Replacing IRS rear suspension Caps.

Hi I have never done this myself and I would like to change these two units.  Is there any thing special to be careful for or is it just a bolt off and bolt on? 

FYI, I had some squeaking and supposedly the new plates I have have been specially clearanced to stop that... any ideas?

I guess a shiny chrome one would slip easier over the old (original) black rubber bushing there.  I wonder if new one is larger to allow for the new red poly bushings?  If you have the old 40+ year old black rubber ones - I think I'd replace them with new while at it.

The problem is that those bungs usually need to be cut off. Those are made for dual springplates.

Yup, the spacers on the covers are different length for single versus dual spring plates.

Once you get covers with the same depth spacers as what you have AND if you've installed new rubber bushings, you'll probably need some longer cover bolts to get everything together and pulled in, then replace the bolts, one at a time, with the stock-length bolts.

"I had some squeaking and supposedly the new plates I have have been specially clearanced to stop that"

Really?  How?

One thing you can do is run longer bolts and use the upper bolts for optional mounts, rollbar support points or whatever.

I would not try to use end plates designed for later ('71 has dual for sure) VW dual spring IRS suspensions on single spring suspensions. I don't think the single spring bolts would be long enough.  Their is a grease for the new replacement red polyurethane bushings - one is Energy Suspension's Formula 5 Prelube and Summit also carries one Prothane super lube.  The original black rubber ones dry out and are damaged by petroleum based grease.

The squeaking likely isn’t the fault of the caps you’ got. I’d guess that the rubber bushings have collapsed, and the torsion tube is rubbing on the caps. The answer (unfortunately) is likely new bushings. 

If the black bushing are still good I believe talcum powder works.

Thanks for the comments all of you. 

Stan, I got new ones from the man himself telling me they clearanced them somehow to reduce the squeak Also since my car is only a few seasons old I think the suspension might have settled a bit so I will give the rear arms a 1/2 turn increase to raise the rear a bit. 

Danny is that talcum powder with or without vaseline ... I mean grease  

ON a more serious note are you suggesting that I only dust them with Talcum powder.  I have PURE pharmaceutical grade talcum powder I guess that would work. 

VW / Porsche used to recommend plain talcum powder......   Only drawback I ever thought of was a possibility of water screwing it up....

Yup.  Talcum powder.  Dust both the rubber bushings and the part of the torsion bar that fits through them and you should be all set for a few years.   Maybe longer.

 Thanks for those comments so is it just a bolt off and bolt back on after?  Is there any precautions  to take regarding the trailing arm or the torsion spring I like my teeth to stay with they are

It's an unbolt and bolt back on, but if you want to remove the torsion bar to then pop the bushing in there you will find that the bar cannot be removed - there is not enough room in the space to the body to get it out.  That's why Porsche put those little holes in the body in front of the rear wheels - to get the bar out.

What you'll then need to do is pull the bar/spring plate out enough to get the old bushing out a bit, then cut one side of the bushing to make a "C", twist and remove it.

Clean up the torsion bar surface with 220 grit sandpaper where it mates to the bushing (it'll have rubber schmuck on it from the old bushing).  To install the new one, cut a nice,  straight line on one side at, say, 3 o'clock, open it up, place it the depression   to make sure it fits as expected (move it if it doesn't fit - It is keyed to one position with little nubs) and once you know how it goes in, glue it back together with Superglue.  Let it cure ten minutes and then hit it with the talcum powder where the bar collar meets it and put everything back together.  The torsion bar will be a tight fit into the bushing - sometimes really tight - but you should be able to pull it in with longer cover bolts.

Here's how to do it all:

https://www.speedsterowners.co...rear-ride-height--vw

BTW:  There is a somewhat less than raging controversy over using talcum powder versus some of the greases out there.  VW used talcum powder because available petroleum greases back then attacked rubber and available synthetic or silicone greases were Uber expensive.   In my experience in a different industry, Silicone grease is pretty benign when it comes to rubber so a dielectric grease should work fine.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_grease

Also, any CV joint grease is designed to work within a rubber boot and not degrade anything and that is what I now use.  Don't get any onya - It's a pain to wash it off....Like Anti-Seize goop.  

I also just thought that you could remove the spring plate hub (the hub goes through the rubber bushing) while leaving the rest of the torsion bar in there.  It is tricky only because you want to make sure you get everything back onto the same splines as you started with on both ends of the torsion bar.  Read my article and you'll learn about inner and outer splines being different.

So you would have to pull the spring plate hub off of the outer end of the bar, replace the bushing (uncut) and then replace the spring plate hub on the same splines without removing the bar from the inner splines (or at least get the inner splines onto the same place where you started, too).  

