Can an IRS rear set up from an early 70s Beetle be installed into a 69 Beetle? Does the gearbox need to be changed as well? I realise the IRS is a better package but is it worth changing or is the swing axle fine for a daily driver with a stock engine and a reasonably mature driver?
Cheers
Dave
11CAB ·
bigdave wrote:Is the swing axle fine for a daily driver with a stock engine and a reasonably mature driver?
Yep
The Bigfella ·
Yes, yes, depends what you want.
You would need an adapter kit - eg the Empi one that welds on to the torsion bar housing to take the trailing arms.
Having driven both - I'm only interested in the IRS one (actually, they are both IRS, but you know what I mean). I never managed to tip a swing axle, but I did get it up on two wheels plenty of times (never, ever back off in that situation)
bajachris88 ·
Swingaxle = Less parts to stuff up, But wheels change camber in turns and bumps
IRS = More parts to stuff up, But wheels remain in same camber, and therefore better handling...
This is all the theory side, i neva had a bug as a daily driver before. But i got the literature about the pros and cons in front of me.
Conversion is as 'the big fella' said. You need to buy pivot boxes to weld to your torsion tube at the back for the rear trailing arms to bolt into. A few mobs around do that....
But in the process, u gotta get yourself an IRS gearbox, axles, trailing arms and pivot boxes, and you may need new brake assemblies because IRS uses CV joints rather than the swingaxle style, which i dn't know the name of, but it ain't CV's!! [Anyone else here please add to what i have missed]
So u would need CV outers on the brake side too.
A bit involved man. If its a daily driver, its a lot of work for the little gain i guess, cause u won't be demanding that much out ot it. + when lowered, the swing axle pans have the sexy negative camber. Looks great i rekon, although handling is a bit more of an issue...
But much more character than irs i believe.
bigdave ·
Thanks for the swift replies fellas. Looks like I will be sticking with the swing.
Cheers
Dave
phatratpat ·
swing axle ! dump it!negative camber....handles a treat ! 😀
VWCOOL ·
Yeah swing is fine for a 'railway station car', but if it's a Sunday Special, the Superbug semi-trailing arm gear is the better system for handling and roadholding
68AutoBug ·
When You look around there are heaps of swing axle cars still about that have had lots of cash spent on them and the engine
I did roll a swing axle beetle many years ago...
but My 68 auto beetle has IRS rear end and she sticks to the road like glue....
really great in traffic where there are bends in the road etc
which makes for exciting driving in a 40 year old beetle
at 80 KMH...
My Son has a beetle that had the IRS welded onto the chassis of a swing axle beetle...
its one big job that I'd never try to do..
You can alter a few things with a swing axle rear end
[and the front suspension] to make the beetle handle better..
but remember when You have a very lowered rear swing axle , how does the oil from the transmission go uphill down the axle tubes into the rear wheel bearings...??
its a wonder someone hasn't made a kit to have the wheel bearings running in grease rather than the uphill oil
lol
LEE
MikeM ·
68AutoBug wrote:its a wonder someone hasn't made a kit to have the wheel bearings running in grease rather than the uphill oil
lol
LEE
You can just use sealed bearings. There is no need for a kit. Just pull the bearings out, take em to a bearing shop and ask them for a sealed bearing the same.
Joel ·
this topic has been flogged to death 100x on all the vw forums theres no definitive answer cos it depends what u want in ur car
for me being a rev head and having only ever owned 2 swingers vs about 7 or so IRS bugs i would never get another swinger again but driven sensibly with a few tweaks a swinger can hold the road almost as well
from what u have described i would say stick to swinger and just lower a sensible amount (about 1.5" or till u get about 2.5* neg camber) and decent wider tyres
my black bug that i sold to big fella had an IRS conversion
theres a lot of work in it biggest of which is removing the body from the chassis
also the pivot boxes have to be welded on in exactly the right spot or the rear end alignment will be out