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I am just wondering if the spring plates can be removed from the rear of an IRS bug, or do they keep the rear end in place? I am building a vw trike and was thinking of removing the spring plates and torsion bars and using air shocks from a goldwing. Or can I just remove the torsion bars and cut off the bump stops and add the air shocks? I want to be able to lower the rear end.

The spring plates are part of the suspension, but if I'm reading what you MEAN right, the torsion bars are usually removed to run coil overs.

The spring plate is frequently replaced with a heim joint setup for smoother operation.

ok so I should beable to just remove the t-bars and cut the bump stops and add the air shocks?

The typical air shocks are probably not the safe choice, but yes.

Unless the coil overs have built in bump stops you may consider keeping or reworking the bump stops.

Thanks

Piledriver wrote:The spring plates are part of the suspension, but if I'm reading what you MEAN right, the torsion bars are usually removed to run coil overs.

The spring plate is frequently replaced with a heim joint setup for smoother operation.

How do I add the heim joint? and can I make this peice or do I have to buy it?

Thanks

The off road guy use them all the time, off the shelf part.
here's a decent example:
http://www.pacificcustoms.com/ac501361.html

They also sell nice double shear covers but its >double the cost and almost certainly overkill on a trike.

I would ask or search a bit on the off-road forum for the preferred sources.

ok thanks, so there is no way to not use the spring plates, just keep the trailing arms? Or would the trailing arms move around with out the spring plates?

The spring plate (or its replacement) is effectively ~ half of the trailing arm.

It has to be there or replaced with something.
Cheapest route is just pull the torsion bar out and reassemble.
Grease the rubber bits up good and hope for smooth operation.

ok thanks