this is our 67 deluxe Bella, now recovering from heart transplant and extended steel surgery. recently lowered a spline at the rear and on some dropped spindles but she's a bit soft on one front corner i think the torsions must be a bit saggy - can anyone give me the heads up on the best shocks to use up front - upgraded, standard size? - i keep fouling the front drivers guard when braking and turning even running 145 R15s -

cheers

krisko

Running a standard beam - and standard rims

first picture maybe a little misleading as these tyres are larger-

passenger side fine- drivers side rubs - maybe i just need to lose a few kilos?

Umm... is it just me or is the front part of the body not centered over the beam ???

Pic 1 the drivers wheel is sticking out past the edge of the guard, but in pic 2 the passenger side wheel doesn't appear to be. Also in Pic 2 it looks like you have a gap between bonnet edge and the passenger side guard beading, but you don't appear to have that gap on the driver's side. Looks like it's only an inch or so out, but that would be enough to do it (and don't freak - yes it can be fixed fairly easily if that's the problem)

So... standing dead in front of the car... does the center line of the body line up with center line between the wheels ??? Maybe post a pic from dead in front too...

sorry

stupidly i used an earlier photo with fatter tyres to begin the post

wheels are centred - here are some new pics, problem is drivers side just sits lower

and heres the passenger side

all i can think is that the torsion bars have sagged on the drivers side - is this a possibility?

Hmm, OK. I guess it's possible for one side of the front bars to sag more than the other... I have heard of leaves in the front bars cracking, so that could do it I spose.

Camber set the same side to side ??? Any chance the arms are bent slightly on one side ??? Maybe the shock on drivers side has had it ??? (shocks do give a small amount of upward support, especially gas ones).

Another possibility is if the guards are slightly different side to side... that one sounds really dumb I know, but it's possible if one side only was replaced for accident damage or something.

i guess a new pair of gas shocks is first action then-

if i start adjusting the camber- any idea how much movement you get for each shim that you move? i have just set them up according to vw specs, how much difference will it make if i move one shim top and one bottom for example?

thanks for all the suggestions anyhow- i will get in the garage at the weekend and mess around with the angles

krisko

Something's not bent is it?

not that i can see-

i did pause and look at the spindles for some reason when i was putting them on- nothing significant enough to stop me throwing the car back together obviously - will check this at the wekend

The problem is actually at the other end of the car!
There's more to lowering the rear then rotating one notch of a torsion bar if you want to do it right.

BRilliant- progress!

Dogo- please Enlighten.. A little more info if you please

do I just need to be more accurate at the back with inner/outer spline adj or am I missing something altogether more important?

Thanks
krisko

if your rear torsion bars are off then it will also affect the front of the car giving it an illusion of the front leaning to one side. i ahd that issue with my car.

As above and also the rear torsion bushes can also be worn enough to effect the car being level

thanks guys - after measuring today rear is off by approx 12mm - causing front to be off by about 25mm!
cheers for all the help - will be back in the garage tomorrow- watch this space

Those front rims still look wider than stock though. The hubcaps are almost level with the outside of the rim, that`s not stock.

To get the rear torsion bars even, I always get them both started in both the inner and outer splines, then sight through under the car to check they are both at the same angle.
If they do vary, move the one you want to change by rotating the inner end 1 spline one way, then the outer end 1 spline the other way. There are a different number of splines on the inner and outer ends, so doing this will change the angle by 50' of a degree.
You may have to do this a number of times to get them parrallel when sighting under the car.

Thanks guys for all the help - an afternoon on the hoist and we're all sorted!

lost track of splines completely at one stage but remeasured and now she's sittin pretty and driving great with no scuffing of the arches!

- rims are 5 inches and i presumed they were stock? they sit wide with the dropped spindles as these widen the track by an inch or so i believe

thanks again - just bought another dub so off to make some room in the garage

Krisko