TheSamba.com :: View topic - DANGER! THE SPRING PLATE IS UNDER TREMENDOUS PRESSURE!!!

Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:27 pm

Ok, I'm new to this but I want to lower the back of my bug. What would happen when I take off the spring plate? I hear danger this and danger that but I want to know what is the exact danger. Thank you.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:36 pm

just dont put your face or any other part of your body that you want to keep under or above it.

get a pry bar in there and pull it out. the torsion bar will untwist and spring down suddenly, but it's not that big a deal.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:38 pm

Thanks a lot Mr. B. I was thinking that but I wanted to make sure before I did it.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 8:18 am

Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:24 am

Dr. Slump,

I just did this with a friend of mine and was expecting some big event when we pryed the spring plate off, because everyone makes such a big deal about it. It was almost disappointing when it just sort of quietly popped off. I would still be careful and keep your fingers away.
Good luck.
Kurt

Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:53 am

You guys are accidents waiting to happen..LOL
Jack up the car, put it on a jackstand(but not too high). Remove the three bolts holding the axle to the trailing arm/spring plate.
Place the floorjack under the end of the spring plate by the wheel.
Get a chain. Run the chain from the shock tower of the car UNDER the frame of the jack, then back to the shock tower.
Now, when you jack up the car, even if the rear of the car raises before the spring plate comes off the stop, once the chain tightens up the car will cease to raise and the spring plate will be SAFELY lifted off the travel stop.
Remove the 4 bolt cover.
Use a large prybar to move the spring plate out enough to clear the travel stop.
Release the pressure from the jack.
The spring plate will now be in rest position with no pressure on it. Remove it from the splines and reindex to your liking.
Another thing you will want to do before you take off the spring plate is to use a paint marker to mark the spring plate and the torsion bar with the original position. That way once the peices come loose you can ensure you only move it a certain amount of notches so you can do both sides the same.
Also, sometimes the spring plate will pop out with the torsion bar attached to it. The inside of the bar is splined similar to the outside. I usually put a mark on the frame that will show the rested position of the spring plate before popping it loose, so if I have to I can get the spring plate loose from the plate on the bench, then stick the peices back in and move it.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:55 am

You guys are accidents waiting to happen..LOL
Jack up the car, put it on a jackstand(but not too high). Remove the three bolts holding the axle to the trailing arm/spring plate.
Place the floorjack under the end of the spring plate by the wheel.
Get a chain. Run the chain from the shock tower of the car UNDER the frame of the jack, then back to the shock tower.
Now, when you jack up the car, even if the rear of the car raises before the spring plate comes off the stop, once the chain tightens up the car will cease to raise and the spring plate will be SAFELY lifted off the travel stop.
Remove the 4 bolt cover.
Use a large prybar to move the spring plate out enough to clear the travel stop.
Release the pressure from the jack.
The spring plate will now be in rest position with no pressure on it. Remove it from the splines and reindex to your liking.
Another thing you will want to do before you take off the spring plate is to use a paint marker to mark the spring plate and the torsion bar with the original position. That way once the peices come loose you can ensure you only move it a certain amount of notches so you can do both sides the same.
Also, sometimes the spring plate will pop out with the torsion bar attached to it. The inside of the bar is splined similar to the outside. I usually put a mark on the frame that will show the rested position of the spring plate before popping it loose, so if I have to I can get the spring plate loose from the plate on the bench, then stick the peices back in and move it.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:53 pm

hiccup

Wed Nov 03, 2004 11:54 am

In addition to the paint marks that Euro60 mentions (very good idea), what I do after the spring plate is off its stop, is to make another mark (scribe, nail, awl) along its top edge so that you can see the mark on the frame. This will be the reference line. When I pull the spring plate off the end of the torsion bar and rotate it up one spline (to lower the rear), I make another line against the frame. This is my "maximum" limit. Next, using paint marks like Euro60, I pull out the torsion bar from its inside anchor, and rotate the bar, then the spring plate, a certain number of notches to come up with a spring plate position that is in between the two scribe marks. Ends up with about 1 1/2" to 2" lower ride heeight, without getting onto the suspension rubber stops.

Kurt- that's what I did to that "ugly split" you're driving to lower the rear a bit! Also to my green '77 Beetle.

Oh, and to lower the spring plate off its stop, a friend of mine made a tool using an old VW car jack (the "pole" type) with a shock bolt welded across its top.

Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:18 pm

Damn Rome, all those scribes makes my head hurt..LOL..
Real good idea though, in case the spring plate pops out with the bar if nothing else.
I dunno, every time I lowered a bug I did it all the way down to the stop(where the plate hits the shock tower, not the rubber snubber) :wink:

Sat Nov 06, 2004 3:01 pm

get one of these

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=103935

Sun Nov 07, 2004 1:07 am

My freind got whacked by the spring plate on his knee, cant say i didnt tell him. dumbass :roll:

Sun Nov 07, 2004 2:41 pm

thanks for all the response guys. Especially euro60 and rome. you're advice proved to be really helpful.

Sun Nov 07, 2004 8:14 pm

What Rome said about the VW jack is a pretty cool idea as well. In one of the mags they had a tech article where they were pulling the spring plates and they showed it. Pretty cool idea.

Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:40 am

NorCalLowLife209 wrote: My freind got whacked by the spring plate on his knee, cant say i didnt tell him. dumbass :roll:

what the hell do you need 2 early fenders for?

Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:18 pm

He wants his 67 to look like a Euro 67 would be my guess. :roll: