944 rear torsion bars

[oprn]

You are not wrong, valid points but if I were really that concerned about the safety aspect I would sell the Buggy. Having ridden several motorcycles over the years (I have the scars to prove it!) this car does not cause me to lose any sleep. I drive it as if it were a motorcycle because I do know how vulnerable we are out there! I have been forced against the guard rail in my '71 Super Beetle, run off the road in a Chevy 2500 4x4 and just 2 months ago a semi attempted to run us into the ditch in my wife's Golf wagon. Haven't had an incident in the Buggy yet but I think the color and unusualness of the car is in our favor. That and the fact that we tend to avoid hours and roads the have heavy traffic. Wildlife hits here are our greatest hazard. We also avoid dusk and dawn driving because that is when they are the most active.

Practice defensive driving is the best safety strategy I say.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

It's really up to you isn't it.

Based on all the years of playing with road and off-road toys (even "crotch rockets") I have seen a lot of things. Just trying to help.

Lee

(If you don't know the meaning of the old term: "Crotch Rocket" you can do an online search on the name.)

[oprn]

I exist squarely in the center between the Evil Knievel imitators and the bubble wrap generation. Get your butt out there and enjoy, just don't be stupid!

Safety by the way was the #1 reason I got rid of the swing axle and went to IRS. I kept getting horrible visions of hitting a frost heave at speed in a corner and having that outside wheel tuck on me! Just for that reason alone I have never rung this Buggy out in a corner. I am going to feel much more confident in the mountain passes now!

Safety is also the reason I went to 4 wheel disc brakes. I had a scare once on heavy traffic pulling a small canoe trailer in the mountains. Some Bozo stopped to take pictures and in the ensuing domino effect my stock drums faded and I had to take to the shoulder to avoid the car in front which had more fade free brakes!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

DSC04948.JPG

This is the stock arm pivot from a stock VW. There is a kit to put a pivot onto a swing axle setup.

The assy where the rest of the assembly requires some additional changes allowing for the Swing axle setup to be installed.

There are other changes allowing for additional adjustments for torsion changes if wanted and the brake change setup (not sure about any changes for your disc brake setup).

Do a search here and there are a couple of things on the change found on this site.

Lee

[oprn]

Getting this thread back on subject... I dropped the ride height adjusters to the lowest setting which took the suspension well off the bottom stops. The ride is much improved now that it is not banging against those stops when a wheel drops on a less than pristine road. The overall ride now is firm, in fact the rear ride is almost as firm as the front now. A much better ride balance I must say. I think I could still drop a leaf or two out of the front beams to make the package even better.

Like I said in my first post, I do like a firm riding car and this is not arm chair, Cadillac comfort by any means. The next step in this journey is to do an extended trip and see if the extra firm ride turns a good trip into a torture test...

[H2OSB]

I will say, my '73 full body Super Beetle with 125# springs on the front and 23.5mm 944 torsion bars had an outstanding ride quality. I've installed 26mm bars in my current '74 Super to compensate for slight shortcomings while autocrossing, but I will give them very little leeway. I've recently discovered the Porsche 968 has 24mm torsion bars. In hindsight, 24 may have been a better choice. For your light weight buggy, I'm sure 23.5s would be great.

H2OSB

[oprn]

We have a few miles on it now and no, it is not too stiff. The front beam is still harsher than the back end. I will perhaps look into eliminating some leaves up front this winter.

[Bruce.m]

Just be sure the ball joints aren’t running out of travel. Unless you have the extra travel version that is surprisingly high. I measured that before the spindle was fitted to check the shock length when the ball joint ran out of travel , so the damper length & bump stop would prevent it. Hitting that limit or the bump stop will make the front end seem harsh

[oprn]

Thanks, I will check into that. I do have a lowered adjustable beam. I had to raise it up to maximum ride height as there was not enough travel for ordinary street driving even lowered 1/2 way. I should have gone with a stock beam and lowered spindles.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Although expensive, I would think it is probably a good idea to add the 'dropped' spindles to the mix you have now. It is surprising how things can change after a bit of time to both the car and to you.

Lee

[oprn]

With the present wheels and tires I only have a little better than 2" of clearance before the rubber contacts the underside of the fender. Drop spindles I believe are 2.5" lower.

[Bruce.m]

Going from my notes (which could be wrong!) the ball joint ran out of travel when the length was 30.5cm. That is measured from the shock top cup on the beam (from underneath) down to the centre line of the shock mounting stud on the bottom trailing arm.
At full droop that measurement was 44.5cm

[Ol'fogasaurus]

44.5 cm is roughly 17.5 in. and 30.5 cm is roughly 12.01 in so the change is roughly 5.5 inches.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=Beam+adju ... 83&pc=LCTS

The "adjusters" here might solve part of the problem. It's been a long time but I think one could be added on the top or one on both the top and bottom to adjust road height. There is another way, but I don't think I would recommend it and that is by removing the top and bottom of the stack on the BJ torsion bars (K&L has a square stack but the BJ setup has an additional setup on top of the "square stack". I never tried it, but it has been talked about. It does soften up the ride but by how much. K&L beams are different but they have/had adjusters for that too.

setting up for hook and pin stops 007.JPG

If you did do it then I would recommend using "hook and Pin" stops for suspension travel.

Lee

The "adjusters" can do a lot of different settings to the front suspension if done right. Lift, lower, change the ride rate and so on.

The same with the rear suspension, there are adjustable things that can be done for both street, off-road and other uses.

Changing/strengthening the pan is usually a good idea when things get so complicated, and I don't think there is only one thing that can/should be done.

[oprn]

The adjustable beam I have does not have any suspension stops. I am thinking the shocks are what is stopping the travel on both ends now. Not such a good idea I suspect!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

The suspension stops are added in the front suspension to stop potential ball-joint pullout on hard suspension hits. In the soft sand like I ride in bottoming out isn't uncommon.

With the way highways and streets are falling apart now day, as well as the added drain covers the suspension can bottom out hard if the problem was visually missed and the speed was up.

Lee