[T3] Rear torsion replacement

[Jim Adney]

On 19 Jan 2014 at 13:24, Keith Park wrote:

> Why would you want to replace them?
> They are the one thing I deeply regret ever touching, it's a horrid job.

I thought I was the only one to regret ever doing this. I would never 
try it again, unless I had the rear fenders completelly off. That 
little hole just isn't enough room to work thru, and this is a really 
difficult job with the stock size torsion bars. You're in for a real 
challenge if you're thinking about installing stiffer bars.

And when you do that, you get to GUESS about where to set them. Count 
on doing the job at least twice, in order to get the ride height 
where you want it.

BTW, I installed aftermarket bars as replacments on the front of a 
914. Those lasted about 2 years and then one broke, not due to rust 
or any problem under our control. We installed another set and I 
didn't see any reason to expect those to last any longer. The OE bars 
are pre-stressed making them different for L & R, but the aftermarket 
folks dodn't bother with that. I suspect that was part of the 
problem. There's a lot of science that goes into making a good 
torsion bar. The aftermarket parts we got LOOKED great, but they were 
junk.  Whatever you do, take good care of the OE parts that you 
remove; you may want them back someday.  

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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