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Simple driveline question.
Taz62vdub - December 29th, 2016 at 02:44 PM

Ok so just bought a 62 beetle, with a 1600 twin port. Lost drive the other day - I'll explain: goes into gear fine clutch out fine but no drive. I pulled of the passenger rear hubcap and found metal shaving on the lip of the rim, the split pin on castle but was snapped and the axle and castle was just spinning lots of grinding noises. The bug is seriously low with massive camber, the last owner told me it has euro wheels and runs 185's. It's my first bug, I've had it for 3 weeks.

So the questions:

My bug must be IRS to get that much camber?

I'm guessing there is the gearbox output, CV, driveshaft and then a spline on the end of the driveshaft that slots into the rear drum? Then I'm guessing it's the rear drum spline that has failed/been chewed out? So basically I need new drums?

Everything from the chassis down is new, new brakes, reco gearbox, reco engine, new suspension (narrow beam and adjustable spring plate), new everything with patina body sitting on top. So if this is the case why has the rear drums failed?

Will this be an on going issue with my wide wheels, lowered suspension and camber?

Do I have the whole idea of how my driveline works right? Do both wheel get power from the gearbox or just the passenger side as that seem to be the one that is spinning?

Cheers guys sorry for the newbie questions.


dmbvw - December 29th, 2016 at 08:08 PM

Your bug would be swing axle. You have stripped out the spline in the drum. You need a new drum. Only one side is spinning because of the diff. It will spin the unloaded side while the other side is stationary. It may or may not happen again.


Taz62vdub - December 29th, 2016 at 08:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dmbvw
Your bug would be swing axle. You have stripped out the spline in the drum. You need a new drum. Only one side is spinning because of the diff. It will spin the unloaded side while the other side is stationary. It may or may not happen again.


How would you "fix" this so it doesn't happen again, I don't want to be stuck one day. Quality high end drums with some sort of guarantee or large splined shafts and drums???


hellbugged - December 29th, 2016 at 09:16 PM

They chew out when they get loose and.or of poor quality.

Get the axle nuts tightened correctly on the new ones.


vw54 - December 30th, 2016 at 08:23 AM

Quote:

Will this be an on going issue with my wide wheels, lowered suspension and camber?


YES you may want to have the suspension raised slightly

I take it your located in Melbourne ???


Taz62vdub - December 30th, 2016 at 08:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by vw54
Quote:

Will this be an on going issue with my wide wheels, lowered suspension and camber?


YES you may want to have the suspension raised slightly

I take it your located in Melbourne ???


Yes I'm in Melbourne, VolksAffair look after my GTI so I might bring the bug to them but can see it becoming $$$$.


Bizarre - December 30th, 2016 at 09:09 AM

good looks and reliability dont always go together

As said above - raise it a bit

Every inch raised will add longevity to your drive line


Taz62vdub - December 30th, 2016 at 01:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bizarre
good looks and reliability dont always go together

As said above - raise it a bit

Every inch raised will add longevity to your drive line


Yeah I complete understand. I have 6.2 stroked VE ute, was really low and a pain to drive cause my local council loves speed humps. The solution was rear bags. Remembering I have just bought the bug and my knowledge is limited at this stage, but surely there is a better solution then raising the bug, it's a weekender might do 1000kms a year in it. I would have thought someone would have devised something that ensures reliability and camber/lowered?


Bizarre - December 30th, 2016 at 01:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Taz62vdub
I would have thought someone would have devised something that ensures reliability and camber/lowered?


Air bags


Taz62vdub - December 30th, 2016 at 01:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bizarre
Quote:
Originally posted by Taz62vdub
I would have thought someone would have devised something that ensures reliability and camber/lowered?


Air bags


So same deal as the ute. The ute setup was simple, bought the kit, bolt in, 5hrs was done. Can anyone recommend a kit/brand?


ACE76 - December 30th, 2016 at 02:39 PM

How could the rear axle or its splines be broken by a 1600? Would it mean that the rear axle nut had been loose for a while and the whole lot was wobbling about under load?
If it's due to a loose nut, would it be just OK to renew the parts?


Taz62vdub - December 30th, 2016 at 03:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by ACE76
How could the rear axle or its splines be broken by a 1600? Would it mean that the rear axle nut had been loose for a while and the whole lot was wobbling about under load?
If it's due to a loose nut, would it be just OK to renew the parts?



I think it the spline on the drum that has been grinded out. Probably had been loose for awhile I have only had the car a few weeks.

Well i was hoping it was just a new drum, but I don't want to replace the drum just to have the same issue, the drums that are on it are relative new, no more then 12 months old as it was built 12 months ago.... I'm about 100mm from side skirt/step to ground, so honestly didn't think I was that low to cause an ongoing reliability issue. But if air ride mean I can drive the car whenever I want and wherever I want hassle free then maybe bags are the answer.


HappyDaze - December 30th, 2016 at 04:55 PM

The fact that the drums are "relatively new" rings alarm bells with me. Try to get hold of a pair of good 2nd hand original drums, as they are much better quality than the 'new' after market drums.

Hopefully, the axle splines are OK, as they would be harder than the crap drums that have obviously been fitted. Make sure the axle nuts are tightened to the correct torque, and regularly.

And raise the rear end...that will remove a lot of the load on the splines.


Taz62vdub - January 3rd, 2017 at 07:31 PM

Do both wheels drive (LSD) or is it just the passenger side?


ACE76 - January 13th, 2017 at 02:50 PM

Both wheels should get the same amount of drive in normal operation... The factory/standard diff's are all conventional types (apart from some rare 1960's factory LSD ones) using spiral-bevel final drive.
ALL factory rear ends are independent (IRS), so it's unclear to just use that label.
Earlier ones are SWING-AXLE: larger-looking Closed Drive-shaft.
Later ones are FOUR-JOINT: thinner-looking Open Drive-shaft, with 4 C.V.-universal joints (often called "IRS").
It's easy to look underneath (subject to lowering!) to see which type of rear axle it is.
If lowering causes "massive camber", you probably have the earlier swing-axle type. It's meant to be bad to have a swing-axle with large camber as it can starve the rear wheel bearings of lubricant (oil from the diff.).