Ok here is my problem. The right hand side of my car (73' super, 1302 suspension) sits lower than the left by about a half inch. I've checked suspension i.e. struts, springs, shocks, torsion bar, and all seems symetrical.

Now the next weird thing is that the body seems to be laterally out of allignment or something, as in it's sitting about a half inch to the right of where it's supposed to be, but only at the back. As I said before the rear suspension seems to check out ok.

I only noticed this recently as I put much fatter wheels on and they stick out on one side.

The shell and suspension were supposedly set up by an expert as I bought the car from a vw mechanic but since I've owned it have found heaps of little bits that were done badly/cheaply so I'm not convinced of his "expert" status.

Is there some gurus out there that may be able to help me out with this prob, or at least pinpoint what it might be?

Sorry for the long post.

out with the tape measure! could have smacked a gutter or been in a crash and have bent suspension or pan.

I amm guessing the front end @ the pan head is a bit bent.

Half an inch is no big deal. Tolerances on these were slack, and a bent mudguard or something over the years can make things look skew. If its sitting low on one side, you can adjust the torsion bar (coupla hours job) on one side to jack it back up. I've done this heaps over the years - if you're real keen on handling, do all your measurement of ride height with someone sitting in the car

Should have asked before

How does it drive???

Go straight??
Crab to one side???

May be start by measuring the bodywork

Guards etc from body to side.
Have to admit i have seem many a guard that looked ok but was a mile out

It drives ok, was getting a little rear end sway with the stock wheels, but that has gone now. I can drive pretty well straight with no hands, it may need a bit of an allignment but nothing serious. It does have a damaged right front guard, the impact was from someone hitting my car in a parking lot. Only panel damage, it was very light.

I'll get out the tape measure tomorrow to check all the relevent stuff, see if I can get a bit more info.

The front end of mine was out by 20mm in some directions and that was before a hit!!! just something you have to live with. But go and get a good 4 wheel alingment.

OK, I got out the tape and things don't seem too bad. The only wheel that is a bit funny is left rear, it is sticking out 10mm (measured from the torsion plate thing) than the one on the other side. I'm gonna get it up on some blocks today so as I can get a good look underneath.

The height problems seem ok. The rear suspension is fine after mesaurements. The front is still a little wonky on RHS, but as far as I can tell it is the spring and/or shock as they are pretty old.

In conclusion I think it is safe to say that I'll have to save some dough to get some nice new front struts (I like the look of V-Force, just need $$$) and play around with the rear to figure out exactly what's going on.

Thanks for your comments people.

Your Car may have diferent guards on the rear.. Standard & Super beetles rear guards do fit each other, but My Son tells Me that the early beetle guards are flatter on the outside.. so maybe they are a diferent width too.. also measure from the body, under the guard to the guard edge on both sides... and see if both guards measure the same....
Best of Luck
Lee Noonan

The guards are slightly different on either side but have the same measurements. Anyway, I've been mucking around too long with this crap now, I bit the bullet and booked it in to be taken care of by a pro. It needs a service anyway.

Again thanks for your help guys.