Sway Away Camber Compensator install

[martyrg]

I purchased a Sway Away Camber Compensator a few years ago but never installed it. I'm getting ready to install it this weekend on my 1966 Type 1 with a 2276. A couple of questions: Will the camber compensator make the rear end handling better? Any hints or tips when it comes to installing the camber compensator?

[Marc]

The unavoidable problem with the swingaxle design (assuming you retain anything close to stock suspension travel and don't lock it down like a go-kart) is "swingaxle tuck". The rear roll center height of the car is at the center of the differential, a foot off the ground, while the front roll center is at ground level. This gives the car a roll center axis that angles up at the rear; it is this axis about which the mass of the car must rotate in a turn. This is a result of the front & rear suspension geometry and there is no way to change it, period. The rear hikes up (helped in part by the inner spring's action) and pivots over towards the outside, causing the outer wheel to fold under until its tread can no longer contact the pavement. The inevitable result is a rollover unless the driver is skilled enough to gather it in before it's too late (and that's a white-knuckle event even for an experienced swingaxle jockey). Porsche lost a lot of factory drivers when they still ran swingaxle - some due to this effect, some due to a similar problem that occurs when the rear wheels come off the ground when cresting a hill at speed and don't both come back to earth at exactly the same time.
Swingaxles are deathtraps if driven at their limit.

The camber compensator works by relaying the springrate of the inner wheel over to the outer one...but unlike an anti-sway or "roll" bar, the CC reduces the outer wheels spring rate rather than adding to it.

By all means, install the CC. "Fine-tuning" (shortening the straps, shimming the contact pads, adding to the spring coupling, etc.) is something to play with down the road if you have a specific issue to contend with. For now, just get that sucker ON if you want to live.

[vwo60]

when used with a couple of other modifications they work quite well, decamber the car so it has about 1 degree of negitive camber and shim the suspension stops under the spring plates about 5MM, get a four wheel alignment, it will make a big difference.