Informative and helpful as I have to do exactly this for my 71. After seeing the video the process, while advanced for my skills, seems doable. Thanks.
This is a good video: Our 1972 Camper Bus was just resting on the rear rubber bumpers with the bus pretty-much unloaded (full gas tank and little cargo), so it needed this treatment . My [thankfully] expert professional Mechanic brother-in-law "helped" me with this. Although we were prepared to remove the Axle Nuts, he chose not to; instead we only removed the Brake Drums, and were able to jockey the Brake Shoes, levers, springs, and parts around so as to be able to unhitch and remove the Parking Brake Cable. We only moved the Outside Splines up ONE NOTCH, and it gave us a full THREE INCH lift, which under load is exactly what we wished for. At 13:15 here, the arm re-assembly process proved to be the hardest part of the whole job: The stamped metal (4-hole) covers and arms were pretty bitchy to re-assemble. Even though the splines were re-greased, and rubber doughnuts powdered-up with talc, it didn't give up the ghost easily, but we were able to pound and C-clamp them back into position. I would like to pass on my brother-in-law's CAUTION that lifting the Rear Axles does have consequences - as it will change handling characteristics somewhat, so easy-does-it. I did the Test Drive, and really couldn't notice too much of a difference other than having to re-adjust the Mirrors, but Bill says "daring" moves could make the Bus go a little astray from what you previously expected. Thank you for this video!
Im so glad you got some value out of the video, it's true that my method is a bit more in depth than it needs to be, but with all that out of the way, the job is easier for a single person. I also used this job to redo parts of my brakes and to check my axle boots and grease but like you point out, it can be done without the extra work but you will be fighting the extra weight of each part you don't remove. Thanks for watching, I'm glad your bus is happy again!
Awesome Vid. I will totally be checking out your channel for more of this the content and presentation was great. I own a few VW's and as a young guy trying to fix stuff its really neat to be able to get help from people like myself. cheers
Heck yea, I'm glad it could help. I am hoping to start making some more restoration videos now that I'm working full-time and not in college like when I made this video. Best of luck with your cars!
When I get some of the other vw's done, I am going to do this on my 71 bus, the butt is sagging due to age. I like the idea of saying it was designed to be a little high in nose...but I prefer them to be level... the vanagon is doing the same thing...no saggy butts in 2021 ! -- thanks for this video
Do you have an early split window bus with swing axle suspension? You can't really control camber on a swing axle because of the way that the suspension moves in an arc. The later bay window buses with independent rear suspension should not get excessive camber when you adjust their suspension because the trailing arms do not move in an arc. If you are getting excessive camber, there might be something else that you need to look at.
Hi there, thanks for this video which will help me very much once I'll be on it. One question though, what's the name of the black tool you use to retain the torsion bar so that it does not suddenly break free ? we can see it at the 7'35 sec. Thanks again
if you wanted it lower, you would need to do less initial angle I think. I go off of turning splines on the torsion bars and one spline made about an inch difference. study off on calculating spline counting to achieve the best ride height. this is accomplished by counter rotating the parts from inner and outer splines because they have a different # of splines which allows you to dial it in to the exact degree you want.
Thanks for posting -Xander. Very well done and informative video! This process is entirely new to me. I’ve always thought my bus seemed to sit a little bit crooked - Although it doesn’t seem to suffer any ill effects, would an adjustment on one side only be something to consider?
Hey Kevin, yes I'd say adjusting one side only is ok but one major reason to do both is to replace the old bushings and adjust both sides scouting to take into account the uneven sag 👍
Hi Xander, I've 73 bay thats been lowered the arms look standard (not adjustable aftermarket ones) whats the stock height and can i do the same to the front torsion bars?
Best place to find stock height would be in a service manual or possibly on thesamba.com forum. I believe the fronts on these have indexing torsion bars similar to the rear so you can do that, but it may still be like a bug where it has leafs rather than bars. Check the center of your front beam to see if someone welded an adjuster to it. If it does, it has leafs and you adjust it with the lock bolt and adjuster plate. If it doesn't, then it probably has indexing bars. Best of luck!
