rear spring plate bushing

[63ziggy]

would love to see a picture of the eyebolt tool. sounds like maybe a quick solution and easier then chains and floor jacks every where.

[ajbuchok]

I'm going to be pulling my rear suspension apart this weekend. I'll take some photos when I do and upload them.

[blsthng]

It has been a while but I finally caught up on the honey do list and had a day to go non stop. Both rubber bushings have been replaced. Spring plates have been set to about 25 deg.
If anyone wants to try this it can be done. Thanks to all the helpfull thingers on the site.
The cover was the hardest part to get back on. Buy longer bolts and you can get them on.

[Rev. Scott]

I'm finally getting around to this. i was hoping to re-index a bit, but the torsion bar is stuck in the spring plate and i dont want to lose reference entirely. also, the new outer bushing doesnt seem to center in the cover when bolting back together. hints, tips, or tricks? im doing inner and outer bearings at the same time and am working in the dirt...this is not fun.
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"I haven't seen one of those since I was shootin' at 'em!"

[Wildthings]

Lubricate it well with talcum powder and then use longer bolts to get the cover started on while using a hammer judiciously to get things to center. Not a big deal to lose your index point. It is really very quick to get things indexed properly assuming you have the correct gauge set up to measure the angle of the arm. The book makes indexing the arm seem much harder than it really is.

[mising]

I used the turnbuckle method to do mine and it worked really well. Make sure you get the heavy duty turnbuckles, the cheaper aluminum ones will strip and the eyebolts will stretch out, either of which happening will result in the arm swinging down uncontrolled and causing possible injury/damage.
Good, note solid eyebolts and steel body:

Bad, note cheap aluminum body(threads WILL pull out) and formed eyebolts (these WILL stretch out):

[/img]

This is the one I use:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/national-hardware-reg-3270bc-1-2x6-forged-turnbuckle-eye-eye-3551767

Good luck and be careful.
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“You Can’t Believe Most of the Quotes You Read On the Internet” - Abraham Lincoln

[63ziggy]

Mising

do you happen to have any pictures of how you did yours and mounted the eyebolts?

Thanks

[mising]

[Rev. Scott]

took me three sundays, but i did it. first one i lowered the spring plate on a good floor jack. second one, i just let fly...kind of a non-event, but fun. need to go back and re-index, i got a rear end sag. new bushings (black urethane slathered in graphite) made huge improvement, but still aren't centered in the cover. went in to do the bearings initially and still have a growl to the left...hmmm.

two steps forward, one step back.

unloading the tension on the spring plate is no big deal!
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"I haven't seen one of those since I was shootin' at 'em!"

[oscarsnapkin]

According to both the Bentley manual and the 181 repair manual that I found on this site, the outer spring plate bushing is to be replaced with the word ‘oben’ towards the top. My new bushings have nothing printed/stamped on them. They appear to be round with no difference that would indicate a top and a bottom. Anyone know if this matters? Also, I’ve never set spring plate tension in the past so this is all new to me. From what I understand, and please correct me if I am wrong, I measure the angle at which the car is sitting with an angle finder on the center frame ‘hump.’ Then, after adjusting for any deviation from zero, I set the spring plate (measuring on the bottom of the spring plate, with no tension on the spring) to 27 degrees plus or minus 30 minutes. Doesn’t seem too bad considering how difficult people make it out to be. If it makes a difference, I am working on a chassis only, no body engine or trans. I seem to remember being told that it cannot be done correctly without the car being at its ‘curb weight.’ Am I missing something? I’m looking forward to getting these on as it will be the first time the car will be supporting its own weight in well over a year. Thanks.
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- 1973 Thing

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[germansupplyscott]

oscar,

You must have the curb weight to get the car at the desired attitude. Doing the job as you are doing it will be easier (no body in the way) but without the weight of rest of the car you will not be able to tell if your adjustment is correct.

Even with the correct protector VW261, which is very precise, and all the math done properly, I find that you cannot get the vehicle levelled 'just so' the first time and you have to go back in and re-do. I've done this adjustment many times on Buses and VW cars and never got it perfect first time.
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SL

[mondshine]

My current spring plate tools:

The wood thing is just a way to hold the torsion bar without gaffing it up. It can be used to pry the spring plate off of the torsion bar, or to remove the torsion bar from the housing.

[74 Thing]

I have never seen "oben" embossed on the round bushing, just the knobby one.