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Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:21 am

Hi, I want to get a camber compensator, there seem to be two types.

Anyone had experience with either? Does it slightly lower the rear once its bolted in place? Whilst this might help with wheel tuck, it seems that its a good an idea to do this in conjunction with a front anti roll bar - no problems fitting to early front end?

Cheers

CS 101

Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:26 am

Hello-

I bought one from SAW last year. It was well made, easy to install, and did what it was supposed to do.

Yes, you do want to add a front sway bar before you install the camber conpensator. If you increase the stiffness of your rear relative your front, you'll end up increasing oversteer.

No, it won't change the camber of your rear wheels (more negative).

IMO, the camber compensator is a band aid. While it's good to have as a safety aid, I would suggest resetting the camber of your rear wheels to .5 degrees negative, and remember to drive slowly into curves and fast out. :wink:

Paul

Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:02 am

I need help on this.

I have a restored '62 swing axle that of course leans when cornering. i'm considering a Empi compensator for the rear. I don't drive at high speeds, but I do miss the cornering abilty of my later model beetles.

Do I need to do something to the front axle also. I though? already had a sway bar there.

Will the compensator be safe for normal driving and what should I be aware of?

Thanks

Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:29 am

Hello-

The old Porsche rule was 'stiff front/soft rear'.

Add larger than standard sway bar to the front.

Install Koni shocks to the front and adjust as necessary. I'm currently running them at 'full stiff'.

The next time you have your beam off the car, consider replacing your torsion leaves. I just replaced mine and my cars no longer rocks from side to side (unfortunately, the new leaves raised my front end up an inch or two).

Paul

Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:48 am

Thanks Paul,

So it's ok to use the Castor Compensator as long as I add the Koni shocks and a larger than standard front sway bar to the front?

I'm just wanting to improve the cornering in the usually normal driving.

Do you see any problems in highway driving say at 70-75 mph?

What am I looking for in the larger sway bar--I guess a description or number would help---and where?

Lou

Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:59 am

Hello-

You can use the camber compensator as long as you've stiffened up the front a little bit with the sway bar. The worst thing you could do is to stiffen the back alone, which would increase your car's tendency to oversteer.

With regard to going 75 mph, you might want to consider caster shims. They'll increase your steering effort a little bit, but they help the car maintain a straight line at higher speeds.

Paul

Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:10 am

Thanks.

Lou

Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:20 am

Harris, I have a stock '62 with an EMPI camber compensator and as far as I can tell, it works extremely well. I'm not aware that the front sway bar has ever been replaced, nor the camber adjusted on the rear wheels.

The car tends to understeer when I take a curve at a higher than posted speed, but it has never felt as if it is going to suddenly switch to oversteer as I understand torsion beam Beetles were prone to do, and I attribute this to the compensator keeping the rear wheels in check.

In fact, I think the compensator saved my life last year in Connecticut when I went around a traffic circle too fast, as I could feel the rear starting to break away. Without the compensator my outside rear wheel could easily have started to tuck under.

Nonetheless, I don't take curves fast anymore, both for safety reasons and because sharp fast turns tend to make the oil in the air filter slosh out the nozzle.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:30 am

SuperVert,
I appreciate the comments. I'm probably going to order the compensator this week. I suppose some sort of instructions will be included. Is there a particular spot on the springplate where it bolts on?

Lou

Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:41 am

It doesn't attach to the spring plates. Here's a pic of how mine attaches to the center of the differential case and to the axle tubes with leather straps (it's an original EMPI):

This blog talks about the original and the current versions of the EMPI:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bp3....%26hl%3Den

Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:54 am

Very good. I'm still remebering a compensator or some device I found on Samba that bolted to the spring plates. The one you have looks simple enough.

Lou