Rear wheel/suspension alignment

[waxhead]

I'm finishing up work on the floorpan/chassis, and before I put the body back on I want to get the rear alignment as close as possible. I'll have my local VW mechanic do a proper front and rear alignment, but I want to get as close as I can to be able to drive it to him.

John Muir's book shows how to do a basic front end alignment, but I don't remember seeing anything for the rear. BTW, I have installed swing arms on my car because when I got it, it didn't have any (it had a swing axle transmission installed).
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Mike B.

[waxhead]

I found this on the Late Beetle forum, and I think it should work for Things too. Courtesy of 'DrScope'.

"I use 4 jack stands. One at each corner of the car and a little ahead and behind it. Then tie your string from the front jack stand to the rear jack stand. Do this on both sides.

Because the VW fenders stick out farther then the tires, we can’t get the string against the tire. So you just need to get the string in as close as you can with out it touching the body.

Then measure from the string to the sidewall of the tire on the rear side of the rear tire. Write that down and have your helper move the front jack stand in or out, until you get the same measurement from the string to the side wall on the front side of the rear tire.

Do this on both sides and you will be able to see what the strings are doing. If they get closer in the front of the car, you have toe in. It they get closer in the rear, you have toe out.

If they both point toward one side, you have a mess. One toed in and one toed out.

When you can get both strings in line and just pointing together in the front a little bit, you have it about as close as you will ever get it.

You can use the distance from the string to the center of the hub cap on the front wheels to help tell you if you are going straight. When it is the same on both sides, you are there. If you are going to do this, use good straight hub caps if you have them. Using the grease cap can sometimes give a different reading from side to side.

Trying to read off the front wheels is also difficult because they may not be straight. That’s why I like to use hub caps to do this. But if you don’t have them, do the best you can.

Setting the toe is just a matter of the three bolts that hold the axle to the spring plate. Loosen them up and move the axle in the slotted bolt holes. When you have it where you want it, tighten things up and check it again.

Keep in mind, toe changes as the axle makes it’s arc. As soon as it goes past being level, it goes to toe in. The farther up or down the axle goes, the more toe in you get. That’s why you really need to do this with the axles as close to level as you can.

The hard part is getting the axles level before you start with the strings! I use a floor jack under the transmission cradle and if I really want to be anal a torpedo level against the axle tubes. Jack the car up until you have the axles as close to level as you can get them.

The problem is that sometimes you need to jack the car up in order to be able to move the axle. So before I start, I remove the cottor pin from the axle nuts. This lets me use my socket and breaker bar on the nut to be able to leverage the axle around a bit.

I have also used a big dead blow hammer when the socket wasn’t available. But the socket and breaker bar are a big help!"
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Mike B.

[Wildthings]

You can just kneel behind the car and sight up the outside of the tires to see how they align with the front tires. IIRC the rear track is like an inch wider than the front (check this and don't take my word on it) so when the rear tires have zero toe they will appear to align with a point about 1/2" out from the front tires. You should also check that the tires spin without any wobble to the sidewalls or that will skew your results.