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Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:22 pm

When I removed the tranny, the axel tubes would not move. we could lift the tranny by the axel tubes with no movement. If we gave it a little jerk while holding the tubes it would move a bit, but certainly not as it should. It turns out the previous owner installed the axel tube retainers with just a silicone type gasket material. as soon as I broke free the retainer nuts the axel freed up. Everything else seems to be in order. My question is, is their a rule of thumb as to where I should start with gaskets and shims to have the tubes seat right. Or is it just a poke and hope procedure?
Thanks

Sun Aug 24, 2008 4:40 pm

They say you should be able to move the axle tube freely after torquing the side plates down. I just did this last year. The first time I put 5 on each side, way too many, leaked just sitting there. Second time I put 4, put it back in the car this time it took a couple of weeks just sitting in my garage to start leaking. The third time was the charm, 3 shims per axle tube, with a smidge of gasket sealer. Have about 400+ miles on her and no leaks, well at least not there anyway. :wink: So short answer is 3.

Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:29 pm

Thanks Chris, I'll start with 3 and see what develops.

Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:34 am

I always assemble a couple of times, using different thicknesses until I get it so the side covers are tight enough to move but not so loose as to flop around. And if they were siliconed up heavily before it might be that the flanges are distorted - once you find the right amount of gaskets to use you might want to put a thin layer of silicone on each side of your gasket-stacks on final assemby, this is one of the very few places I'll use RTV sealant on a Bug.

The old Haynes manuals had this to say about the amount of gaskes, and I agree:

-Andy

Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:26 pm

For those of you who use RTV on the "gaskets" are you covering each side of each gasket?

Suppose you use three gaskets, do you layer like this...RTV...gasket...RTV...gasket...RTV...gasket...RTV...retainer.

Or, RTV...gasket,gasket,gasket...RTV...retainer.

Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:07 am

Nobody can tell you how many gaskets it will require. That's because the paper gaskets are not consistent between gasket sets. I have seen some as thin as .08mm, others that were .30mm thick.

Stack the gaskets until you can freely articulate the tube up and down (side to side isn't significant), while having minimum play.

Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:52 am

Bruce wrote: Nobody can tell you how many gaskets it will require. That's because the paper gaskets are not consistent between gasket sets. I have seen some as thin as .08mm, others that were .30mm thick.

Stack the gaskets until you can freely articulate the tube up and down (side to side isn't significant), while having minimum play.

Understood. I'm just wondering, for those who choose to use RTV, how are they applying it.

Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:24 am

There should be 2 different thickness in the gaskets that come in the sets.
One is half as thick as the other. In the VW sets, they were even marked with punched holes in one corner. One hole, or 2 holes.
This way you could get a better adjustment on the shim gaskets.