IRS Axles 101 - narrow?

[westcoast-paul]

I assembled the rear of my car - rolled it out into the driveway and figured out that the the rear track is too wide. i have 5.5" silver mangels with 185-60-15.

i have an extra set of IRS trailing arms (used) coming in a week or so. i will be cutting them to narrow the rear, but i need to find out about axles first.

from whati can tell (searching here and google) is that they come in a few standard sizes.

15 5/8"
16 1/4"
16 3/4"
17 1/4"
18 3/4"
19 1/4"
20 1/4"

http://www.swayaway.com/Axles.php

i have a 1974 IRS beetle chassis. I did pull the axles, but have not taken the CV's off to measure them.

Does anyone know what came stock on the 74 chassis? i think it's the 16 1/4" one??

There is also a Type 3 axles (passenger side only) that is shorter (is it 1.5" shorter? )

Ideally, i'd liketo gain about 1.5" on either side.

i do know about hte trailing arms that you can buy that are already narrowed. i plan on making mine fit the axles i buy.

any help by folks who have experience here is greatly appreciated.

thanks.
_________________
- Paul

[Bruce]

Stock Beetle axles are 415.5mm long.
The LEFT axle from a Type 3 with an automatic axle are 26mm shorter, or 389.5mm.
_________________

[westcoast-paul]

so what are the 15 5/8" (396.875mm) length axles from?

16 1/4" (412.75mm - or 415.5mm?) stock IRS beetles?

Does anyone know a sorce for the type 3 LEFT axles?
_________________
- Paul

[westcoast-paul]

did some digging and found this:

http://listarchive.type3.org/archives/2003/december/msg00466.html

[westcoast-paul]

source for complete short IRS T3 axles
http://www.chircoestore.com/catalog/product_info.p...0ske5urgj6

EMPI makes em
_________________
- Paul

[westcoast-paul]

wow - this forum has been pretty much no help at all...

anyway - for anyone looking in the future (via search):

John at aircooled.net says the 1.5" narrowed trailing arms:

work with:
http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=cfa0004

this means that 15 5/8" 33 spline (stiock T1 style) axles work.
_________________
- Paul

[ninja90177]

I'm guessing i'm gonna be going this route in the future with 9" wides in the rear.

I'm trying to tuck them just under the edge of the fenders (+1.5") but had no idea what I was in for. I had the option of different offsets on my rims, but only the one was available and the rest were on indefinite back order due to popularity.

Sucks you had to go through all this on your own (a PITA, i know) but thanks for posting the info here. It's been bookmarked.

Kenney
_________________
Spun a rear drum? check this out

[56Hotrod]

[westcoast-paul]

bump for a thread reference: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2826764#2826764
_________________
- Paul

[westcoast-paul]

welder i used:

cut bearing housing at 90 degrees completely through the arm:

weld plate (thicker than arm housing) inside and out:

carefully measure and weld bearing housing on (note that this was cut at 90 degrees (laser marked), so it sits flush:

Cut and weld new cap on:

Add re-enforcement:

clean , grind, marine epoxy and compare to stock IRS:

Stub axles being removed:

Note - this was narrowed 30mm (~1.2")
the difference in axle length is 26mm (1"), but there is available play int he CV's that i used. also note the 1.5" trailing arm above uses the same 389.5mm axles / CV.
_________________
- Paul

[Merlin]

That's brilliant!

Thanks Paul. It's certainly going to help my mate should we go this route.

I still *sigh* haven't gotten around to the chassis builder - dependant on someone else - so I can't get photos and measurements.

I presume measuring and cutting the arms to match up with the T3 auto axles will solve the 'play' problem, or is this a general problem when modifying the TAs?

Thanks, N.
_________________
the3rdrock.com - …musings, discoveries and postulating, by a restless itinerant in search of enlightenment.

[56Hotrod]

Great work/documentation Paul. Great stuff!

[Bruce]

What happened to the snubber mount? What brakes will you be using?
_________________

[westcoast-paul]

i cut off the snubber mount.

i have converted to wide 5 brakes (this in itself was a tech article).
_________________
- Paul

[Bruce]

Not gonna put the snubber mount back on?
_________________

[westcoast-paul]

^ nope.

i installed them last night. They fit perfect. and can go uber low without the snubber on.
_________________
- Paul

[rustytortoise]

i've been studying how you narrowed your trailing arms and really like it.
could you go any narrower do you think? or is that it?

what i am looking to do is put irs in my 61 beetle and have it the same width as the short swing axle that is stock for my car. or atleast very close.

i'm not sure how much wider a stock irs set up is compared to a short axle set up..
_________________
-Jonathan

[volksmike]

when weldng the bearing carrier back on, could you change the angle to get rid of some negitive camber that happens even with IRS?

[westcoast-paul]

[westcoast-paul]

to put all the info in one spot:

http://www.chircoestore.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=257_258_308&products_id=4446
_________________
- Paul