TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Aug 31, 2009 10:49 pm

whenever i have all my friends in my baja bug i have a bunch of negative camber in the rear. but when its just me there straight up and down. so i cranked up the torsion bar one outer spline on each side and now there is too much positive camber and the ride is twitchy and shudders on take off. but now there is no negative camber with all my friends in the car. is there a way to get stiffer suspension without it being raised so high? its a swing axle too.

Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:09 am

put in bigger torsion bars.

Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:27 am

you don't say what year you have but I have read that shorter bars are also stiffer (if you have the long ones).

But with a bad camber change you probably have a SA, which I think means already have short t-bars

Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:06 pm

its a 1965 SA tranny. how will bigger torsion bars help?

Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:53 pm

They are stiffer

Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:54 pm

air shocks

Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:00 am

dont want to hijack your post but i rekeyed my torsions up one tooth on the outer and it may be a bit much. my question is that i bought the bug built with the 3x3's and all the work done to it and the torsions are a dark red from wherever they are built and was wondering if anyone can tell me what length/thickness/brand they may be by that?

Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:25 am

is the thing that turns the torsion bar replaceable? i still don't understand how a thicker bar will help?

Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:12 am

the way a torsion bar works is it is held at both ends and twisted.

A thicker bar is harder to twist, which makes for stiffer suspension

On the rear of an IRS there are 2 bars, 1 for each side.
.
They are both held on 1 end in the middle and on the other end on the outside by the spring plate.

The difference in angle of the pan (inside) to the spring plate (outside) minus the deflection caused by the weight of the car determines the lift or ride height.

I think thicker bars for your bug are only available from the aftermarket.

http://www.racerunnershocks.com/TechRoom_VWguides.php

It would be cheaper to put air-shocks or those cheap coil-overs to fix your problem.

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC-C10-4075

Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:29 pm

vw@cfrscca.org wrote: the way a torsion bar works is it is held at both ends and twisted.

A thicker bar is harder to twist, which makes for stiffer suspension

On the rear of an IRS there are 2 bars, 1 for each side.
.
They are both held on 1 end in the middle and on the other end on the outside by the spring plate.

The difference in angle of the pan (inside) to the spring plate (outside) minus the deflection caused by the weight of the car determines the lift or ride height.

I think thicker bars for your bug are only available from the aftermarket.

http://www.racerunnershocks.com/TechRoom_VWguides.php

It would be cheaper to put air-shocks or those cheap coil-overs to fix your problem.

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC-C10-4075

Note that some of thewse cheaper coil overs are not designed to hold the Buggy up. They are merly helper springs and you may still require the torsions.

Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:55 am

True, most of them are junk

I took the springs off of a pair and they had no resistance to compression, it was all being handled by the springs.

They did work for expansion ( I guess to keep the springs from bouncing)

Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:41 pm

Bottom line is that you're taking a 1600 lb car and adding 800 lbs of you and buddies...And it sags! GO figure...It's not a school bus. It's a small car. Adding a bunch of people inside is going to affect the ride height and quality. Decide what you want it to be used for and work from there. It will never do both well.

Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:31 pm

i will look into thicker bars. i didn't want it to sag because i heard the when the axles angle down the gear oil doesn't flow to the bearings.

Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:36 pm

Be careful going too big a bar, the more you go the more you have to control it with shock valving.

Sun Sep 06, 2009 7:02 am

blitzschnell racing wrote: Be careful going too big a bar, the more you go the more you have to control it with shock valving.

You got that right. I got a pair of 26mm short bars in mine. Feels pretty good, but the white KYBs do nothing on rebound. She's a hopper for sure. I'm looking for some shocks now...