Hey Sigman, I hope your rebuild went well and I know this reply is late but yes I am sure that is ok to stamp on the end but I'd leave it painted myself because when you hit spring steel there is a chance that it could crack internally however that risk is very small. Best of luck!
Xander--I own a 72 VW Bus. I had a hitch system welded to the back end so I could connect a cargo carrier rack for my generator. However, it is now super "back end heavy". I want to try and balance it out but am not sure whether I need to install stronger shocks on the rear to compensate for the extra weight or adjust the torsion bar... any thoughts?
Hey greg! Don't bother with heavy duty shocks, they only dampen the oscillation of driving over a bump. There are a few options, the easiest is to get air shocks. They have a small airbag that you fill up and it helps take load off the springs which raises the back end however i have seen people overload a bus with the and break the shock mount at the frame. The other options require more work, one is to find a heavier duty torsion bar to replace the stock one which will stiffen the rear suspension travel significantly or to add a true air bag setup which requires welding and fabrication but is the strongest option. Remember that you are outside the bus looking at it when it's loaded and that when there are 2 people in the front seat, the ride height drops significantly to match the rear, so always adjust height for a fully "loaded" situation, humans and all! Good luck!
Is it really necessary to remove the hub? Also, when first taking the spring plate off the torsion end, how do pry off the plate while it has tension against the stop?
The hub has to come off in some fashion because there are bolts that hold the spring plate, trailing arm, and hub together and the trailing arm won't drop low enough to adjust the spring plate on the torsion bar. You need to remove the hub but you don't need to disassemble it as far as I did if you don't want to haggle with the brake system. I pulled it apart to check and replace brake system components to ensure that I didn't have to go back in and redo any of my work. You have to remember to remove the brake line from the trailing arm though so it doesn't bend and get damaged when you pull the hub out of the way. As for the tension when prying it off, you can use a jack to lift it up a little bit to clear the stop and I use a pry bar under the stop that when letting the pressure off the jack it pries itself out enough to clear the stop and then when there is no tension I just wiggle it out by hand. I hope this helps, good luck!
Much appreciate the quick response. When you say remove the hub, you think I can just undo the 4 bolts that attach it to the spring plate after undoing the brake line...and then swing it away a bit to be able to adjust it?
Yep I think it'd be possible. Removing the CV axle makes it easier to maneuver and removing the E-Brake cable makes it easier but each of those steps gets more in depth. take some pictures when you do it and tag me @themetalgarage so I can see how it goes. Thanks for watching and asking questions man!
Those tires are General A/T 14" tires. I found them on Amazon but I think Walmart and some tire shops carries them too but maybe not in that size on the shelf.
Yep, lifted slightly to make up for sag. Took me two tries to get the right height. Buses sit lower in the back naturally because the front comes down to level out the height when a driver/passenger get in up front so I over lifted for an even static height but then the nose would be low while driving.
Xander, brilliant! I have a 70 bus and the rear is too low, so refurbing the whole rear suspension, you did a great tutorial, thank you
I raised mine due to driving off-road. When checking level side to side, be sure to verify the slope of the ground it is sitting on first. Good video.
Xander, Just gotta shoot some gratitude towards you. Your clarity, articulation, editing, thoroughness, is so well done. Many thanks.
Thanks for the kind words! Glad my video could help!!
Informative and helpful as I have to do exactly this for my 71. After seeing the video the process, while advanced for my skills, seems doable. Thanks.
nicely done, love the calm vibe of your videos!
Thank you very much!
