Rear suspension toe / camber

[Bub]

Hey guys--

Just spent some time rebuilding a 63' (ground up rusty restore project). I'm not new to the VW stuff, so assume I know the basics and some details.
A couple questions I'm running through my head about rear suspension. I have adjustable spring plates on this car, lowered all around roughly 2" or so.
During assembly in the rear I measured and drilled/ threaded a hole in each spring plate so I could lock them in place and initially set up as stock would be, then adjust from there. Car was level and stock prior to all this.

After assembly rear height wasn't equal side to side, so I have adjusted it to level- but the adjustment on each side isn't equal. Does it matter?
Had it @ alignment shop last week, Camber is very close side to side.
rear Passenger side needs a couple more degrees of toe- do you just slot the mounting spring plate holes a tiny bit more?
Alignment specs weren't terrible, up front is all decent except odd bit of caster on passenger side- but it's still fairly dodgy on uneven highway roads.

Also-- speaking of rear camber; this particular car does an odd thing. I've owned 50 or so vintage VW's, none of them have done this the way this car does:
If you roll it backwards even a foot the rear camber goes way off, like you're jacking it up. I know reversing under power can have that effect. But when not in gear, not running if I roll it back a single foot the rear jacks WAY up, roll forward and it goes back to even. I'm trying to understand the physics of that. If I park facing up hill, and let it roll back a foot rear wheels tuck up, nothing dragging fwd or rear...shocks are good.

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[chrisflstf]

My guess is the pan is under some kinda stress or tension. Maybe twisted when new pan halves were welded?

Rear toe can be adjusted by springplate holes or trans position, fore and aft

[Bub]

[chrisflstf]

If your toe in is out only on 1 side I would look at slotting the spring plate holes. But I would put new bushings in the springplate first at the torsion bar end, as worn bushings will affect the springplate location. Ive seen springplate covers also with worn, elongated holes which also change the original location.

Moving the trans would not be my first choice. Relocating it backward, which would increase toe, could be done with shims. But it will move both axles also.

Hope that helps

[KTPhil]

[Bub]

[KTPhil]

If you marked "level" before disassembly, and then later replaced the bushings, I would not be surprised if the alignment changed and your marks are now "off."
_________________
Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[Bub]

[KTPhil]

Not everyone agrees with me, but I like a slight toe-out at the rear for swing axle cars. It makes handling over undulating curves a little more stable (most noticeable on a sweeping freeway interchange that has a little roller coaster action in it; this loads and unloads each side of the rear). It is a slight form of self-correcting as pitch and roll makes the car favor the inner or the outer wheel. Not to be overdone, but it helped my car seem a little more stable on those roads, and also in reaction to sidewinds, too.
_________________
Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[Bub]

[aquifer]

Your comment about the wheels tucking when you roll it backwards is interesting. My thought is that it would take serious toe-out for that to happen. So when you roll it backwards, the back wheels would want to roll toward each other, thus causing the back end to jack up. If you have toe-out, the "front" of the wheels are toe'd out, but the back of the wheels would toe in, and therefore might want to tuck when you roll it backwards. I don't know if that's true or not, but I can't think why else it would do that.

I've always heard that you want a little toe-out at the rear wheels as ktphil mentioned, but I've never had it raise the car when rolled backwards as you described. Not sure where I'm going with this, but I think I would solve that riddle before I got too excited about anything else.

Edited to add: oops looks like you replied before I realized it. Sounds like you're making some progress.
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Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown).
Also looking for used white headliner pieces, both perforated and non-perforated.

[KTPhil]

On swing axle cars, the rear toe changes as the suspension is loaded and unloaded. So measuring the chassis only can be misleading. Figure on one or two iterations after all is assembled.
_________________
Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[chrisflstf]

Yes, toe changes with camber changes. So, change one, need to check the other