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Tue Feb 04, 2003 6:53 pm

My '72 bug shows a pretty high negative camber under no loading conditions (i.e. no passenger on board), while it should be positive camber.

Is it just a spring plate adjustment to be done ? Or is there something worn ? control arm bushing ? shocks ?

Thanks for your help, Phil.

Tue Feb 04, 2003 10:04 pm

Front or rear? IRS or swing axle?

If a swing axle bug is showing a lot of negative camber, the torsion bars have probably sagged. It's a common problem and VW expected it to happen, so there is a relatively straightforward fix.

I've outlined the process in my article
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/rearaxle.html

If you are talking about the front suspension on a superbug, check that the tops of the suspension towers (inside the luggage area) have not started sagging towards each other. The body on superbugs has to carry the front suspension load and if the car has been abused in the past, the floor of the luggage are can weaken enough to allow the suspension tops to sag towards each other. Some VW places have a brace which goes across the bottom of the luggage area (shaped a bit like a wide "U") to support the towers.

Regards
Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970

Wed Feb 05, 2003 10:48 am

The high negative camber can be seen on the rear suspension which, I believe, is IRS type. I have noticed one thing as well: when I rease the rear of the car to put two jack stands, I need to have one jack stand higher than the other, in order to have both weels above the groung and at the same height.

I read through your article and the job does not seem so obvious to do. Would you recommend that I do it myself, considering that I am a 'beginner' ?

Thanks, Phil.

Wed Feb 05, 2003 11:03 am

I've noticed on pictures of Supers (and on mine as well) that they seem to have negative camber (tops of wheels slanted towards the inside) when they are unloaded. I also have your situation that one jack stand always has to be higher than the other. When I go over big dips I hear some kind of groaning from the right rear. I wonder if it's all related...

Wed Feb 05, 2003 7:52 pm

P-seguret,

Rotating the splines is a job anyone can do if they are handy with tools - you don't have to be a VW specialist to do it.

Each "double rotation" (one spline on each end of the torsion bar) will raise that side by about 1/2-3/4", as a rough guide.

It's unusual to see negative camber on the rear wheel of an IRS beetle - the CV joints in the drive axle allow the wheels to move up and down vertically, and the suspension geometry should keep it close to vertical through it's movement.

The older swing axle design (pivoted at the gearbox only) DOES show a lot of camber change with sagging torsion bars. The correct setting for these is about 2 degrees down angle on the axle - from gearbox to brake hub - that produces slight positive camber at the wheels for good suspension travel, and keeps a small pool of gearbox oil behind the wheel bearings for good lubrication.

Regards
Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/