Tired of negative rear camber...

[Scorpwanna]

Could bad spring plate bushings cause negative camber?

I've replaced the trailing arms, stub axles, bearings, drums and they still go / \ and I'm tired of it. :(
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1971 Super Beetle Sedan Stock
Manufacture Date: December 12 1970
Left Factory on: December 17 1970 (Emden Germany)
Received: Washington, USA
Original Color: L 12 D Shantung Yellow
SOLEX 34-PICT 3 Carb
I've got a Bentley

[Brian]

Aren't there shims that negate that?

Or your trailing arms are bent
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[Scorpwanna]

Crap, I must of replaced my bent ones for some bent ones :(. That tells me that I'm pretty much always going to be stuck with them that way and tire wear will always be uneven.
_________________
1971 Super Beetle Sedan Stock
Manufacture Date: December 12 1970
Left Factory on: December 17 1970 (Emden Germany)
Received: Washington, USA
Original Color: L 12 D Shantung Yellow
SOLEX 34-PICT 3 Carb
I've got a Bentley

[Anthonyisawsome]

Well how low are you in the rear? Even with irs once lowered to a certain point I think they all get camber??
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[Aussiebug]

Both swing axle and IRS suspension bugs will suffer from negative camber if the rear torsion bars are "rotated" to lower the suspension - swing axle bugs much more than IRS, but it will happen for both suspension styles.

So - is the rear suspension on your 71 (IRS) bug lowered?
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[Brian]

shouldn't be by that much, mine is raised by 3" and there is no camber issues
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'68 Baja Truck
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[Scorpwanna]

The rear is not lowered. It sits about a normal height I think. Maybe a few inches low. I've been wanting to reindex it but am afraid of doing it wrong and hurting myself.

_________________
1971 Super Beetle Sedan Stock
Manufacture Date: December 12 1970
Left Factory on: December 17 1970 (Emden Germany)
Received: Washington, USA
Original Color: L 12 D Shantung Yellow
SOLEX 34-PICT 3 Carb
I've got a Bentley

[caffeinebean]

Nice Bug! that's not that bad compared to some rear wheels I've seen. How bout you rotate tires more often?

[Multi69s]

What you might try is to get a magnetic angle finder and stick it on a spring plate. Mount it as close to the torsion bar as you can. Then take two readings. 1) with the car setting on the ground. 2) with the rear end jacked up. Check to see if there is a difference between the two readings. I have never done this, but it may be able to tell you if your spring plates are twisting in some worn out bushings. Good luck.
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[Q-Dog]

[Scorpwanna]

I installed new trailing arm bushings when I replaced the trailing arms but I didn't take the spring plates off to re-index them and change their bushings. That I'm afraid is not one thing I'd be able to do, I'd need a professional.
_________________
1971 Super Beetle Sedan Stock
Manufacture Date: December 12 1970
Left Factory on: December 17 1970 (Emden Germany)
Received: Washington, USA
Original Color: L 12 D Shantung Yellow
SOLEX 34-PICT 3 Carb
I've got a Bentley

[vamram]

[Scorpwanna]

500 DOLLARS.... *faints*... I'll never have time to figure out how to do it safely and actually have time to do it myself.
_________________
1971 Super Beetle Sedan Stock
Manufacture Date: December 12 1970
Left Factory on: December 17 1970 (Emden Germany)
Received: Washington, USA
Original Color: L 12 D Shantung Yellow
SOLEX 34-PICT 3 Carb
I've got a Bentley

[Aussiebug]

[dirtkeeper]

You need to reindex and replace the bushings will fix that . if you can replace the trailing arms you could probably do a reindex.

[vamram]

[vamram]

It's a lot easier if you have the right tools. These 2 and my 2.5 ton floor jack were must-haves:

The angle finder was like $6 form HF. The one to raise the spring plate into positions was about $30.
http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC-C10-7047
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[Scorpwanna]

Does that big tool work for double spring plates?
_________________
1971 Super Beetle Sedan Stock
Manufacture Date: December 12 1970
Left Factory on: December 17 1970 (Emden Germany)
Received: Washington, USA
Original Color: L 12 D Shantung Yellow
SOLEX 34-PICT 3 Carb
I've got a Bentley

[wcfvw69]

Even when these cars were relatively new, they suffered negative camber on the rear wheels. I remember in the early 80's getting bugs in at the frame and alignment shop I worked at with inside tire wear like your photo shows. We'd check the toe in/toe out and in most cases that measurement was fine. We liked them set to 0 toe in or out on the back wheels.

So, what we'd do to adjust the camber was (hide your kids eyes) bend the trailing arm up slightly with a chain and porta-power. Basically, we'd loop a chain around the outside's of the trailing arm and push up with the porta-power in the middle of the trailing arm. We'd warn the owners that the trailing arm would look a bit bent afterwards but it would stop them from wearing out their tires. The owners didn't care what a part under their bug looked like. They simply wanted to stop buying tires so frequently.

So, our final alignment specs would be 1/8" to 1/4" negative on the camber and 0 for toe. This cured their tire wear problem. I can't ever recall even one come back for continued tire wear after we did this work.
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