[T3] Alignment

[Jim Adney]

On 23 Nov 2016 at 17:52, Daniel Nohejl wrote:

> I´ve encountered some conflicting information on this so I thought I´d
> ask: Is the measurement for the angle of the spring plates simply
> taken with the car on a lift and the suspension unloaded or does the
> spring plate have to be disconnected from the trailing arm? I was
> hoping that taking a measurement might be somewhat simple and?that any
> adjusting work (if necessary) would be the hard part. 

The spring plate IS the trailing arm.

The measurement is done with the spring plate (trailing arm) pulled 
out far enough that it has come off the stop at the bottom of the 
torsion bar housing. In order to pull it out, I think you have to 
remove the axle housing at the rear end of the spring plate. It's a 
LOT of work to get to this point.

Once the spring plate is out, you take the measurement as the 
difference between the spring plate angle and the pan angle (which 
may be horizontal, or zero.) You measure this with enough upward 
preload on the spring plate to take out any play in the splines.  

Once you have the right angle, it's a LOT more work to get the spring 
plate back over the stop and into the torsion bar housing. There's a 
LOT of force there, more in Squares than in any of the other body 
styles. Cars that have been lowered will have less force there, and, 
consequently, less difficulty. This may be one reason lowering is 
popular.

Frankly, this is a job that I NEVER want to do again.

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