Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi guys, I am in the process of rebuilding a 62 Splitty and need a recommendation for a specialist in the Paarl/Cape Town area to sort out the rear suspension , after fitting a beetle engine and gearbox? Any suggestions? Thanks

Welcome to ACVWSA Wayne.

What exactly is the problem with your bus?

The suspension is very simple and setting it up is a job you can do yourself. You say you fitted a Beetle gearbox? With or without the reduction gearboxes on the axles? If you fit RGB axles to a Beetle gearbox, you need to turn the crownwheel and pinion around (install from the opposite side), or you will have 4 reverse gears and 1 forward, because the RGBs reverse the drive.

Give us more detail and you may be able to resolve it yourself.

Hi , it was installed without the reduction gearbox and as a result it is pulling both rear wheels under the bus at an angle! Do you always need the RGB? I have seen some conversion kits online, would that solve the problem without the RGB'S?

Sorry I sound clueless , but I am , someone else restored the bus for me and obviously was clueless as well!

Thanks

Hi Wayne

As you describe above, its a pity the bus has been bastardised. If you are not familiar with VW busses, its going to make it difficult not knowing what parts belong there and which ones don't as your original components have already been removed which would have given you a point to work to.

There could be several modifications and not just the RGB's. These parts will also have to be sourced to restore the bus back to how it should be.

You could contact Andreno Motors in Villiersdorp. He may be able to take on this job and hopefully have the parts you need.

Wayne Waldeck wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 5:32 pm
Sorry I sound clueless , but I am , someone else restored the bus for me and obviously was clueless as well!

Thanks

Who did this "restoration"?

Howzit Wayne, welcome to ACVWSA

Post up some pics for us - of what the set up looks like at the moment. Split busses do have rear wheels that sit at an "angle" - perhaps you still do have the reduction gear boxes present ?

sean wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 7:51 pm Who did this "restoration"?

Whatever you do, don't tell this man who did the restoration! He heads up the Aircooled mafia and will hunt this guy down

Wayne Waldeck wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 5:32 pm Hi , it was installed without the reduction gearbox and as a result it is pulling both rear wheels under the bus at an angle! Do you always need the RGB? I have seen some conversion kits online, would that solve the problem without the RGB'S?

Sorry I sound clueless , but I am , someone else restored the bus for me and obviously was clueless as well!

Among other things, the RGBs raise the ground clearance of the bus by about 10cm. Removing them introduces several issues that need to be overcome, the first being incorrect camber on the rear, as you have experienced. You also lose the gear reduction of the RGBs, which means that a stock Beetle engine will struggle to push your bus around. You will need to build a more powerful engine. I know that some local ACVW workshops make custom spring plates to compensate for the camber issues of straight axle conversions.

Since your bus has obviously been significantly lowered, I assume you have no intention of using it as it was intended, ie, to carry loads. In that case, you probably won't be concerned that a Beetle axle has only one bearing at the hub end, while RGBs have 4, 2 of which carry the end of the axle, so obviously you'll experience a lot more wear and tear on the axle bearings with this conversion.

Maybe one of the customisers on these forums will offer you some advice. Otherwise, I agree with Sean. Stock set-ups work best and unknown customising just makes life unnecessarily difficult. At the very least, you should have your bus checked out by someone knowledgeable to ensure the half-baked lowering job was done safely. Andreno is your nearest specialist.

Thank you to everyone for your comments and help, I have been traveling and only getting back to the forum now, I think my first call will be Andreno so that they can have a look and we can start the process to correct it. Builder shall remain nameless! JHB based Mustang specialist .... so VW was unknown entity for him as well. Luckily no cutting or welding was done , so we should be able to restore by replacing the wrong parts. Thanks again for everyone's help.

Pierre from Vdubtech makes his own straight Axl kit for the Split Busses maybe a good idea to
get in touch with him for some advice on the conversion
He advertises on this Forum so U will get his no easily

My bus is also running a "beetle" box with no rgb's the problem being that the mounting points where the spring plates attaches to the axel tube is narrower on the beetle box compared to the RGB's I had a custom bracket/spacer wire cut to take up this space with modified spring plates . Pierre is the guy to speak to he has he's own setup to sort that issue .

If I'm not mistaken, Pierre does not do this anymore as it did not work

AFAIK the reason guys run beetle boxes is for lowering. I have been running a beetle box in my split for 10 years now. The only issue I ever had was that the first beetle box I ran had a longer 4th gear, so the rpms in 4th gear could not cool the engine sufficiently. Keeping in mind that I do have rock cladding in the kombi. Swopped out the gearbox and no issues since.
As mentioned you do require the offset spring plates for the axles to reach the spring plates.

I am in the Brackenfell if you want to pop by sometime and have a look.

Eugene wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 9:16 am If I'm not mistaken, Pierre does not do this anymore as it did not work

You are Wrong with your Answer 50%

I dont do them Anymore as no one wanted to pay the right money for them
Mine was better than the Kits you can import with a few upgrades

So Kevi and Oliver East Coast Classice have used them with out any hassels and only good words

So I only made 10Sets back in 2009 and all were used except 2 Sets I have kept for myself to use

With this I can make again but not cheap
0826008663

And no my ones I got left are not Forsale