I've got a rear sway bar which is rather thick and may be doing more work then the torsions bars. Wanted to remove it to see how the ride felt wihtout it in...may not be fitted properly currently either. These are the best photos of it i had.
BiX ·
That is a whiteline one. Its the race spec one (ie largest std, i think about 24mm from memory. Its on the upper end of its setting (move the upper bolt as far as you can to the end of the blue bar to make it soffter.
Iam looking at removing mine and replacing with a 18mm. It lifts inside wheels allot. Its ok at higher speed, and gievs my super a nice oversteer. but i do run much stiffer front springs.
Mick058 ·
Cheers, yeh had the same whilteline on the front. It seems to cause the drivers side to hit hard on bumps. I think cause the driver side bracket is twisted around a little. I just wanna trial the ride which out it on. Did they run a small sway bar originally?
68AutoBug ·
The front anti sway bar didn't appear until the 1959 model beetle...
but seeing You have a 1968 chassis
yes they did have a very small sway bar...
LEE
68AutoBug ·
BiX wrote:That is a whiteline one. Its the race spec one (ie largest std, i think about 24mm from memory. Its on the upper end of its setting (move the upper bolt as far as you can to the end of the blue bar to make it soffter.
Wow!! thats a whopper...
never seen one that big before...
LEE
PS: but I don't race beetles just drive 'em... lol
Mick058 ·
sorry, i meant on the rear.
hellbugged ·
ha!!! how far have you driven with it on???
if you take one off, you may as well piss the other off too as they work as a package to offer equal balance front and rear
i think your mad and should look at shockie adjustment and riding further away from the bumpstops
whitelines are gooooooooood!
no they didn't have a rear sway bar as such, some models had a z bar tho
Lee....... 24 mm aint that big.
Mick058 ·
ha, i've never driven with the front on! Sold it a while ago.
What do you mean by 'im mad'. I bought the car with these sways bars on it, so am learning as i go along.
So its cool to pull it out all together? Got plenty of travel in the KYB's on the rear...
hellbugged ·
yeah if you have none on the front, take it off and take it easy 😉
mad for not buying one to match up the front instead IMO
sway bars for roll ........ shocks for bump control. KYB ok, konis and billies better👍
Mick058 ·
my front beam is narrowed 2inches, so thats why i sold the sway bar. Still, i think their too thick for a street car. Need to get a custom one for the front and equivalent thickness for the rear
vw54 ·
yep its a white line very stiff
Mick058 ·
what have you got on the back of your's Dave? Wheres it mounted. Looks different to mine front the pic you posted under 'berg engine mounts'
Craig Torrens ·
I have one for you Mick........will do a deal with you for your one !
1303Steve ·
Hi
I have a whiteline bar on the back of my daily 1303, I have have it backed off to full soft, when its in the full soft position the link bars are at funny angle, this tends to push the bar mounting on the torsion bar housing around.
I cured this buy welding the flat bar that the U clamp goes through, to the torsion bar housing, I also made the square box that the link bar goes onto a little narrower which also improves the link angle.
Steve
Mick058 ·
Does 1-2inches make a big different in the feel?
Craig, do you think this sway bar could be why the ride on the rear (especially drivers side) is so harsh.
vw54 ·
yep the white line are very heavy duty may cause it to be too hard for street
I have an old K mac sway bar and the Berg rear trap bar
Sides ·
I reckon step 1, knock the sway bar you have way down to it's softest setting, which would soften the ride a bit as well as reducing any oversteer effect you have (less taily)
Really easy to do and a lot cheaper than putting on a different bar - just move the top bolt on each side to the last hole on the bar, the one closest to the back of the car.
Should take you max of 30 minutes to do, then go for a drive and see how it feels !!!
😉
Mick058 ·
would the bracket spin around to allow me to set it on the softest setting?
Sides ·
Yeah, possibly - there's a bit of freedom in where all of the brackets bolt up.
Basically you want the bolts in both ends of the figure 8 shaped link to be as close to the back of the car as possible - the further back you can get it, the softer it'll be.
If spinning the bracket around helps with that some, and nothing binds or grabs then sure - why not.
colin ·
I,m not sure that if you took the rear bar off it would make any diffference at all.
As daimo said maybe look at your shocks,how much rear travel do you have before you hit the bump stops?
I ran my rear bar at 3/4 hard setting when my car was registered and had no issues with a firm ride.
If you intend on doing any spirited driving at all let alone racing i would strongly recommend you leave the bar on.
They are great to dial in your rear handling to suit your personal driving style.
Cheers Col
Mick058 ·
Got plenty of travel in the shocks and with the bumpstops removed i have about 2inches of travel between chassis. Will soften and see how we go.
david777 ·
Mick, I have a similiar Whiteline bar on the back of my beetle, as others have suggested above -set at its softest setting.
The main noticeable differences with it on are
Plus...the car does not lean so much when going around corners, which helps your steering, etc
Minus... you notice a little less traction on the rear particularly when it is wet.
It would come down to personal preference. I avoid driving in the rain when I can, so it is better to have it on.
If you have no sway bar on the front, I would get one fitted ASAP, regardless of what you do at the back.
Mick058 ·
Cheers Dave. I've got a 2inch narrowed front end and am currently looking at getting a made to order front sway bar. Will try the softer setting option first
BiX ·
I think the links on mine are a little longer which allow it to pick up the beck holes. Maybe talkt o white line (or any good suspension shop, ie fulcrum) should be able to supply some slightly longer links.
Mick058 ·
ok, i removed the sway bar, ride is nicer but driver side rear still hits hard. I'm pretty sure its driver side only, aimed for pot holes on passenger side, no problems, hit pot holes at very low speed (20km or so) on driver side BANG, hit bumps at higher speed (60k or so) BANG. It feels like my rear shock is compressing but then not returning quick enough. So it goes up and stays when you roll back up the pot hole....Any clues?
1303Steve ·
Hi
Try disconnecting the bottom shock bolts on both and moving the shocks through their travel and see if they feel the same.