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youngbug74 Samba Member
Joined: May 31, 2015 Posts: 196 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:09 pm Post subject: High school kid buys 74 bug |
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I joined the samba about 2 months ago which is right around the time I bought my beetle. My beetle is my first car I paid 2,500 cash for her on the spot. My current issue is my suspension which is raised in the back and lowered in the front I have empi coilovers in the back and I just bought the tool to lower them with (hoping that works) I hope lowering the back brings up the front a little the front is a torrision bar and I'm not sure how I could adjust that. I just don't want my tires to rub especially because this car will be a daily driver! Here's some pics of my suspension
Here you can see the rear suspension
Here's the front torrision bar and shock
for those of you who are interested in my bug and what I have done/plan on doing to it see my next post on this thread below |
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Northof49 Samba Member
Joined: July 22, 2013 Posts: 1759 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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I doubt lowering the rear will have any significant effect on the front height. We need to determine why the front is low, and how it was lowered. There are at least 3 options:
1. Drop Spindles
2. Adjustable front beam
3. weakened front torsion springs.
Can you see if it has either 1 or 2? Maybe its adjustable. _________________ 1958 Karmann Ghia owner |
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youngbug74 Samba Member
Joined: May 31, 2015 Posts: 196 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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My engine bay. (I know I need to relocate my fuel filter) you may notice my new empi carb I installed to correct an idling issue (adjustment screw on old carb was broken) I also installed a new black ignition coil. And I put on new rubber intake boots. My future plans are to replace the three heater hoses, relocate fuel filter, replace the deck lid seal, and I also need to get a hose for my crankcase breather. Long term plans may be to transition to a dual carb setup
Here's my interior its in great shape Iv cleaned it very throughly, installed new front seatbelts, and a new handbrake rubber boot
Here's the bugs butt...I installed new bumper rubber and end caps (I know the muffler tips are sideways I think the muffler may be installed wrong)
Before I bought my bug the previous owner replaced the floorpan, tires, master cylinder, rear window, hubcaps, and a few more things...Iv also fixed my parking brake, installed a aftermarket windshield washer pump (had to for state inspection), and put in new stop light switches. I hope everyone enjoyed hearing about my bug I hope someone has some advice for me and feel free to ask me anything if you think I can help you |
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OLD VW NUT Samba Member
Joined: February 23, 2011 Posts: 2776 Location: High Desert of Washington 98823
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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There is ZERO reason for you to post the same question twice in the same forum. You've already gotten good advice - use it! If you have a problem with adjusting those shocks use the same thread. _________________ 71 Ghia Coupe - stock body - no rust! Powered by a 2110 W/Dual HPMX 44's - Rancho Pro Street Transaxle - A/C by Gilmore
Other car - 2013 VW Golf TDI |
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youngbug74 Samba Member
Joined: May 31, 2015 Posts: 196 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:23 pm Post subject: |
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OLD VW NUT wrote: |
There is ZERO reason for you to post the same question twice in the same forum. You've already gotten good advice - use it! If you have a problem with adjusting those shocks use the same thread. |
I decided to start a thread specially for my car and I thought I should mention what I was currently in the process of doing |
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fatdog Samba Member
Joined: April 23, 2015 Posts: 68 Location: United States western N.Carolina
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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Adjusting those will make it ride a little softer but won't lower it, the springs will still hold it as high just not be as stiff on bumps. Stock style shocks will sit it lower and ride better but as last post said it won't help the front sit higher, need to figure out whats been changed to address that. _________________ Be carefull not to outsmart your common sense. |
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Northof49 Samba Member
Joined: July 22, 2013 Posts: 1759 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:46 pm Post subject: |
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We need some details on the "too low" front end. Can you get a picture of the exact center of the front beam. From a low angle. Perhaps it has an adjustable front beam? _________________ 1958 Karmann Ghia owner
Last edited by Northof49 on Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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youngbug74 Samba Member
Joined: May 31, 2015 Posts: 196 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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The passagener side sits higher so I think if I put stock shocks on it it would still sit higher? |
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Aussiebug Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2002 Posts: 2162 Location: Adelaide Australia
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 2:27 pm Post subject: |
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Temporarily remove those coilover shocks to see how the rear sits on just the torsion bars. These ARE adjustable to set the correct height and even up the sides if needed ( procedure is on our site at www.vw-resource.com/rearaxle.html), and then fit stock single acting hydraulic shocks, they give a better ride too.
As noted above, getting the rear down to correct height won't do much for the front suspension but it might bring the front bumper up a few mm. _________________ Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.vw-resource.com |
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Bob Brugge Samba Member
Joined: April 09, 2015 Posts: 721 Location: Missoula, MT
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 7:48 pm Post subject: |
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Clean little machine. |
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LeftSatisfied Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2010 Posts: 212 Location: Canyon Lake, Ca.
