Clunk and wobble

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 · 14 Jan 2007, 1:37 pm

#564222

Yep one of these great questions, was out in car yesterday and noticed a clunk when almost at a stop under braking, only one clunk not a series and traced it to rear end. So when I got home I pulled off the wheels and drums, checked brakes, everything seems tight, but there is some play in n/s driveshaft, should there be any play in the joints? It is a irs 69 square.
Also seems to be some play in both front lower ball joints, are there shimable in the way mini ball joints are to stop play or are they a replace when play start part?
There is some play in rear wheels, thinking bearings may be wearing but they are not noisy, is there a obvious place that play develops that I am missing?
There is a bit of slop in the steering which I have traced back to teh steering box, is it possible to tightned the steering box up?
Rego time is aproaching so trying to sort problems now before its too late!
and one last thing, some sod broke off the passneger side door mirror on new years night, will I have to replace it or wil it pass rego with just the drivers side mirror and rear view mirror. It may sound like a silly question but in the uk a car of its age legaly only needs two mirrors in total.

[ Edited on 14-1-2007 by Fireball xl5 ]

Schmoburger Baywindow Mafia Godfather and Cement-Shoe Fitter

2,185 posts · joined Oct 2005 · 15 Jan 2007, 1:28 pm

#564473

As far as the mirors go, you should be able to get away with npot haviong a pax side mirror... many cars from that era (inclucing type 3's) did not even come with a pax mirror to begin with... so long as drivers side and rear view are good rego should be fine. 🙂

I am pretty sure the driveshafts should be fairly tight... if you have had them out at time in the recent past, check the allen bolts that secure them to the transmission... they have been known to work loose. If they are tight but you have a fair ammount of play then new joints might be in order. 🙂

Steeringbox-wise... if a Type 3 box is anything like a Kombi box, you should be able to adjust steering box freeplay by backing off a locknut oon the side of the box and turning in the screw that the nut is on until the correct freeplay is obtained (0.6-1 inch at the outer edge of the wheel on a Kombi), then tighten the nut again.

CHeers!

[ Edited on 15-1-2007 by Schmoburger ]

1976 Kombi Trakka camper, "Buttercup"... driver.
1976 Beluxe Microbus, "Saphir"... resto.
1974 Kombi panelvan, "George"... shed.
1974 Superbug, "Schmeetle"... resto.
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68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 · 15 Jan 2007, 2:09 pm

#564489

OK with the passenger side mirror...
although many books say that mirror was standard from about 1971... it certainly wasn't in Aussie VWs...

VW steering boxes do have a lot of play when at full lock.
its like this when they are new.. and the manuals say so too...
I have always adjusted the steering box, with wheels in the straight ahead position...
unlock the top locknut and screw the screw in slightly with a screwdriver..
don't do it up too tight... then lock it with the locknut..
this is how you do it on a beetle [non super]
but
I was told recently by a VW mechanic in the USA, that I should be adjusting the steering box with that large nut at the bottom... so thats what i will do next time...
that is the proper way to adjust it...

Ball joints, once worn slightly, just keep getting worse...
it took a 50 tonne press to take My old ball joints out, so You need to take the arm with the balljoint to a workshop
and have the new balljoints pressed in..
try to buy European made balljoints...
there were some on ebay recently for a type 3...

cheers
Lee

http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug

- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---