Is it just mine or are all fastbacks prone to wandering when they get over 90kph?

just yours

There is something the matter if its doing that
GTMac has a WRX in his and it does WAY more that that (off road use only ) and he hasent done THAT much to the suspension
Torsion bar upgrade, KYB Gas and decent rubber

The Type 3 front ends are prone to wandering when the bushes in the front beam wear. These control side-to-side motion of the torsion bars. They can be adjusted to take the slack out of them.

Thanks waveman - constructive replies are good.

yes thats to preload the the arm with 7.5ft-lb

anything that you tension in any amount especially bearings is preloading in my books. I don't know what analogy you use? but that definitely preloading.

Does a Type 3 have a steering damper?

A small amount of toe-in on alignment of 1-2mm is known to remove wander tendencies if they are present.

A toe-in alignment would only cost $25, and any wheel align place can do this,, in fact you can actually do it at home if you are handy.

yes they do have a steering damper.

In our experience type 3's should generally be more stable at all speeds than beetles. Type thres should start to feel "right" above 90kph, when beetles (nippier at low speeds) may start to feel beyond their comfort zone. If there is a side wind, Fastbacks can feel unhappy however. Is it really wandering, or vagueness, or a shimmy?
Steering damper 'issues' should be most noticable at ~80kph, and may be more severe than on a bug.

yeah type 3 are really stable if the suspension is in perfect working order. Even speeds up to 90 MPH I have felt safe as safe can be.

The brakes at that speed is another story

B-I (in fact a F/B) was consistently "solid" feeling to 100mph, when no X-wind. (Many years ago c 2L. In right conditions would have felt OK to go faster.) They cut through the air like a beetle... doesn't.

[Yes Vlad. The much bigger "early type 4" brakes (callipers & pads) on the '72 & '73 should have been introduced earlier. Up to '71brakes aren't quite up with the rest of the package.] It seems acemarc has a '73 so he will feel safer at high speeds now... Oh-oh...

My manual says to the same to disconnect the upper ball joints, then remove the locking plate on the right side, loosen the adjusting screw, then torque it to 7.5ft-lb to preload the upper arms against the thrust face, then check it drops under its own weight in a controlled speed, if good lock the plate again.

simple really. I don't even know why you are arguing about the use of the word preload? It commonly used between engineers, mechanics and type 3 enthusiast in a broad sense regarding this situation.

The use of preload here gives the wrong message to the backyard mechanic when taking up slack in a swaybar on a Type 3. Most haven't even got a torque wrench! I do happen to know about the word "preload" as well as "endfloat" as used by engineers as I have been in the mechanical engineering sceene for many years and do know just a tad on the subject. Even though I haven't had a Type 3 for many years I have worked on them quite a lot since 1967 with qualified VW mechanics to present day.

If we tighten to exclude the clearance for lubrication we have metal to metal contact resulting in wear.

End of my involvement on the subject.

Rusty

ok sorry my bad its 7ft-lb not 7.5ft-lb.

I feel like such and idiot, I can't tell people to torque it 0.5 pound more, that will make it too tight.

Maybe acemarc used the term "wondering" in regard to it being a rear engined car and having no weight over the front wheels. Or is it just me who can "feel the road" a great deal more than in front engined cars.

At high speed I have no problem unless the wheels are out of balance, air pressure off etc.. My square is in the zone at 70-90 and happy at 100, the rev limiter wont let me go much faster though I think it could handle it.

But yeah, umm, stopping!

rev limiter?...........??