Aircooled VW South Africa

I found this pic on the net and wondered if that strap on the shock mountings is a camber compensator system.
Do they work and has anyone had any experience with these?
Seems too simple to be true.

Hi John,



They are limit straps. They will stop a tuck-under situation occurring, similar to a camber compensator.

'Camber compensators' are not anti-roll bars, or Z-bars, and will not aid in improving handling. They all perform different functions.

The only time you will feel a compensator working is at the limit of suspension travel. Take a bend at speed, with a swing-axle Beetle, unsettle the rear and you will feel it kick in, with an accompanying sense of relief in your gut.

IMO, the Camber compensator is worth its weight in gold and possibly the best upgrade you can do to the swingaxle rear suspension.
They work extremely well and definitely improve handling.
I have mine setup to I have it pre-loaded when installed, pushing the axles up into the arches. I wont ever drive another swing axle without one.

As for the picture above, Merlin is correct, they are limiting straps and stop your axles from moving downwards away from the arches. The problem is they are not progressive and so unsettle the car when they suddenly stop the axles from moving, putting you in a very dangerous situation.
They are usually used for drag racing or offroad cars which get regular air.

These were used in Beetle racing and you pre-load the suspension limiting it to a few mm movement.

This was the same as lowering your normal car axles, but also helped the beetle not roll over on a bend.

So now the driver could decelerate in a corner, as without it you can not, you will flip the Beetle.

You fit them to both front and back, and you can corner as fast as any other car.

Herman

would adding a strong spring to this strap be the same as a compensator system?

John Alves wrote: ↑Fri Mar 30, 2018 5:31 pm would adding a strong spring to this strap be the same as a compensator system?

As you would pull down the torsion spring of the original suspension by more then half, you already have a lot of spring tension on the strap, and an extra spring will only allow the suspension to dead stop, on return after a bump, to make it unpleasant.

If my memory serves me right, they where made of canvas that had a bit of give in it so as not to give a dead stop but a controlled stop of travel.

You would need to fit adjustable shocks so that you can set it to "Hard" for a better ride.

Herman

Limiting straps may be more of a "band aid" during track-racing. They might leave you stuck during severe off-road conditions. In a 2 wheel drive application without difflock or limited slip diff, objective is to have all 4 wheels on the ground. Otherwise, because of diff action, traction will suffer. Like doing a steep muddy hill where the surface is twisted.
Think of a Unimog where the steel chassis was made to be twisty, combined with long-travel suspension. Difflock use obviously messes with the steering, so best to avoid using it where possible.

During car trial competitions in Europe around the 60's, people noticed that pre-58 beetles (which had no front anti-roll bars), would go further under these severe slow-speed conditions. So some drivers of later beetles would then remove their front anti-roll bars before the event and put it back later. Another thing which may hurt under these conditions are aftermarket coilover shocks, if those limit suspension travel on a lightly loaded vehicle.

Sorry did not make my self clear.

As Dawie said, this is not for off-road racing, these straps where only used on track racing, and sometimes on drag racing.

Do not use them on off-road, as you will be off on the 1st corner.

Herman