Kafer Cup Bar - Truss Bar Setup

[Dale M.]

Sigh.....

812819.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... 26#5368650

Dale

[Hotrodvw]

Unfortunately, it's a set up for IRS only.....or did I miss something??

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Yeah, that is the Mendola setup I posted a while back, "The Stiffy". Hotrodsurplus and I were talking about Kaffer bars/truss bars a year or two ago. I'll see if I kept the stuff we were talking about. I think there were some cheaper parts but the key to it is the connector like the plate they use on the Mendola Stiffy.

Swing is going to effect the one point of attachment which should be easy to figure out... maybe. I haven't thought about it as I have IRS myself.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Unfortunately, it's a set up for IRS only.....or did I miss something??

Eric, look where the one joint is, on the trailing arm pivot; why does it have to be there as it could just as easily be on the torsion tube itself. Would that work for a swing axle?

Hotrodsurplus and I were talking about Trailer Supply and the non-spherical links there. The spherical rod ends are classy and smart but like braided oil and fuel lines, there are other ways to do things that may be cheaper, have a different look and be stronger ways to do things.

My input is not telling anyone how to do it but getting them to think of other ways to do it. My idea may not be good but maybe it will get someone thinking in other directions. Piledriver, hopefully will see this and either post a link to his pictures or re-post them; another thing to look at. I seem to remember that there have been some other links on this same subject. The other day ONEBADBUG posted about a sway bar design he had (http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic ... 1&t=138069); I saw something different in it, so did (I think) FJ and Pile; both seemed to be excited over it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwESraWEpSU) but maybe not in the way that ONEBADBUG was using it (I don’t know because I never really talked to it with them) or what I saw in the design. This is such a great place for ideas.

I wonder if Mendola is even aware of STF?

Lee

Edited to add some clarification as to how things were seen by two people

[Hotrodvw]

You're correct.....only snag I see is it negates the whole "Bolt in" factor.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

You still have to drill a hole for it in the pivot bracket. I'm not convinced that (maybe for off-roading anyway) that is strong enough or it might be in the way for long travel (or maybe not); I've only quickly glanced at it (sorry).

Did you notice that it is a swing to IRS conversion.

Dale, heck of a topic, thanks!

Lee

[Hotrodvw]

Yup, those guys make nice stuff for sure. I'm trying to post pics of the one I built, but STF is being picky about my pics.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Yup, those guys make nice stuff for sure. I'm trying to post pics of the one I built, but STF is being picky about my pics.

Are you having trouble posting? Have you tried using Photobucket?

I spent a couple of minutes looking at what they have done and by using that last link to the pivot their bracket that joins the three links together is very simple. The connection to the shock bolt I would like to see better though.

Lee

[Hotrodvw]

I have been using PB for 6 yrs....never had an issue. Now, the forums tells me there's an 800mp limit per pic. If it's hosted, and automatically resized, I'm confused why it's calling me out. Weird....

There are so many versions of that brace out now, someone had to come out with a more stout version. That looks to be it, but at the same time, my traditional style unit that I built for my car works just fine.

[Hotrodvw]

This'll have to do for now...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/Hot ... 616-03.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/Hot ... 407-01.jpg

http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/Hot ... 751-01.jpg

http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/Hot ... 750-01.jpg

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Eric, what size pictures are you posting? I try to have my pictures sized at ~ 640 X 480 (or less) before I send them over to PB. I have sent them to PB larger and then used PB to resize them but sending things much larger over to here can cause problems if one forgets. I also control my number of pixels as busy backgrounds mean a lot more 1’s and 0”s.

Nice looking job! I wish my welds looked like that.

One thing about bolt in designes, they are all too often compromises which means that they don’t have all the benefits that could be had; they have traded some things off for other things. As far as the Mendola unit (the “Stiffy”), one of the guys posted here that he has one but (for some reason) he could not install all of it. Like Dale said, not everyone has the same amount of room or the locations of other stuff in the same area to allow one.

I was trying to stay within the double sheer design, if possible, as I off-road (which does nasty things to hardware, which is not saying that other uses don’t) but that is not always possible (I have a aerospace background so I am considered anal when I do things [even now... retired, I am used to thinking at 12 (16), 3, 3, 1 G's loading ]).

Lee

[Hotrodvw]

I just upload them, PB has always worked. It must be automatically re-sizing them for me......or used to. I don't know how to change it on PB.

[Dale M.]

Unfortunately, it's a set up for IRS only.....or did I miss something??

IF you are talking the Mendeola, it could be adapted to swing axle.... Just add tabs on torsion bar tube for "forward" down turnbuckles. (links) ..

Shock tower to shock tower bar is same and down turnbuckles (links) to end of frame horns are the same....

For cheap after market unit I used it bolts up to either IRS or swing axle just the same....

Think IF I have trans mount off car this is mod I will also do..



Dale

[Hotrodvw]

Unfortunately, it's a set up for IRS only.....or did I miss something??

IF you are talking the Mendeola, it could be adapted to swing axle.... Just add tabs on torsion bar tube for "forward" down turnbuckles. (links) ..

Shock tower to shock tower bar is same and down turnbuckles (links) to end of frame horns are the same....

For cheap after market unit I used it bolts up to either IRS or swing axle just the same....

Dale

I was speaking of the Mende, yes.

[Dale M.]

As for picture hosting I still use Flickr ( old account from a million years ago) and it gives me a choice of what "size" picture I want to use (and link to)...

If you are going to just upload pic here and let STF host them, just move it to your desktop. Use something like IRFANVIEW (free software) to resize them then upload them here... I agree with Lee that 640x480 is usually good enough for most internet postings...

MY board lets you use any size picture and it scale pic to really convent size format, then allows you to click on pic to go full size.... You have to learn to adapt to each boards peculiarities for posting graphics...

Dale