TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Feb 18, 2003 9:26 pm

ive heard that when you go to lower the back of a swing axle vw, when you pull the spring plates off the torsion bar it will shoot downwards. is this true? if so, what can i do to prevent it from flying off? any help would help. thanks
67 bug

Tue Feb 18, 2003 9:36 pm

yea, I would like to know too.

Wed Feb 19, 2003 5:02 pm

Wow thayer. Are you focking with these guys? Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's enough tension on the spring plates in the unloaded position on a stock height bug to break a man's hand, arm or leg when the spring plate is pried over the lower stop.

Here are some instructions on lowering your car the safe way.
http://www.vwmagazine.com/tech/oct_tech.html

Chris
JHC

Wed Feb 19, 2003 7:02 pm

Uh Oh!

Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:03 pm

fuck you mother fucker... I just got done doing my car. Do you what the fuck you are talking about?

Thayer

Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:08 pm

it is defenetly ok on swing axles, like tha man asked. Maybe anti has a IRS. If so, your bug sucks ;)

Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:43 pm

There is NO reason for the spring plate to be forced off the stop lip and break a leg.

Read this
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/rearaxle.html

Rob
Rob and Dave'a aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/

Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:47 pm

Thanks for the instructions on "IRS" for our friend anti-. We were speaking of swing axle here.

Thayer

Wed Feb 19, 2003 10:56 pm

i forgot to say that my bug was already lowered a little bit in the back, but of course i want to SLAM the hell out of it so my stinger scrapes pavement going straight down a level road. its kinda low, but the wheels arent like this /\ but i want them to be. just to let you know. would there be any less tension on it since already been lowered a bit?
thank you
67 bug

Thu Feb 20, 2003 8:53 am

anti-, thanks for the 20 emails you sent to my account.. I appreciate the apology. Thanks alot!

Thayer

Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:30 pm

Its been my experience that yes, there is less tension after it has been lowered. Be prepared to buy a new set of tires every 1000 miles though. Good Luck on you lorider!

Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:35 pm

LOL @ Thayer! Yeah, like this! I think it's called butterflied!

DOM

Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:06 pm

Im convinced that some people cant or dont wont to listen.. Its okay. go about your business everyone!

for the record... Im right!

Thayer

Thu Feb 20, 2003 7:55 pm

Right about what Thayer - levering the spring plates off and watching them thump downwards???

As I said - there is NO reason for this to happen - you put a bottle jack or screw jack under the end of the spring plate - lift it a mm off the stop lip and THEN lever it out before lowering the jack. Gentle on parts and safe for you.

Read my article (post above).

And re "Slamd"s comments about getting it low enough to scrape the deck - with a swing axle bug you get gross negative camber and the rear wheel bearings run dry (they rely on a small positive camber to keep a pool of tranny oil behind the bearings), and with the IRS you will also get negative camber if you drop it too low.

In either case Slamd - handling will suffer and tyre wear will be REAL bad.

Regards
Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/

Thu Feb 20, 2003 9:01 pm

It will look tight though, all show, no go.

Thu Feb 20, 2003 9:52 pm

Aussiebug, I read your comments and the article.. BUT I'm telling you that their is no tension in a SWING axle set-up when you pull the spring plates off. thanks!

Thayer

Thu Feb 20, 2003 10:07 pm

Maybe Im just fortunate that mine have slid right off without tension. I have lowered well over 10 bugs rear suspension and never experienced the "tension" that you speak of. I stand by my comments.

End of thread!

Thayer

Thu Feb 20, 2003 11:31 pm

man, too much camber is madness.. slammed 3 clicks? good luck getting out of the driveway, and what about freeway driving? hehe

but hey, slammed vws are sickness.

Fri Feb 21, 2003 12:32 am

Lets just clear this little arguement up. Yes there sometimes is a little tension on the spring plate when you remore it when the car is stock heigth. When pulling, or should I say prying, the spring plate off the torsion it may pop downward over the stopper at the bottom of the spring plate housing. Nothing to worry about. Its not like its gonna pop off the torsion. The tension is vertical not lateral. The spring plate is not gonna fly off and hit you. And putting a bottle jack under the spring plate while you try to remore it would be counter productive because if you loud tension onto the torsion the spring plate wont come off at all.

In my opinion and in my experience the best way to remove a spring plate it to put either a prybar or a large screw driver between the sring plate and the spring plate housing and hit the rear of the spring plate with a rubber mallot. or just wiggle the rear of the spring plate with your hand and the screw driver at the same time. If you are worried about hurting yourself then keep your hand away from "under" the spring plate itself because thats where the spring plate is going, if anywhere. In my experience I would say that you would be hard pressed to break a fingernail much less a hand removing a spring plate.

Im not sure what the gentle on parts thing is about. Do you really think your are gonna hurt the springplate? Its not gonna happen. That is made to hold that wieght of the car. There is nothing your gonna be able to do short of a torch, grinder, or plasma cutter thats gonna hurt that part. Like I said slamd67veedub, go ahead and pry that spring plate off and if you are worried about hurting yourself, just keep your hands out from under the spring plate while doing so. And when if comes off youll be saying to yourself "what was all the fuss about"?

Fri Feb 21, 2003 5:10 pm

Couple things here for those who care.

First, I gave honest good advice based on my own experience adjusting the spring plates on two stock height swingaxle cars. On both cars, the spring plate was pressing down hard on the lower stop. Someone who did not know what they were doing could hurt themselves IF a body part was in the way of the back end of the spring plate when it popped off the stop, especially if it got trapped between the spring plate and the ground, or some other fixed object, when it popped down off the stop. I used the jack method AND a mallet.
I did not send 20 apology emails to Thayer. I have emailed him directly about that so we can figure out who did. I publicly apologize if he took offense, honestly I could not tell if he was kidding. Neither the link I posted or the instructions on Rob & Dave's site are for an IRS car. I have a 56 bug that is lowered one inside notch. It does not suck. J-kub sucks.

Chris
JHC