them indexed again. I'm borrowing a friend's garage for now and won't be able to knock this out till monday.

I'm looking to set the plates to around 10º (assuming I have around a 1º rake toward the rear on the stands), which will hopefully land me around stock height, as I'm a little lighter than stock. If a 4º adjustment changes ride height by .9", I should be good around that 10º mark. My biggest concerns are maintaining ground clearance and having some rate available while unloading the inside wheel to keep it planted. I just don't want it sitting at full droop with the vehicle weight applied.

So, we'll see how it shakes out on Monday. Or, maybe sunday if I have a few minutes.

[TouringBubble]

Dale, I finally get it after looking at your graphs a bit. Thanks again for sharing!

So, going by that second graph and math example, and my available data ...

Stock bar is 23.2 in/lb per degree ... new bar is 45.2 in/lb per degree. That's using 20" as an estimate for the distance between axle and the bar.

That means at the 22º I measured stock, the preload was 510 in/lb. If I set the new bar at 11º it would be slightly less, at 497 in/lb.

So, I may just go with the 10º, or 452 in/lb to go a touch lower and softer.

[Dale M.]

Yes.... Set it up where you think best.... After, if suspension is to soft or to hard you can always tweak them according to chart (degree wise) .... The spline count actually makes preload and ride height infinitely adjustable....

Dale

[TouringBubble]

Got the bars indexed yesterday, but had a question ...

I did the left side first, and settled on just over 9º. Probably 9.2 or 9.3 ... I didn't have great resolution on my indicator. I played with the right side for nearly an hour to get it indexed. The closest I got was around 9.5º or 9.7º. I set it there.

Looking at my math, that would be around 415.8 in/lb on the left and 429.4 on the right. Is a 15 in/lb difference a lot to worry about?

[Dale M.]

Probably not as car is not in perfect balance of auto-x to start with with battery and driver and fuel and what ever the will effect weight distribution.... Four point scale may help set up vehicle....

Had dune buggy that was 216lbs left front 220lbs right front, 420lbs left rear and 416lbs right rear when car was flat on scales with no driver as close to perfect balance one could get and all by accident.... May not be exact number but withing a few pounds on each corner, do remember total being 1261 pounds though...

Dale

[TouringBubble]

Yah, I've had her on the scales. With no driver the cross weights were like 49.8% or so. The shift between sides would be around 3.3% based on my estimations and math. I just hope it's not too bad. I don't know if I have the resolution to get it dead on.

EDIT :: These were my numbers on the stock parts. https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hph ... 7294_n.jpg

[dcstinger]

On the big chart toward the top of the post it specifies to turn the components + or - a number of splines to achieve a desired change in ride height. Does the + or - indicate a specific rotation direction such as +2 = 2 splines clockwise or -6 = 6 splines counterclockwise?