torsion arm installation

[malcolm2]

the Bentley is not very helpful here. I have been test fitting the arms into the torsion bars and tubes, the lower one slides right on and seats well.

The upper one starts to slide on then the outer arm hits the protrusion that holds the rubber bumpers. Bumpers are not installed yet.

I have a thought. Remove the grub screw in the middle of the axle so the torsion bars will rotate enough to slide both upper arms on.

However, I will not be able to rotate both arms enough to get the center grub screw back in. SO HOW DO YOU INSTALL THE UPPER TORSION ARM?

I figured I can install the rubber bumpers once the wheels are on and the arms are out of the way and the bus is on the ground. weight will push up on the arms giving clearance to install the bumpers..... Right?
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My Toys: '75 Porsche 914, '92 Ski Nautique and now a 1972 VW Transporter Deluxe (punch list fixing)

[Wildthings]

Slide the arm on as far as it will go and then lift the end of the arm with a jack and beat it in the rest of the way using something soft to protect the arm.

Loosening the center grub screw will do nothing to help.

[SGKent]

[malcolm2]

Yeah. Been searching and found alot of BFH threads about this. Plus I am remembering how much fun it was to get them off.
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My Toys: '75 Porsche 914, '92 Ski Nautique and now a 1972 VW Transporter Deluxe (punch list fixing)

[Timas]

I heard that u have to pull the axel spline out of the other side? I'm in the same boat, apparently this is up there on the WTF scale.

[malcolm2]

THe floor jack method did not work. THe torsion arm is at such a steep angle that the jack wants to roll if it is not pushing straight up. Plus I did not want the jack touching the ball joint.

So I found were folks were using a crowbar. wedge it in under the upper arm and lift up. do that and get the bumper in, then do it again and use the BFH and a block of wood to protect the end of the arm. I split 3 pieces of wood, but #4 was all it took.

Then I used a small screw driver to feel around in the grub screw hole to make sure the hole and the dimple matched, then installed the grub screw.

Drivers side had a broken weld on the bars, so I had much more trouble with that side, ended up using a pipe clamp to straighten them all up and welded the ends like the factory. BFH and done.
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My Toys: '75 Porsche 914, '92 Ski Nautique and now a 1972 VW Transporter Deluxe (punch list fixing)

[Wildthings]

You can just wrap mechanics wire around the end of the bundle of spring leaves and twist it tight, tapping the bundle with a hammer to get all the leaves aligned. As you install the swing arm the wire will just be pushed inboard where it will do no harm.

[malcolm2]

[tjrm63]

I did this Friday night on my bus. Put both torsion arms on the new leaves you are installing make sure the seat all the way in. Next put a zip tie at the end of the torsion arm and remove the arm and place another zip tie at the end of the torsion leaves, this is the end you will be putting into the tube. Guide the zip tie end of the leaves thru the tube while holding on to the torsion arm that is still seated on the leaves. When you hit the middle of the tube rotate back and forth a little till it fits in the center pattern for the leaves and it will go right thru. Once thru have someone on the other end to hold the leaves with a vise grip and remove the torsion arm on the other side. Push the leaves now seated correctly in the tunnel back and forth to get the zip tie to the end so you can remove it, just don't go to far that it will slide out of the middle guide.
My bus raised an inch and is much stiffer, no more sag and bounce
I got my leaves from Busted Bus, they were in perfect condition
Good Luck
I hope this helps
Tom
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I don’t care how much it’s worth now.
I care how much this bus makes me happy

[hylomatt]

I also just did my ball joints this past weekend and had a bear of a time getting the uppers reinstalled. I took the advice of installing them both as far as they would go prior to lifting over the stop. Then I pried them up with a pry bar and hammered on them with a rubber mallet until they were up on the bump stop arm. After that, I used a 4 foot piece of 2x4, placed against the end of the the torsion arm's shoulder (not out on the arm), and hammered both of them home.

My issue is that they don't seem to be seated into the torsion tubes exactly the same AND both camber nuts point completely to the right side of the vehicle to get the correct camber, approx .6 degrees. I never loosened the center grub screw but I'm pretty sure I've done something wrong here. Maybe I hammered too hard (block of wood and a 3lb mini-sledge).

The upper torsion arm on the right side seems like it's in further and I also thought its grub screw didn't turn in the same amount as the left side.

Can someone tell me if this has happened to them before? Unlike my beetle, ghia, and thing, having to drive these arms in with such force is a little clumsy feeling. You can't just wiggle them back and forth until you get the grub screw centered perfectly.

[Yarkle]

read the weld busler thread in my sig, page 2
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=771024&highlight=

[hylomatt]

@Yarkle, it is now read. I see you guys had similar need to rubber mallet the arms home. I didn't do all the pack removal though so I didn't get to learn the alignment lesson you guys enjoyed

Did you have any trouble with the depth of torsion arm engagement onto the leaves? What about the subsequent camber adjustments? I was expectiing to not need to turn the eccentric nuts beyond about 45deg from center forward. I was surprised they wanted to both be pointed into the same, extreme direction. I'm afraid I've driven them on too far or maybe shifted the torsion leaves by accident.

[hylomatt]

Ok I figured it out. It was really simple. I had hammered the whole setup too far to the left side of the vehicle. I little hammering back towards the right side and it's all good now. Camber is in spec and the eccentric nuts are less than 45deg from forward. Set the toe-in at approx 1/16" so I'm not sure about that one yet. I'll drive it a bit to see if it feels right. She's going to North Carolina (from Florida) with me this xmas so I'll try to get a professional alignment in the next week.