VW Super Beetle

hey mate.. you need to drop one spline on the rear torsions,, i am doing the job on my brothers 67 sortly.. we have just fitted drop spindles in the front and the tyres rubbed the guards..so we fitted a 65 profile tyres,,had 80 profile,, now it is sweet and low at the front,, so we have to drop the rear to get it looking good all round,,

i will let you know how things go

cheers

t.j.

Just lifted mine last week, so this is pretty fresh in my mind. Also I now know all the things that they don't tell you in the manual!! Once you know this stuff, it is pretty easy...............oh, this was done on a swing axle car - I would guess that this is everything pre Super Beetle? Oh, sorry if it's a bit dumbed down, but I would like to think this could be done by anyone who has the time and inclination!

1. Equipment required.
2. Method.

1. Equipment required:

• Trolley jack,
• Strong arm bar,
• Ratchet
• 15mm, 17mm and 19mm spanners and sockets,
• x2 10mm spanners,
• Axle stand,
• Wheel chocks,
• Assortment of levering tools (I used some old tyre levers, chisels and jemi bars),
• Brass or copper dolly (or wood if you are desperate {a dolly is a tool that is used as an intermedetary between a hammer and the thing you are hitting - to stop you from damaging the part you are attacking})
• An internet.
• A protractor (yes an old school plastic one will do).

2. Method:

• Decide how much lift/drop you want and then look at www.bugbabe.co.UK to work out how to rotate the torsion bars.
• Chock a front wheel - hey you don't want it rolling off from you - oh and putting the handbrake on is a good idea!
• Pull back the gator (rubber shroud) from around the hand brake lever, slacken the 10mm nuts (M6) as far as you can, a then pull the retaining plate off the small tit on the lever mechanisim (if you don't do this, you won't be able to pull the axle out of the way in four steps time) .
• Jack the car up and remove a rear wheel, and place on axle stand (put the stand under the subframe (the chassis bit your side of the engine/trans).
• Remove the 3 bolts that attach the spring plate (the long thin pivot arm) to the axle casing, you will then be able to remove the bottom bump stop (the rubber cone thing).
• Remove the long bolt at the base of the shocker.
• Pull the axle backwards out of the spring plate.
• Now for the H&S bit: YOUR SUSPENSION IS STILL SUBJECT TO TORSIONIAL (twisty or to be more precise rotational, or angular) PRESSURE, THE SPRING PLATE WANTS TO SPRING DOWN. DON'T PUT SOFT BODY PARTS BETWEEN IT AND THE GROUND!!
• At the inboard end of the spring plate, remove the four bolts that hold the bush housing, then remove the housing and the rubber bush.
• You will now see that the only thing stopping the spring plate from coming down (remember, with force, and quickly) is a small lip on the chassis. Use your levering devices (jemi's etc) to prise the plate over the lip. When you manage, there will be a bit of a bang as the torsion bar comes to a relaxed state, but don't worry, as long as your legs wern't under it, it's okay!!
• Now for the first thing they don't tell you........
• Measure the angle between the subframe and the spring plate. I think (though only guessing) that standard is about 70 degrees. For some reason the manuals give you the angle from desired horozontal, which I found of no use! My car was lowered at the back, and when the spring plates were in their relaxed state, measured abot 60 degrees, one turn on the outbord side gave me an extra 10 degrees.
• IMPORTANT: If you are only going to turn the spline position at the outboard end, you do NOT want to dissengage the shafts at the inboard end. This is the second thing they don't tell you! Oh and no, marking the position of the arms is not important, only jotting down the angle!
• Lever the spring plate, no more than 1/2" at a time, then, with the dolly, knock the shaft back home to ensure it does not come out of the splines at the inboard end. If you are moving the bar at both ends, ignore this bit, you just need to move everything 'till you get the desired angle.
• Right, you have now got your desired lift/drop. Lets box it all up!
• This is the 3rd thing they don't tell you in the books....
• Whilst the suspension is still relaxed, replace the rubber bushes and end caps (do not tighten fully yet, but this is by far the easiest time to replace them - trust me - if you try to do it when you have the spring plate jacked, the shaft ends up off center and the end cap becomes a sod to re-fit)
• Jack up the spring plate as high as you can, and push the axle back in to place.
• Fanny on with the jack, to enable you to replace all of the bolts for it and the shocker.
• Jack the car up under the hub, so that the suspension is compressed, and the spring plate is above the stop on the subframe.
• Tighten the bolts on the end plate - the manual does specify a torque for this, but, if you don't have a torque wrench, here's another tip - engineers tend to be fairly clever chaps. a 15mm spanner is the length it is for a reason! The average human force on the end of it will give the normally ideal torque for that size nut/bolt, without stretcing the threads too much. I tend to tighten 'till I find the "nipping point", then tap the spanner with my palm, or a small hammer a further 20-30 degrees. That's just what I do, read the book for the correct settings!
• Put the wheels back on, re-connect the handbrake, take out the stands and chocks, and man, you are soooooo good to go......

