Ok. Beginning to think about a new speedster. Th one thing I don't understand well is the suspension. Honestly I've tried but it's sort of boring and my ADHD takes over fairly quickly. Right now I have a 2007 Beck. First what do I have? Second, can anyone point me to a tutorial? Pictures really help, if I can't see it, it doesn't sink in deep enough for me to retain it....
Happy Memorial Day and thanks in advance my speedster brothers!
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Your speedster most likely has a "swing axle" VW Beetle rear suspension, and a "ball joint" VW Beetle front suspension.
Just do a web-search on both, and you should have no shortage of pictures, etc.
All Beck Speedsters are sing axle rear suspension and dual trailing arm from suspension, just like Beetles and all 356 Porsches. Springning is by torsion bar front and rear.
Yup. Plenty of info. on this site and on the web in general as well as Youtube videos. I changed my ball joints, axle beam, torsion arm seals etc all with info gleaned from these sources. Countless articles as well as expanded diagrams and pictures. You can also go to places like CIP1.com and see parts and expanded diagrams to get a good idea of what is what.
If you're thinking of a new speedster go with an IRS rear suspension. It's much better than a swing axle setup.
Why is IRS better, Ron? What advantages does it provide? I am curious about this because I understand that the original 356s were all swing axle and won a zillion races with that configuration. Also I wonder why both Vintage and Beck only use swing axles?
Not being snarkey at all ---just really have always wondered about this. I just need some edumacation on this subject! Thanks.
Jack.
A swing axle can give some interesting handling characteristics, especially going through corners. Triumph Spitfires and Heralds were well known to have this problem.
VW Beetles could also be tricky with a swing axle. The wheels can tend to bow in on each other as illustrated. A good camber compensator helps a lot to tame the back end.
First thing that comes to mind is in the mid 60s Ralf Nader neatly halted the sales of Chevrolet Corvair due to the swing axel. On sharp corners the axle would tuck under causing the vehicle to roll. Bobs image of the Beetle is a good representation of the axle "tucking under." Not sure if this is why VW changed from swing axle to IRS in late 68 but I think the geometry improved the handling of the VWs. We were part of that era Jack. Remember?
I'd think better traction radial tires would exacerbate the swing axle danger?
Early 356's won a lot of races because they were (a. ) very light, making them quick and (b.) the owners modified the heck out of the rear suspension to keep the wheels on the ground.
Here's a really good article on Swing-Arm vs. IRS and it should answer all (or most of ) your questions:
Not sure about radial tires vs bias ply, but round shouldered tires tend to lessen the effects of wheel jack, since they don't lose tread completely when the wheels tuck.
Swing axle with bias ply tires would be a great combo....especially in the rain. 
Shoptalkforum.com has the best suspension tutorial I've seen, including VW, 356, Karmann Ghia, etc. Tells history, development, improvement techniques, the whole deal from swing axle to irs, and how to improve both. An interesting read, but, at 11 pages, it takes some time to read and digest. Confused about camber compensator vs. Z-bar for swing axle? Why did Porsche originally market the camber compensator? Why did VW switch to IRS? No worries, this will tell you in a straightforward, understandable way. If I wasn't such a slow learner in IT, I would give you a link. Google Shoptalkforum VW suspenstion. That should work. U
I just checked again. It's actually called "Ghia Road Course Setup".
Thanks Gents! I appreciate the help And guidance.
Good info I had never seen---very interesting. Thanks!
I do use a camber compensator and my wheels don't lean like a swing axle with it does. The front sway bar helps the handling also.
There was a video on here (or maybe The Samba) showing early VW Bugs racing and two out of every four cars rolled on one certain turn because of the rear wheel leaning.
Ha! Was just gonna post that one. been re-reading it this week.
Yeah, Ed......I just finished Binge-reading it again over the past couple of hours.
Between the Air-cooled and Shop Talk articles, that's just about everything you ever wanted to know about Beetle suspension setups but were afraid to ask.
I kept ticking off all the mods I've done to Pearl as she has evolved and I got all of them from those two articles, plus, what we used to do racing Autocross back in the 70's. The best thing I learned was that the pair of forged aluminum rear diagonal arms that I passed on in a junk yard 924T wouldn't have improved anything except bragging rights ('cuz you can't get under a lowered car well enough to even SEE them!) I guess the slow evolution of my suspension to FJ Camper's Ghia level was worth it, whenever I find a curvy back road where nobody's walking (or looking!)
All very good stuff...........So very glad I found these articles.
Great read!
Knowledge base material.
