| jjjjjoey |
Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:17 pm |
|
I know its not suppose to be dangling. It was once bolted where it should be, but at the time it didnt look like it did anything. There was no spriing, or shock or anything the seemed like it was part of the suspension. Its just a bar with some rubber and a nut.
|
|
| 70 140 |
Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:16 am |
|
That is the Z-bar (pronounced zed-bar).
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/dic/z.php
Here is a good drawing: http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=122651
Lots more if you search. |
|
| toddb_67 |
Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:18 am |
|
From the beetle forums "The camber compensator and z-bar do a similar thing. They both decrease the rear roll stiffness and make the rear end of the car less likely "stinkbug" and tuck the inside rear wheel under during hard cornering. (The early Corvairs are infamous for dangerous handling from thier swinaxle rear suspension - they didn't include a camper compensator or z-bar)
The factory z-bar, however, has some built in play, and does not go into effect until some suspension movement has occurred. You can shim up the z-bar and eliminate this play for a stiffer and safer ride.
A sway bar increases rear roll stiffness. I'm not sure, but I don't think this is a good idea for a swing axle vehicle. EMPI advertizes a swaybar for swingaxle, and I e-mailed them a few weeks ago, asking if a sway bar was beneficial to the handling of a swing axle bug, but the declined to reply (either it was a stupid question, or they didn't know or care).
I has good luck a few years ago autocrossing my '68 beetle. I decambered the rear end to about -3 deg and shimmed up the z-bar. With the help of some Mikey Thompson slicks, I was able to post a few top 10 times ( beating a few Corvettes and 914's)." |
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|