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:13 pm Post subject: |
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OLD VW NUT wrote: |
There is ZERO reason for you to post the same question twice in the same forum. You've already gotten good advice - use it! If you have a problem with adjusting those shocks use the same thread. |
Wow, what a grump! Look again, he didn't even ask a question in this thread. He shared the same picture and mentioned his current plans for his suspension. Why do you feel the need to jump on this kid? You are in the wrong here Mr. Thread Nazi! |
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Bashr52 Samba Member
Joined: July 16, 2006 Posts: 5666 Location: On an island in VA
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 4:12 am Post subject: |
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If I could give you some advice, ditch those empi shocks as fast as you can and throw them far, far away. Even at the softest settings they are way to stiff and will make your car ride like shit, ask me as I know. |
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Mikedrevguy Samba Member
Joined: October 15, 2008 Posts: 2234 Location: Medford, OR
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:17 am Post subject: |
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Take a pic from the side (passenger and driver) so we can see what the stance issue is. _________________ 74 1303 (RevBug): plan for German Look
76 914 with 2260
79 VW Iltis
69 Bwajaja
"The wise speak because they have something to say; while the foolish speak because they have to say something." Plato
Illigitimi non-Carborundum!! |
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pb_foots Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2010 Posts: 1089 Location: Ben Lomond, CA
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:40 am Post subject: |
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Mikedrevguy wrote: |
Take a pic from the side (passenger and driver) so we can see what the stance issue is. |
From the OP gallery.
Holy crap kid, throw the shocks in the trash. The back end of your car is dangerous. This thing has got to handle terribly.
You don't need coilovers on a bug, get some stock oil shocks before you do anything else.
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Chochobeef Samba Member
Joined: May 01, 2013 Posts: 811 Location: Ft. Worth, Texas
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:06 am Post subject: |
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Those shocks definitely aren't doing you any favors. I am betting the PO put those on because they didn't know how to re-index the rear spring plates cause they were sagging. You could try and put those "coilovers" to there lowest setting, but as said above that is not safe to be driving the way your tires are sitting. Yours look like \ / when they should be | | or / \.
There are a couple different types of shocks you can get. Can get the oil filled (soft) type or the gas filled (stiffer) type. I have the latter in the form of the KYB GR-2 shocks. They are great for the rear, but I also have them in the front and they are a bit on the stiff side since there is hardly any weight up front.
Just do your research as with anything and then come ask for opinions in your thread and see what the response is. You can either take the advice or not, its that simple. |
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youngbug74 Samba Member
Joined: May 31, 2015 Posts: 196 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 8:01 am Post subject: |
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Here are pics of each side of my bug and one pic of the front shock I do not think it is adjustable
My plan is to remove the rear coilovers and see if that corrects the problem of the passenger side sitting higher than the drivers if it does I agree stock shocks are the way to go as I want a stock height. If this does not correct the problem Im not sure what I will do for the suspension. As for the front I need to raise it somehow I hope these pics help |
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Floating VW Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2015 Posts: 1596 Location: The South Zone
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 8:11 am Post subject: Re: High school kid buys 74 bug |
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youngbug74 wrote: |
My beetle is my first car I paid 2,500 cash for her on the spot. |
My, how times have changed. I only paid 250 bones for my '74 back in 1988. Of course, that was back in the day when they were still considered as disposable cars. _________________ "It's time you started treating people as individuals, rather than mathematically predictable members of an aggregate set, regardless of how well that works." |
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Aussiebug Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2002 Posts: 2162 Location: Adelaide Australia
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Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 1:33 am Post subject: |
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youngbug74 wrote: |
My plan is to remove the rear coilovers and see if that corrects the problem of the passenger side sitting higher than the drivers if it does I agree stock shocks are the way to go as I want a stock height. If this does not correct the problem Im not sure what I will do for the suspension. |
As I already said in my post above, here's how to reset the ride height of the rear suspension. Www.vw-resource.com/rearaxle.html _________________ Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.vw-resource.com |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2011 Posts: 1593 Location: Louisville, ky
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Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 1:56 am Post subject: |
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Being a most likely broke high school kid, you can probably remove the springs from those coil overs leaving you with maybe acceptable oil shocks. Unscrew the top, without pointing it at your face, and the spring should violently come apart. Go find the top of the shock that shot across the yard and put the shock back together without the spring. After you do both of them check the dampening by putting them back on the car. Bounce on the back bumper, it should go down and then come back up smoothly without any up and down bounce. |
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Floating VW Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2015 Posts: 1596 Location: The South Zone
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Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 6:13 am Post subject: |
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You mentioned you don't want your front tires to rub. Did you mean that they are rubbing now, or that you're worried they will rub in the future? The reason I ask is because your front end looks lowered, but not slammed. In my opinion, dropping the front down an inch or two (or three) is a good thing - as long as the tires don't rub. If yours aren't rubbing now, I would leave the front alone. If you post a pic of the middle of the beam, we can tell you of it has the beam adjusters or not, and if it does, you can crank the ride height up or down as much as you want (well, within limits).
My '74 always seemed to sit a little cocked on the driver's side as well, but I was never really sure if it wasn't just an optical illusion, since the lean wasn't exaggerated enough to notice unless you looked at it long enough. Handling wasn't affected by it and it went away after I installed a set of anti-sway bars, front and rear (also a good thing, in my opinion), so I never worried about it too much. At any rate, I don't think it's fair to say yours has this problem until those coil-overs come off and you can see what's really going on under there. _________________ "It's time you started treating people as individuals, rather than mathematically predictable members of an aggregate set, regardless of how well that works." |
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