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Mon May 18, 2020 8:36 am

Hello all. It's been awhile since I have been on here. Between the winter months, and now the virus, my bug hasn't seen much action outside of the garage. I was able to get it out yesterday. I was a little iffy about it starting up due to sitting for 6 months. But it fired right up and drove as I'd hoped.

ANYWAYS....

As I was looking under the car this morning, the front end, I noticed the front drivers side torsion snubber (rubber stop) was torn. The nose of it has a circle torn from it which exposes the round tube that it's held on with. The passenger side was fine, no tears. Not sure how old they are, I'd imagine pretty old. I slid them both off, and the rubber was very hard, and dry.

Why would one rubber stop be torn at the head of it, and not the other?
What exactly is their purpose? With the car on the ground, and not jacked up, the rubber stop was not touching anything around it.

Mon May 18, 2020 9:46 am

they are bump stops for the front suspension. maybe the drivers side 'bumps' more as there is always more weight on that side...?

Mon May 18, 2020 10:41 am

The good news is they are relatively inexpensive.

http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=111401273

Mon May 18, 2020 11:13 am

I was already going to replace both of them, but figured I'd ask the why's and what's :)

Mon May 18, 2020 1:11 pm

I asked a similar question. Here is the thread.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=592751&highlight=front+snubber

Mon May 18, 2020 1:37 pm

Search would have been my friend...again.
thank you for the link.

Not sure if the WW quality has changed in 5 years, but I might try them. I only drive the bug on weekends for car shows, so I imagine they will last me a long time.

thanks for the info

Mon May 18, 2020 4:43 pm

Cincinnati . was born there . lived north in Sharonville . and used to go to larrys off road . and I think drew off road ? and bug drag races at kil care .

Mon May 18, 2020 4:56 pm

bad91teg wrote: Cincinnati . was born there . lived north in Sharonville . and used to go to larrys off road . and I think drew off road ? and bug drag races at kil care .

Currently I'm not far from Sharonville. Drew's is still there. I get parts from there when I am in a rush and can't wait for shipping.

Wed May 20, 2020 4:32 am

https://www.westcoastmetric.com/i-22964163-111-273.html

I've had good luck with these from WCM .

Sun Jun 07, 2020 11:47 am

I need some assistance on installing these snubbers. I was able to get the old ones off, due to them being worn/torn. I can't figure out how to get the new ones on. I realize it will be a tight fit due to being new, but I can't figure out what position the car needs to be in, to free up a decent amount of space to push the new ones on.

Do certain items need to come apart/off in order to do this?
Anyone offer any recommendations to make it easier?

Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:01 pm

I installed mine with the car sitting on its wheels on ramps and a little weight in the trunk to center the snubber post between the torsion arms as best I could. Smeared a little silicone grease inside the snubbers, pushed and twisted on as much as possible, then used a two foot long wooden dowel and a mallet to make sure they were fully seated (with wheels to full lock for access).

Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:41 pm

would their be much of a difference if I were to jack the car up and place it on jack stands? Or is having the wheels on the ramps the reason it works?

Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:44 pm

crankbait09 wrote: would their be much of a difference if I were to jack the car up and place it on jack stands? Or is having the wheels on the ramps the reason it works?
You want weight on the front end to get the clearance between the torsion arms.
Putting it on jack stands won't help at all. The arms need to move up to get the snubber in place.

Good Luck.

Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:46 pm

thank you mukluk and 67rustavenger

I will attempt with ramps

Fri Jul 03, 2020 2:49 pm

OK, I am back to this project.

I placed the front end on ramps, or in my case, a cinder block. I started on the drivers side, turned the steering wheel all the way to the right. But it didn't give me any clearance to hit it into place. How much weight is needed in the trunk in order to make this happen?

Fri Jul 03, 2020 3:03 pm

IDK. Start adding weight in the trunk until you have the clearance that you need to install the snubbers.

Bags of sand, cement, BBQ pellets, bricks, buckets of dirt/stones, the fat kid next door......

Fri Jul 03, 2020 3:06 pm

ha ha, ok....I wasn't sure what kind of weight we were talking about. that cleared that up.

is it easier if the wheels are turned one way or another, or should they be straight?

Fri Jul 03, 2020 5:27 pm

Again, IDK. But I try to use logic to solve most of my mechanical conundrums.

It seems to me, that if you turn the wheels to the right to install the left snubber. That would work out.
Then do the opposite for the right side. Turn the wheels left and install the right snubber.

Disclaimer: I have never performed this procedure or owned a VW older than a 67.

Good Luck

Fri Jul 03, 2020 5:28 pm

No worries. I appreciate the help. I'll give this a go tomorrow

Sun Jul 05, 2020 3:03 pm

Project complete.
At first I was placing the vehicle on cinder blocks, uneven driveway, or different heights to find the happy point to where i could hit the snubbers into place. Used a long piece of wood with a hammer. Nothing would work.

As Mukluk mentioned, he used a dowel. So I gave that a shot. Went to the good ol' Depot, bought a 1-1/4" dowel rod. I think it was 3 or 4 ft long. Either way, I turned the wheels to the left and right (depending on the side I was working on). It actually worked best for me when the vehicle wasn't elevated to high off the ground. I centered the dowel on the head of the snubber, and with my mini sledge hammer, gave it a few wacks, and it slid right on. Made sure it completely bottomed out, and I was good to go. That dowel was the ticket!

thank you for the suggestions all.