[T3] Today's questions

[Keith Park]

I suspect that Bob is rather careful with his Type 3 cars, if your on smooth
roads or a trailer queen then your fine, but if you have railroad tracks,
potholes, a boat strapped to the back or worse, then your front end needs
that extra travel and the geometry that VW designed into it.  Ive seen many
lower arms with the needle bearings stamped into them on lowered cars, that
wont cause an instant failure but its the beginning of the end for the arm
and bearing and those bearings are VERY hard to find and in very short
supply these days.

With proper ride height and good maintenance, the front end will last
virtually forever.  My 71 is up to 345K now with all its original bearings
and bushings and still in great shape.

Keith


Topnotch Restorations
topnotch at nycap.rr.com
http://www.a383ina68.addr.com/radiorest/main.htm
71 Squareback  "Hothe"
65 Notchback  "El Baja Rojo"
93 RX7  "Redstur"
87 Golf  "Winterat"
 
-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org [mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org]
On Behalf Of Jim Adney
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 7:51 PM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] Today's questions

On 20 May 2015 at 14:28, Bobsnotch at aol.com wrote:

> So, after over 15 years of use 2 splines down, I should have worn out  
> several sets of tires, and have destroyed the front end already. It hasn't

> happened yet, and I've only replaced the tires due to weather checking.
But then 
>  I grease the front end every year too. In fact the tires I have on the
car 
> are  now currently 10 years old, still have nice tread across the tire,
and 
>  surprizingly no weather checking. :O It still tracks straight when going 
> down  the hiway too.
> I did remove the rubber bump stops, but left the mounting bracket, as I  
> didn't want water to enter the beam. I don't know, maybe I've just been
lucky. 

Bob's right, I was overly harsh in my response. I apologize. But it 
wasn't until a very few years ago that I realized how much more 
stress the spline change adds to the needle bearings in the front 
axle beam. All this to conform to someone else's idea of good looks.

If Hot VWs was showing all their cars with extra ground clearance, 
that's what everyone would be wanting to do. Just following the 
crowd. (Yeah, I know, too harsh. Maybe.)

The stock height operates with the trailing arms approximately 
horizontal, giving the max suspension compliance, and gives good road 
clearance so you don't have to worry about where you drive, and that 
adds to peace of mind when that odd piece of debris falls off the 
truck ahead of me. Yes, that happened to me last year, when a large 
piece of alum channel fell out the back of some truck that was 
obviously headed to some local recycling yard. That piece was maybe 
3' long and, when it fell flat on the highway, still stuck up 4" or 
more. It hit something underneath, but so lightly that I could not 
find the scar on later inspection. An inch lower, and we would have 
been wondering if this was worth fixing.  

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

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