This is a good video: Our 1972 Camper Bus was just resting on the rear rubber bumpers with the bus pretty-much unloaded (full gas tank and little cargo), so it needed this treatment . My [thankfully] expert professional Mechanic brother-in-law "helped" me with this. Although we were prepared to remove the Axle Nuts, he chose not to; instead we only removed the Brake Drums, and were able to jockey the Brake Shoes, levers, springs, and parts around so as to be able to unhitch and remove the Parking Brake Cable. We only moved the Outside Splines up ONE NOTCH, and it gave us a full THREE INCH lift, which under load is exactly what we wished for. At 13:15 here, the arm re-assembly process proved to be the hardest part of the whole job: The stamped metal (4-hole) covers and arms were pretty bitchy to re-assemble. Even though the splines were re-greased, and rubber doughnuts powdered-up with talc, it didn't give up the ghost easily, but we were able to pound and C-clamp them back into position. I would like to pass on my brother-in-law's CAUTION that lifting the Rear Axles does have consequences - as it will change handling characteristics somewhat, so easy-does-it. I did the Test Drive, and really couldn't notice too much of a difference other than having to re-adjust the Mirrors, but Bill says "daring" moves could make the Bus go a little astray from what you previously expected. Thank you for this video!
P.S., If you please. We didn't need to remove the Axles on this job using our method. That didn't seem to present any issues to us.
Im so glad you got some value out of the video, it's true that my method is a bit more in depth than it needs to be, but with all that out of the way, the job is easier for a single person. I also used this job to redo parts of my brakes and to check my axle boots and grease but like you point out, it can be done without the extra work but you will be fighting the extra weight of each part you don't remove. Thanks for watching, I'm glad your bus is happy again!
Awesome Vid. I will totally be checking out your channel for more of this the content and presentation was great. I own a few VW's and as a young guy trying to fix stuff its really neat to be able to get help from people like myself.
cheers
Heck yea, I'm glad it could help. I am hoping to start making some more restoration videos now that I'm working full-time and not in college like when I made this video. Best of luck with your cars!
When I get some of the other vw's done, I am going to do this on my 71 bus, the butt is sagging due to age. I like the idea of saying it was designed to be a little high in nose...but I prefer them to be level... the vanagon is doing the same thing...no saggy butts in 2021 ! -- thanks for this video
nice job man....now lets do a vid about rear camber....cause thats my problem when I move the plate one click 😅
Do you have an early split window bus with swing axle suspension? You can't really control camber on a swing axle because of the way that the suspension moves in an arc. The later bay window buses with independent rear suspension should not get excessive camber when you adjust their suspension because the trailing arms do not move in an arc. If you are getting excessive camber, there might be something else that you need to look at.
Nice ride 👍🇬🇧
Hi there, thanks for this video which will help me very much once I'll be on it. One question though, what's the name of the black tool you use to retain the torsion bar so that it does not suddenly break free ? we can see it at the 7'35 sec. Thanks again
First of all thanks a lot for posting this experience.. I just wonder the difference height before&after..
Finally a video that covers it and makes sense. If stock is 20 degrees then 25 degrees makes it lower by how many inches? 2.5 inches lower?
if you wanted it lower, you would need to do less initial angle I think. I go off of turning splines on the torsion bars and one spline made about an inch difference. study off on calculating spline counting to achieve the best ride height. this is accomplished by counter rotating the parts from inner and outer splines because they have a different # of splines which allows you to dial it in to the exact degree you want.
thanks for posting this
Thanks for posting -Xander. Very well done and informative video! This process is entirely new to me. I’ve always thought my bus seemed to sit a little bit crooked - Although it doesn’t seem to suffer any ill effects, would an adjustment on one side only be something to consider?
Hey Kevin, yes I'd say adjusting one side only is ok but one major reason to do both is to replace the old bushings and adjust both sides scouting to take into account the uneven sag 👍
Hi Xander, I've 73 bay thats been lowered the arms look standard (not adjustable aftermarket ones) whats the stock height and can i do the same to the front torsion bars?
Best place to find stock height would be in a service manual or possibly on thesamba.com forum.
