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sidewinder64
Samba Member
Joined: April 30, 2015
Posts: 3
Location: Central Point, OR
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 Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:01 pm Post subject: Torsion front end question |
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Has anyone removed one of the torsions from the front end of their sand rail? I'm trying to soften up the front end on my car and was looking at the through rod kit that is available.
My thinking is that since the front beam suspension is designed for a 2,000 lb car and my sand rail is only 1,000 lb, I don't need to have two torsion bars. |
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Vanapplebomb
Samba Member
Joined: November 03, 2010
Posts: 5410
Location: Holland, MI
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| Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:31 pm Post subject: Re: Torsion front end question |
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Sure, just remove the torsions from the lower tube, leave the top one.
Ball joint or link pin? Link pin you may way to remove the spindles, measure, and re-shim them after removing the torsions. Through rods may pull the arms inwards a bit from where they were clamped via set screw on the torsions. Ball joint you may need to adjust the camber nut...accomplishes the same thing as shimming the link pins. 
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021 |
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sidewinder64
Samba Member
Joined: April 30, 2015
Posts: 3
Location: Central Point, OR
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| Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:35 pm Post subject: Re: Torsion front end question |
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| Vanapplebomb wrote: |
Sure, just remove the torsions from the lower tube, leave the top one.
Ball joint or link pin? Link pin you may way to remove the spindles, measure, and re-shim them after removing the torsions. Through rods may pull the arms inwards a bit from where they were clamped via set screw on the torsions. Ball joint you may need to adjust the camber nut...accomplishes the same thing as shimming the link pins. |
Thank you for the reply,
It's for a link pin front end. Do you know if there is any benefits in suspension characteristics by removing one of the torsion bars? I have run the stock setup for the last 10 years but was always curious as to why the front ends weren't modified for a lighter application. |
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71StandardReduction
Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2012
Posts: 715
Location: Louisiana
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BFB
Samba Member
Joined: November 03, 2014
Posts: 1758
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| Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 6:06 pm Post subject: Re: Torsion front end question |
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why do you say leave the top? doesn't the lower arms take more abuse / stress and be better to leave those? coil overs are typically mounted to lower arms... now if it were ball joint I could see it being better that the upper arm push down than the lower pulling down and maaaybe stressing the joint.
not saying your wrong just interested in the reasoning for leaving one set vs. the other |
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Booky
Samba Member
Joined: April 21, 2013
Posts: 149
Location: Pa
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| Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 6:33 pm Post subject: Re: Torsion front end question |
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| I have the same question why do you leave the upper in place? |
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Vanapplebomb
Samba Member
Joined: November 03, 2010
Posts: 5410
Location: Holland, MI
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 4:52 pm Post subject: Re: Torsion front end question |
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Leave the upper ones in place because it is the stronger of the two when the suspension is compressed, both link pin and ball joint, but for different reasons. A good look at the spindles should show you why it is better to use the upper rather than the lower. In the ball joint, it relieves tension from the lower ball joint which is upside down in a bug. Much stronger to compress ball joints than load them in tension. In the link pin, the upward thrust goes straight into the upper link pin and arm. If the lower arm had the torsions, all the thrust would be transferred through the skinny little spindle carrier in order to pull up on the lower link pin and arm. This is a natoriously weak part of the link pin beam. It can be strengthened by welding a gusset over it (which you should do anyways), but using the upper torsion will relieve a lot of the stress in that little bugger.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021 |
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