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Tcash
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Joined: July 20, 2011
Posts: 12846
Location: San Jose, California, USA
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 Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 11:29 am Post subject: Spring Plate Angle/Torsion Bar Adjustment (Pics Added)(tip) |
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Spring Plate Angle/Torsion Bar Adjustment (Pics Added)(tip)
| patayres wrote: |
| Here is my write-up/pictorial for the procedure... hope this helps others looking to adjust their rear wheel camber and/or rear end sag. |
Prep Work:
Before jumping into the project, I put the rear end up on jack stands, removed the rear wheels, and soaked the 4 bolts that hold the bearing housing, spring plate, and diagonal arm together with PB Blaster -- liberally applying it twice daily for 4 days.
Day of procedure:
Release the emergency brake cables from the front of the bus
Remove the rear shock
Remove the brake line from the diagonal arm. I replaced the flexible brake line while I was there.
In this next photo you can see the brake line disconnected. The 2 red arrows point to 2 of the 4 bolts mentioned earlier.
Create an alignment mark on the spring plate, diagonal arm, and bearing housing. I cold chiseled a line as well as marking with a white paint marker.
Now it's time to have at those 4 bolts (22mm socket). They are torqued to 94 ft. lbs., so it will take some effort. I was lucky to get them to release with an 18" breaker bar (presoak of PB Blaster certainly helped). Have something ready to rest the assembly on, which can easily be slid to the rear. Be careful not to bend the metal brake line -- I didn't have to worry as mine were disconnected.
Remove the spring plate cover. Here's what my outer donut bushing looked like after 34 years of wear:
Release the spring plate from its lower stop (red arrow). I used my floor jack and a small pry bar. Jack up the spring plate until it is off the lower stop and pry it outwards. Once the plate is out far enough, lower the jack. You can also see in the pic that I've marked the setting of the outer torsion bar splines with the spring plate.
Check spring plate angle. First, determine how far off the bus is from level. If the rear is higher, add the number of degrees from level to the angle measured on the spring plate. If the front is higher, subtract. My rear was 1* higher, so I added 1* to my measurement.
Remove the spring plate from the torsion bar. It helps to hammer a socket against the torsion bar while pulling the spring plate off... you don't want to pull the inner torsion bar from its splines. Then use a straight edge and marker to mark the setting of the inner torsion bar splines.
It's now safe to remove and inspect the torsion bar.
Clean everything up
Coat the new bushings with talcum powder
Grease the inner splines and reinsert the torsion bar and new bushing. First step of adjusting spring plate angle is to adjust the inner torsion bar splines. I needed to increase my angle 1*. This is equivalent to one spline down on the inner splines and 1 spline up on the outer. Pull the torsion bar back out until it just releases from the splines and rotate 1 spline down from the original setting (counterclockwise on passenger side, clockwise on driver side)
Place the spring plate back onto the outer splines of the torsion bar. To complete the 1* vernier adjustment, rotate the spring plate 1 spline up from original setting (clockwise on passenger side, counterclockwise on driver side). Measure new spring plate angle... should be just under a degree (50') higher than the original setting. Don't forget to compensate for bus levelness - adding 1* to my new measurement of 23* put me right where I needed to be.
Press the spring plate cover over the new bushing on the spring plate. I had purchased a couple longer bolts to aid in getting the spring plate cover into place but found that they weren't necessary. Once the spring plate cover bolts are started, jack the spring plate back up over the lower stop and torque the cover bolts to 25 ft lbs.
Slide the rear hub assembly back to the front and bolt the bearing housing, spring plate, and diagonal arm back together - respecting the alignment mark made earlier. Torque the bolts to 95 ft lbs.
Reattach the brake line to the diagonal arm.
Reattach the rear shock, but don't completely tighten the bolts until the wheels are back on the ground.
Repeat for other side.
