Adjusting rear trosion bar
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74EMPI
- Posts: 411
- Joined: Fri May 25, 2001 12:01 am
Adjusting rear trosion bar
Hi! I just recently finished restoring a 1974 Standard Beetle. When I put the wheels back on and moved it out of the garage I noticed that the car was drooping on the rear drivers side. I am attributing this to a weak rear torsion bar. My question is can I adjust this weakened torsion bar by 1 spline or so to get the back of the car level again or should I just replace it? TIA
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Lowrider
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2001 12:01 am
Adjusting rear trosion bar
The same thing happened to me as soon as I rolled the car out I noticed when both doors were open I could see the drivers side was lower. I guess it was mainly driven with one person in it causing the drop. I raised the drivers side one inch in the back(using splines) now the car sits a little bit higher hardley noticible though. But when I'm sitting in it it levels out perfect. Depends how picky you are.
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aussiebug
- Posts: 1520
- Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2001 12:01 am
Adjusting rear trosion bar
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 74EMPI:
Hi! I just recently finished restoring a 1974 Standard Beetle. When I put the wheels back on and moved it out of the garage I noticed that the car was drooping on the rear drivers side. I am attributing this to a weak rear torsion bar. My question is can I adjust this weakened torsion bar by 1 spline or so to get the back of the car level again or should I just replace it? TIA <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You can rarely adjust the splines for an exact match in height - the bars will rarely sag evenly.
with 40 spines on the inner, and 44 on the outer, a "one down, one up" rotation gives 0.81 degrees difference on the spring plate, so you can get them close.
If you have to choose, set the side nearest the curb as the "high" side - this will help counter the camber of the road a little.
It's an easy enough job to do, and you don't have to replace any parts (unless the larger rubber bushes at the ends of the torsion bars are worn).
You definitley don't have to replace the torsion bar unless it's broken (how rare is THAT).
There's a procedure for it on my web site (below).
Regards
------------------
Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repair and Maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/index.html
Hi! I just recently finished restoring a 1974 Standard Beetle. When I put the wheels back on and moved it out of the garage I noticed that the car was drooping on the rear drivers side. I am attributing this to a weak rear torsion bar. My question is can I adjust this weakened torsion bar by 1 spline or so to get the back of the car level again or should I just replace it? TIA <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You can rarely adjust the splines for an exact match in height - the bars will rarely sag evenly.
with 40 spines on the inner, and 44 on the outer, a "one down, one up" rotation gives 0.81 degrees difference on the spring plate, so you can get them close.
If you have to choose, set the side nearest the curb as the "high" side - this will help counter the camber of the road a little.
It's an easy enough job to do, and you don't have to replace any parts (unless the larger rubber bushes at the ends of the torsion bars are worn).
You definitley don't have to replace the torsion bar unless it's broken (how rare is THAT).
There's a procedure for it on my web site (below).
Regards
------------------
Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repair and Maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/index.html
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74EMPI
- Posts: 411
- Joined: Fri May 25, 2001 12:01 am
Adjusting rear trosion bar
Thanks for the information. I'll take a look at your website Aussiebug.