Hi All,

Swing Axle (1967 1300 Deluxe)

I've just replaced my spring plate bushings and whilst removing the spring plate which was stubborn the torsion bar came loose and my markings got ruined so i've had to reset the suspension from scratch on one side.

Greg Mackie and I had set it at 3 inner and 3outer splines from stock to get some negative camber happening; and I'm trying to match the spring plate angle to the other side (which I havn't touched yet - in fear of mucking that up)

So my questions are

1. Do I measure the angle before I put the spring plate on the stop?

2. What is the best way to measure the angle of the spring plate,any suggested tools would be good, as I actually don't have a guage except for an adjustable set square for drawing, which only does full degrees.

Any help would be appreciated
I had no idea how much of a pain it would be to get new bushings on there! they were so tight; compared to the original 44y/o ones that had been on the car since new!

The result of all my buggering around has meant the car isn't going to be ready for Easter at eastern creek; but i've set the new target for VW nationals in May.

Cheers

Shaun

For me ive never had any trouble setting the same height...
Tyr where you think it was and jack it up and see... Otherwise t=you could pull the other side down and see where it rests... are you replacing both sides? ideally you want to make a good solid mark on the housing before reomving but eh...
I think the standard height (been a while) has the arm without tension sitting halfway through to just above the bottom rear bolt hole.

Hi,
I do not use a protractor when i set the spring plates , first measure the height of the car at the back on both side's when it is parked on level concrete using a marked datum point get the ride height as it is currently, i use the bottom of the spring plate cover, dismantle the rear end on both and sides push the spring plate of the lower stop without it becoming disengaged from the splines on the inner and outer, i use the top shock bolt and a point on the spring plate at it end as a datum then measure that distance while hold up the end of the spring plate to remove the slack. this is your staring point that you can go back to at any time, it's simple to work out from here if you want to change the ride height up or down, this will also take into account if one torsion bar has sagged more that the other and you can allow for this when you work out your ride height, if you use a protractor you set them both the same and then it can be down on one side.