VW Baja Bug IRS Suspension Lift

How to raise the suspension of an IRS (late) Bug, '74 in this case.

[@voodoopowder]

Thanks for the video. You showed me exactly what I needed to know on where the spring plate sits after raising it. The previous owner of my Baja decided to over torque the torsion bar and notch the spring plate. The rear doesn’t even move when jumping on the rear of the car. I’m sure the shocks are destroyed as wells.

[@vwmountainman9701]

Excellent video !!! Am new to the VW stuff. Been turning wrenchs most of my life. Been out of it for awhile - Kids - Getting back in cars. We each have a Bug in the family - Makes 4 Beetles I get to keep on the road. Having people such as you doing videos like this - makes the LEARNING CURVE - alot easier !!!!!!! Thank You !!!

[@michaelnelson9140]

Thanks. I just want to raise my rear maybe two inches. After watching this video, I checked mine, and it looks like I have plenty room to go one spline, leaving the stop alone. Have a good one!

[@benjiereeves4919]

Watched several videos on the same topic and this is the best how to i have seen. Perfect explanation. Thanks for the help!!

[@greggthompson7]

Thanks for posting. This is the stuff that makes the internet awesome.

[@tracyjamestavares3255]

Thanx 4 takin us thru . Great work , ya make it look easy . Keep us up on the bug an Mods. Much luk

[@dustinnist7548]

godsend of a video! i can finally raise my rail buggy to compensate for a nasty droop

[@joshquick1836]

thank you for this great video. I might have to do this with my sand rail.

[@bajalarry8738]

best video I've seen good job bro 🖒

[@theblacken3455]

Awesome video, I have a buggy that i think is suffering from "droppy rearend" i think i will try your trick to raise mine up! thanks.

[@Gowest4552]

A good bit of help to get the spring plate into the housing, is to buy 4 Bolts about 1 inch longer than what's there. (Take 1 to H.Depot to be sure of threads & size, etc.). Then you can snug them along and they will be more in line as you tighten them. When they get about in place, just replace them 1 at a time then use them on the other side. Another big help, so you don't have to beat the unit into pace or snug into place and bend the plate cover, is to use about two 6" C -Clamps to crunch them into place.

[@marbleknight]

Excellent advice, very good tips.

[@marbleknight]

So far there have been at least two viewers who have felt it necessary to post their feelings about the toe in / toe out topic. How about you provide a little substantiation for your comments? Just saying that "VW calls for it" or typing in all caps that the TOE MUST BE OUT is weak and confuses other viewers who may not know the truth of the matter. Do you even own a Baja and drive it on the road and offroad with different suspension setups to see which is best? Have you read any of the myriad literature, both in print and online, about this topic? Please, do tell. And in the meantime you can read this excellent article about VW handling and suspension available at Aircooled.net - one of the best places to learn about anything related to aircooled VWs. www.aircooled.net/vw-handling-suspension-tuning/ If you're running an IRS like the one in this video, then kindly skip down to the last part of the article where the setups are listed. For street Bajas, Greg tells us: "The rear should always have toe in, it is more stable, you can imagine if you had toe out that the wheels would want to travel in that direction, so when you turn a corner the car actually loses the rear end and ends up in a slide." As for the front end, Greg addresses that too. No toe in or out. Put them straight ahead. 'Nuff said. Happy trolling elsewhere :-)

[@robertsteele667]

hey man geat video the next time you do this you should leave the bolts with that cap on just loose so that spring plate can come down. your lucky it didn't pop out at ya.

[@m.kasper7646]

well done! perfect easy to understand, I have a 70 Baja and want to do this. or I'd pay you to come do mine in Fontana California if you have time and aren't too far. thanks for this video .u rock

[@marbleknight]

Thanks man. I'd drop by but we're out in NC. Bit of a haul from ya. :-)

[@m.kasper7646]

Okay, fair enough yes it's way too far. You make the video easy to understand so I will be watching for more videos too thanks again I do appreciate you, have a great new year.

[@remadecustoms]

Good job dude... I’ve been there bunches... but dropping them. I’m intrigued about the lift... currently building a Baja... where can I see what this looks like on a vehicle? Keep it up Bro!!!

[@ferhdz1738]

Hi! Thanks for the video! Quick question, where did you put the jack to lift the whole rear body of the beetle?

[@marbleknight]

Hi, I made a wooden block with a recess cut in it so that it fits perfectly over the oil sump cover on the bottom of the engine. Slap something like that in place so you can apply even pressure to the bottom surface of the engine case, put the jack under the block and you're good to go.

[@michaelnelson9140]

What would happen if you cut off the stop? As in, you want to raise the rear a lot. Could you reposition the stop? Is the stop really necessary?

[@marbleknight]

The answer to this question depends on how you limit the travel of the suspension if the stop is no longer there. I cut the stops off on all my rail buggies but I also run straps to limit the travel of the suspension. If you don't limit the suspension there are a few bad things that will happen. First, it will be VERY soft since the torsion rods are allowed to completely unload when you go over the backside of humps and bumps. Second, I imagine this would not be good for the torsion rods since the twist they experience on a regular basis will be greatly increased. I never broke one but I've been told it'll happen pretty quick if they are not pre-loaded. So in summary, I recommend you use some sort of limit. Straps are nice.

