1969 Squareback Front end upper arm play?

[nynone4]

Driving the squareback last night, I noticed what felt like a little “looseness” in the steering - that the steering seems to be affected by small bumps, moving left and right slightly without any change in the steering wheel.

This morning I put the car up on stands to check out the usual suspects. Tie rods, wheel bearings, ball joints all seem to check out as good. The play seems to be coming from the upper arms (both sides) at the beam. It’s not a lot of movement… but enough that I’d like to address it before it comes a bigger issue.

Any ideas what could be causing the play? Is there a bushing there on the torsion bar that maybe has gone bad? I’m not as familiar with the inner workings of the type 3 beam as I am the bus and bug.

Any suggestions on what might be going on and how to fix it? The set screws for the arms themselves are good and tight clamping to the torsion bars.

Thanks in advance for any help!
_________________
>>Looking for any and all Vic Williams, Peoria Illinois dealership items.<<

[andybla]

You can try to tighten the upper arms, if i recall correctly, you need to loosen the lock bolt, remove the lock plate(?), tighten the side bolt untill the upper torsion bar and arm assy is just tight enough that it hold it’s own weight just above the bumpstop, after that torque down lock bolt and lock plate to secure it

[Erik G]

yes, I was looking for better pics... for the driver upper arm, the bolt and lock plate are on the passenger side and vice versa.

_________________
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[nynone4]

Awesome. This is the kind of info I was hoping for. Thankyou both so much!

So… are there any better pics to show where I access these bolts and locking plates for the upper torsion bars? Is it a bolt that threads directly into the end of the torsion bar?
_________________
>>Looking for any and all Vic Williams, Peoria Illinois dealership items.<<

[Bobnotch]

[andybla]

Other side is just the stud with locknut

[Bobnotch]

[nynone4]

I was able to make the first adjustments today. BIG difference in the steering feel to the positive. Thanks all for the help! Love the knowledge and willingness to help in this forum.

Now to see if I can adjust out a little play in the steering box… 😁
_________________
>>Looking for any and all Vic Williams, Peoria Illinois dealership items.<<

[gt1953]

While driving mine front end would shimmy at 45 ~ 50 miles an hour. Rotated balanced tires, new shocks, then finally after reading the Bentley manual it tells me to check and adjust the upper torsion arm axial play. Problem solved.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[Bobnotch]