Edited to add pics of the camber improvement:
Before:
After:
You can also see in the after pics that the rear end was raised as evidenced by the distance between the top of the wheel and the fender.[/quote
Link
Spring Plate Angle/Torsion Bar Adjustment (Complete Discussion)
Last edited by Tcash on Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:22 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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cefalu
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Joined: May 14, 2012
Posts: 135
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA
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| Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:36 am Post subject: |
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Great write up, I think I need to do this too. Where did you get that angle gauge, and what is the "after" measurement from the pavement to the bottom of the wheel arch opening?
Also, are there any new parts you should have on hand to replace as long as you are in there?
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type two pat
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Joined: January 15, 2015
Posts: 3
Location: Brooklyn, New York
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| Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 3:45 pm Post subject: leveling out a type two... |
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| I have been wrenching on my 1977 Westy for a few months now and recently installed new shocks. I saw this thread and it is very informative but Im wondering if its possible or easier to lower the front end a few inches rather than heightening the rear? I like the look when it sits a little lower. My bus currently looks like a gasser... |
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Brian
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airschooled
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Joined: April 04, 2012
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Location: West Coast, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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| cefalu wrote: |
| what is the "after" measurement from the pavement to the bottom of the wheel arch opening? |
This is not a scientific measurement. This depends on tire size, tire pressure, and spring plate angle. So use the spring plate angle only.
| Quote: |
Also, are there any new parts you should have on hand to replace as long as you are in there? |
Two bushings on each side, TALCUM powder for the bushings, and anti-sieze for the bolts.
Early buses will have to disconnect the rear brake lines, since we do not have the cutout in the trailing arm. We can CAREFULLY replace the bushings with the line in place, but we don't have enough wiggle room to reset the angle.
For those complaining that it looks like the front is higher: good! Put your mother-in-law in one of the front seats and then look at it. Then add your French-fry-eating tush and watch it level out.
We don't want a raised rear end for cosmetic reasons either. We want the center of gravity and weight bias exactly where the factory determined it. This is for handling yes, but more importantly for safety. Check out the torsion angle specs for the campmobile compared to the station wagon; see how the angle is actually adjusted to keep the campmobile center of gravity down with the extra weight up top? Most people think they would increase torsion to counter-act the weight. No. These details matter.
Robbie
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Jalabert
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Joined: December 06, 2005
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Location: On the coast in NZ, somewhere...
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| Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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I used this post when I did mine in conjunction with the Bentley - thank you, PatAyres. Not nearly as intimidating or difficult as I believed, but would be without A) good axle stands and B) a good cheater bar.
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72vwtype2
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Joined: February 10, 2006
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 1:22 am Post subject: |
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This with Bentley will my make this job much easier next week when I take it on.
I was wondering how critical is it to mark the outer torsion bar splines and the spring plate? I will be taking my spring plate in to get cleaned up and then powder coated. The spring plate marking will probably be long gone.
Are these markings critical? Bentley does not mention these markings.
Thanks. |
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hightop69
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Joined: June 01, 2008
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Location: Jerz 117/120
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 1:48 am Post subject: |
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Nice write up.
Just want to add some spring plates don't have the cut out for the brake hard lines. On my early bay I had to cut a notch in the plate where the hard line goes through to move the hub assembly out of the way to adjust the spring plates.
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hightop69
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Location: Jerz 117/120
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 1:56 am Post subject: |
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| hightop69 wrote: |
Nice write up.
Just want to add some spring plates don't have the cut out for the brake hard lines. On my early bay I had to cut a notch in the plate where the hard line goes through to move the hub assembly out of the way to adjust the spring plates. |
Early buses will have to disconnect the rear brake lines, since we do not have the cutout in the trailing arm.
OOps what he said, to drunk to fix.guess I should of read the whole thread
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Tcash
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Joined: July 20, 2011
Posts: 12846
Location: San Jose, California, USA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 11:00 am Post subject: Spring Plate Brake Line Cut Out |
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Early spring plate.
Late spring plate.
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