I believe the fronts on these have indexing torsion bars similar to the rear so you can do that, but it may still be like a bug where it has leafs rather than bars.
Check the center of your front beam to see if someone welded an adjuster to it. If it does, it has leafs and you adjust it with the lock bolt and adjuster plate. If it doesn't, then it probably has indexing bars. Best of luck!
@@xanderlehn Many thanks xander, you've been so helpful!
Question, I have a letter punch set, can I stamp an "L" and "R" on the end of the torsion bars where the factory painted ones are? Great vid, thx.
Hey Sigman, I hope your rebuild went well and I know this reply is late but yes I am sure that is ok to stamp on the end but I'd leave it painted myself because when you hit spring steel there is a chance that it could crack internally however that risk is very small. Best of luck!
Good video that I needed to see but Too hard to hear you over music.
Good overall video -but less background music , & more lighting on the work , please.
Xander--I own a 72 VW Bus. I had a hitch system welded to the back end so I could connect a cargo carrier rack for my generator. However, it is now super "back end heavy". I want to try and balance it out but am not sure whether I need to install stronger shocks on the rear to compensate for the extra weight or adjust the torsion bar... any thoughts?
Hey greg! Don't bother with heavy duty shocks, they only dampen the oscillation of driving over a bump. There are a few options, the easiest is to get air shocks. They have a small airbag that you fill up and it helps take load off the springs which raises the back end however i have seen people overload a bus with the and break the shock mount at the frame. The other options require more work, one is to find a heavier duty torsion bar to replace the stock one which will stiffen the rear suspension travel significantly or to add a true air bag setup which requires welding and fabrication but is the strongest option.
Remember that you are outside the bus looking at it when it's loaded and that when there are 2 people in the front seat, the ride height drops significantly to match the rear, so always adjust height for a fully "loaded" situation, humans and all! Good luck!
Is it really necessary to remove the hub? Also, when first taking the spring plate off the torsion end, how do pry off the plate while it has tension against the stop?
The hub has to come off in some fashion because there are bolts that hold the spring plate, trailing arm, and hub together and the trailing arm won't drop low enough to adjust the spring plate on the torsion bar. You need to remove the hub but you don't need to disassemble it as far as I did if you don't want to haggle with the brake system. I pulled it apart to check and replace brake system components to ensure that I didn't have to go back in and redo any of my work. You have to remember to remove the brake line from the trailing arm though so it doesn't bend and get damaged when you pull the hub out of the way.
As for the tension when prying it off, you can use a jack to lift it up a little bit to clear the stop and I use a pry bar under the stop that when letting the pressure off the jack it pries itself out enough to clear the stop and then when there is no tension I just wiggle it out by hand.
I hope this helps, good luck!
Much appreciate the quick response. When you say remove the hub, you think I can just undo the 4 bolts that attach it to the spring plate after undoing the brake line...and then swing it away a bit to be able to adjust it?
Yep I think it'd be possible. Removing the CV axle makes it easier to maneuver and removing the E-Brake cable makes it easier but each of those steps gets more in depth. take some pictures when you do it and tag me @themetalgarage so I can see how it goes. Thanks for watching and asking questions man!
What tires are you running? They look good, not too aggressive.
Those tires are General A/T 14" tires. I found them on Amazon but I think Walmart and some tire shops carries them too but maybe not in that size on the shelf.
@@xanderlehn *Are they 27x8.5r14 AT General Grabber?*
I didn't catch whether you were lifting or lowering? i'm assuming lifting to make up for sag?
Yep, lifted slightly to make up for sag. Took me two tries to get the right height. Buses sit lower in the back naturally because the front comes down to level out the height when a driver/passenger get in up front so I over lifted for an even static height but then the nose would be low while driving.
What is this red ring on the rear hub ?
that was just paint to clean up some metal and prevent it from rusting.
Thanks, good stuff. Can’t stand the background noise tho...
what music
keep it melo - marshmello
better without the music