There could be a fuse for each low beam light either under the hood or under the dash. If not, then prob both low beams are bad.

If you have daytime run lights, the following may be of help.

There is a daytime running light module that controls both low beams and the daytime running lights. The low beam bulbs may be OK. The high beams will work fine as they are not controlled through the module.

It may be possible to disable the daytime run lights by cutting the yellow wire going into the module and then connecting it to ground. Tape off the other end.

Check the bulbs or replace one at a time to see if it works,hope this will solve your problem.

Bad bulbs?

Bad switch (high/low)

I just fixed this problem , it was my daytime running light module

I replaced the DRL module and still had this problem.

A good place to see how to disable DRL is here;

The problem for me was a clip with about 6 wires or so that plugged into the fuse box (located under the steering wheel. 3 Phillips screws had to be taken out to get the panel off that was covering the fuse box, DRL, etc.)

I simply unplugged the wire clips from the fuse box one at a time until I found one that looked burnt and melted up. There was only one wire that was blackened and one corresponding pin at the fuse box side that was black.

I took a small strip course sand paper, folded it in half and carefully sanded the black off the male and female ends. **be very careful not to bend the pin or it could break off!

I then sprayed electric contact cleaner on the cleaned areas (may not be needed) and let it dry for a min.

I squeezed a little dielectric grease into the female end of the clip to help make a better connection and reduce heat in the future. (may not be needed)

I then took a small strip of thin (approx 1mm thick) metal and cut a strip about 1/4" long (you could use a verity of metal, foil and wire for this) that would fit in the female hole to make a tighter fit and better connection. Heat may have melted some of the plastic leaving a loose fit. I bent the very end (about 3mm down) at 90 degrees so the small piece of metal wouldn't go all the way in the hole when plugged back into the fuse box (The dielectric grease helped hold it in place).

** Make sure its not to snug or it could bend the pin.

I then carefully plugged it back in (it was very snug, but it went in OK). I tried the headlights and the low beams worked perfect and so did the high beams.

Summarized; it was a clip at the fuse box not making a proper connection causing arching (sparking), causing blackening and eventually no connection at all. Fix this by cleaning the black off and making sure its a snug fit when plugging it back in or it will happen again over time.

** If this doesn't make sense to you, you probably shouldn't try it. I hope this is more helpful then confusing.

Sequential Fuel Injection SFI

Single Over Head Cam SOHC

8 Valve

The original tires were 145r15, your 165r15's are already oversized.

Coker Tire carries the proper Firestone 145r15 Beetle tires.

If you want to go Old School, a 560-15 bias ply tire was on really early Bugs.

I would recommend 5.60-15. it really brings out the bug inside.

After 1972 Volkswagen said that 5.60 were too narrow so they enlarged it to 6. but still i use General 5.60-15 tires, they are awesome whether its road grip, bumpy road, highway or economy and creates higher clearance. I tried the radial tires but the bug was uncomfortable and the ride was too bumpy even on highways.