The way to do THAT is to (following the article)

1.  Remove the spring plate bolts at the wheel hub and move the hub out of the way.

2.   Jack up the axle end of the spring plate, pry it out from the stop it sits on in the torsion bar outer housing and gently release it down until it stops.  

3.  Then, scribe a line along the top of the spring plate to mark the torsion bar hub (just scribe it along the casting metal).  THAT is exactly where you want to get your spring plate back to as you re-assemble everything.  Not higher, not lower.....right there at the same angle or your ride height will change on that side.

4.  Once you've scribed a reference line you can pull the torsion bar out enough to get some vise grips on it, hold the bar in place on the inner splines and wiggle the end cap until it pulls off so you can replace the bushing.

Personally, I cut and glued my bushings because all of the above seemed like too much work.    gn 

Honestly Gordon, with only two summers on the car I would be surprised if the bushings are worn at all.  

So I just wanted to change the plates Only, and then loosen the jam nuts and adjust 1/2 a turn to maybe a turn on the suspension to lift it up just slightly.  That is why I wondered if I could do it simply by unbolting and re bolting the new ones... Anyone have a video ?

Oh...OK.  Finally, after going back to the very beginning post of yours and seeing the dual-plate chrome covers again, I think I understand.  We're using the same term for different things.  Those chrome items in your first post are torsion bar bushing covers, and the things that connect from the torsion bar to the rear wheel hub are spring plates or just "plates".

That said, Correct me if I'm wrong - and wouldn't THAT be a first, right?     but all you want to do is replace the existing torsion bar bushing covers with those spiffy, new, machined, chromed jobbies, right?

The spring plates (adjustable, I assume, from other posts) stay in place, the bushings will be re-used in place, but you want to re-lube the outer rubber bushing under the cover, right?  (just nod your head...)

THE LIGHT FINALLY DAWNS!  

And the answer is...........................................

42

No, just kidding.....   The answer is, YES!  You can remove the existing covers, powder the outside of the outer rubber bushing with Talcum and put the new cover right on where the old one was.  Those dual-plate covers are needed for the adjustable spring plates since they are also dual-plates for IRS, as you have.  

Powdering the inside of the cover where the bushing sits is optional but, since you have it off........do it.   You could also remove the bushing - all it is, is a big rubber donut pressed onto a orange juice concentrate can.... Just pull it off with your fingers - and powder inside of the donut hole and the spring plate orange juice can part and put it back on - there is no orientation for the outer donut, it's just a donut.  Again, doing the inside of the bushing is optional (especially after only two years) so if it's stuck on there, don't sweat it.  Just powder the outside and put the new cover on.

It's a hard press fit by design and may fight you getting the cover on with those bolts that you have, so a trip to the hardware store for a new set (four) of 3/4" longer 8mm bolts (I'm guessing.....They might be 10mm and I can't remember the pitch) should fix you up.  Use the longer bolts to pull the cover snugly on to the bushing (Even the VW shop manual recommends that you do it this way).  Once it's down tight, replace the longer bolts (if you used them) with the original ones, one at a time.  If you need a torque setting for those bolts, let me know and I'll pass it along.

That's it.....  VIDEO!  Look on here, starting at 1:00 minute in and go til you're edumacated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOqlNEVArss

"torsion bar bushing covers to be changed only"

YOU GOT IT .... my wife says most times I can't explain things clearly.  

I think she is right...

Only excuse I have is well, my mother tongue comes in the way,  with reverse syntax  ...  

All that to say, I just want to remove and place the new ones on the end...

They seem to use grease on most videos and no talcum..

thanks for the help.   

Reverse syntax?

אתה מתכוון שיש לך קושי לתקשר?

Me too, sometimes.......

Talcum is fine.

Dielectric grease (available at NAPA) is fine, too.  

Whatever lubes your bushing.   (Wasn't that a Rowan and Martin line?)

‏אתה מדבר עברית    Wow Gordon I am impressed with your Hebrew skills  

!I did not know     you spoke hebrew  

my mother tongue is actually french and that is backwards to english most timesm.

I have a '72 pan and I added red poly bushings and adjustable spring plates.

I used the original covers. Should I have replaced them with something different?

No, the original covers are fine.

What was the torque numbers when you tighten those down?

IaM-Ray posted:

What was the torque numbers when you tighten those down?

Spot torque. Torque 'em until you see spots.

Alternately, tighten until they strip or snap off. Then back them off 1/16 turn.

80 ft. lbs, Ray.....   From Bentleys

Thanks...