Why Did Cap Come Off Spring Plate?

[oscarsnapkin]

Hey everyone, hope you are all well. Other than driving my Bus during the warmer months I’ve been ‘out’ of the VW world for almost a year. I’ve recently had the time to start working on my ‘73 Thing and ran into a problem installing my spring plates. I had everything lined up and was tightening down the the covers when the cap shot off of the end of the spring plate. (Note: These are definitely the correct spring plates.) I guess I want to know 1) Can this be put back on or is the plate trash? 2) Should I try tapping the torsion spring further in with a punch? I’m worried about deforming it. If not, how do I install it correctly? 3) Why the heck did this happen? The covers were definitely not over tightened, I was using a small 3/8 ratchet and was still in the process of snugging them up.

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- 1977 CEI Sunroof Bus 2.0L F.I. Hydraulic Lifters
- 1973 Thing

"It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind."

[mondshine]

Hopefully, it was a blob of grease that had nowhere else to go.
Also possible that the two torsion bars are not centered on the chassis, and the one that's in too far is stuck.
Fun job

Edit:
Maybe, the easy way out would be to use a suitably sized rubber plumbing cap from Home Depot (or similar).

It's just there to keep dirt and water out.

Good luck

[oscarsnapkin]

Thanks. The rubber cap is actually a good idea, at least until I can replace/repair it properly. I’m going to have to tow it within the next month or so that’ll work well. The spring is not in all the way on the other side of the car, so it’s not a case of the two bumping into each other. I’m gonna have some time to play with it tomorrow.
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- 1977 CEI Sunroof Bus 2.0L F.I. Hydraulic Lifters
- 1973 Thing

"It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind."

[TDCTDI]

The torsion bar wasn’t fully seated into the housing and the end pushed the cap out as you tightened the retainer.


There is a strong possibility that there isn’t enough spline engagement on the inner splines & it may lead to sudden failure of the suspension holding up that corner.


With the spring plate loaded, there is little likelihood that you will be able to get the torsion bar to slide back in, you will need to disassemble that corner to fully seat the torsion bar…. Unless of course, the torsion bar on the other side is installed too far in, which means that it will need to be disassembled too.


Once torsion bars are centered correctly, the cap can be tapped back into the end of the spring plate & tack welded if necessary.
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