Saggy butt measurement for rear torsion bars 70' bus

[Tcash]

wcfvw69 wrote: "I'm not sure the rear is really sagging to much?"
Oh. Post some pix and Start a Poll.
"Is my butt saggy"

Sometimes you just gotta face it your butt is saggy!

Tcash

[Wildthings]

[wcfvw69]

[Tcash]

[Andy70Bus]

Hey folks,

Resurrecting this old thread. My '70 Westy was also real saggy in the rear. I did all the reading in advance and then took a "best guess". I had an uneven ride height in the back, also, which I fixed.

I know the 23* "rule of thumb" but on mine, before adjustment when I first unloaded them, they were already at 23* - so I put them at about 28* to see what would happen. I think I may have overdone it a tad so I am considering taking one increment back out (one spline on each end) to lower the rear back down 1/2 inch.

Before I do that, though, I am wondering about one other measurement that I have not seen mentioned here: The distance between the spring plate and the bottom stop (the one you pry the spring plate out over to unload it) with the bus sitting on the level, unloaded except for a tank of gas.

For those of you who are happy with your rear suspension and the stance of your bus, how much space/gap do you have between the lower stop and the spring plate?

Thanks,
Andy

[Amskeptic]

[wcfvw69]

First of all, measure your torsion bars. VW used a couple different thicknesses. Then you have a measurement and can use the chart below to set the angle correctly.

On my bus, The passenger side was right at 24* or what the chart showed at 23* 50 minutes. It was set there at the factory as neither torsion bar covers had ever been removed since it was new. The drivers side was 23* and I raised it up to 24* to match the passenger side, which leveled the bus side to side. It fixed that saggy side and the bus is sitting correctly now.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...;start=240

It's talked about in this thread on my bus on that page. Scroll up or down to find the torsion bar part.
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[nathansnathan]

When people say to set it at what the factory tells you to fix it, it doesn't make sense to me. Chances are it hasn't been moved...

Like Andy70bus above, when I checked my sagging butt, I found the spring plates to be angled per factory spec. The issue is that the torsion bars have a propensity to torsion slightly more than when they were new. With that in mind, the task becomes to compensate for this change.

There was a chart or list I once saw of inner and outer spline movements and how many inches it would give.

Currently my kombi is on 1 1/2 drop spindles in front, and I wish the back was down maybe a half inch more - 1 1/2 is too much down in front for the amount of sag I have naturally in back.

[Tcash]

[nathansnathan]

Thank you for that. I'd lost my old bookmark.^^