[@davidwhocares3293]

so you only move it one notch ? so when you hear of people moving 3 notches to match a 2 1/2 " raised spindle in front they are going to ent up with a broken tortion bar ? how much does the one notch raise the car ? Thanx !! Great Video !!

[@marbleknight]

How much you gain from this procedure is always a question of where the suspension was before you started. If you go out and examine your spring plates and find that they are contacting the bottom stops with the car just sitting there, not jacked up, then you won't 'lift' the suspension by doing what I show in the video. It'll just make it stiffer. On the other hand, if the plates are already above the stops with just the weight of the car on them, you'll gain a significant amount while firming up the rear suspension. How much lift you gain per spline of preload is really determined by the condition of your torsion bars. If they are tired and worn out it won't be a lot, probably less than an inch net gain. For new bars I'd say closer to two inches net gain. Hope this helps.

[@davidwhocares3293]

@@marbleknight Yes, Thanx so much, I dont want the rear end to stiff but dont want it sagging, just want to lift it a little to give a bit more clearance and make it easier to get in and out of for an old guy.. lol... great video !!

[@pacificovw9522]

Thank you for posting this, very helpful. There is a dude here on KZbin that cut part of the spring arm with a grinder to do this - unbelievable. Did you noticed any change in the wheel's camber by the way?

[@marbleknight]

Hi Pacifico, thanks for the comment. The change to camber is pretty minimal, not really even noticeable with an IRS setup. If you got a swing axle it's a whole different story :-)

[@pacificovw9522]

Thank you for your reply, the whole video is very helpful and to the point. I have a 1/2 - 1 inch camber difference in my rear wheels, IRS setup, and I am not sure if to even mess with the spring arm to try to fix it, some people just drive them like that but there will be different tire wear.

[@milomanx6531]

REAR WHEEL TOE IS SUPPOSED TO BE TOED OUT 1/8" TO 3/16". TOE IN CAUSES UNSTABILITY AT SPEED.

[@marbleknight]

TOE OUT CAUSES OVERSTEER AND THIS BEING A BAJA THAT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA.

[@mattplage]

Great video!! Maybe I missed it but how much lift does this normally give you?

[@marbleknight]

Thanks for the comment. You know I just realized that I may have given a false impression here with the word 'raising'. The truth is, you could do this whole procedure and it really wouldn't raise the body off the ground any further than when you started UNLESS your suspension was a bit saggy to begin with. This is because the spring plates can only go so far down before they hit their bottom stops. So if you look at your car just sitting there in the driveway and your spring plate is not touching the stop (it's a bit above) then doing what I show you in this video will lift the rear end. If it is already touching the stop and you do this procedure, it'll just make the rear suspension stiffer. FYI, the 'stop' I'm talking about is to the left of the screwdriver at 10:00 in the video.

[@Willie1Eye]

Are you able to lower the front in anyway similar to what is shown in your video for the rear? I have a 74 as well. For some reason the front of mine sits very high in comparison to the rear. I would have to raise the rear 4 inches to match the front. Let me know. Thanks.

[@marbleknight]

Hi Ryan, the front is a little tougher to manipulate. It works on the same principal as the rear in that there are torsion bars (actually not a bar but bundles of 'leaves') running through the upper and lower tubes. The problem is that the trailing arms mate up to the leaf bundles in only one way; you cannot manipulate the orientation like you can with the splines at the rear. The good news is there is a bolt-on solution. You can purchase what are known as 'drop spindles' that will essentially lower the car a couple of inches, typically 2-1/2". They're not really cheap but they do work. See here: vwparts.aircooled.net/2-1-2-Drop-Spindles-Ball-Joint-Drums-p/lowered-spindles-bj-drum.htm Now, all of this assumes you have a stock standard setup. If you have some sort of weird coil-over shocks or anything else then it changes the game. This is a standard beetle you're talking about, right?

[@bobbijeankisselburg6534]

hey there. great video. not many out there on this topic. I see your in NYC...so am I, I have acquired a rail buggy and re-doing it. seems I have too much lift because my weight at rear just barely moves suspension...any thoughts? thanks, oh this is my wife's u tube account!

[@marbleknight]

Hi, thanks for the comment. We're actually down in NC, otherwise I'd offer to take a look at your new ride. Most Rails are a bit of a different animal than what I've shown in this video. Depending on how the rear suspension was designed, some retain the torsion bar setup like a stock VW but by far most of them eliminate the torsion bar setup in favor of control arms with heavy duty coil-over shocks. If you have the control arm setup then finding the right feel in the rear end is as easy as finding the right shock with the proper travel. I like to have shocks that will just start to compress when I stand on the engine cage (I weigh about 220), and compress to around half their travel when I jump up and down lightly. It really comes down to what you intend to do with it, whether it's destined for offroading or straight street use, and what you like to feel in your suspension. Good luck!

[@mandfmarine]

Great video, I'm new to vw's building a street baja. Does this take place on both sides or just the passenger side?

[@marbleknight]

Definitely both sides and it's crucial to do it exactly the same so the torsion bar isn't unevenly loaded. You'll enjoy a street baja, they're a lot of fun.

[@mandfmarine]

@@marbleknight thanks I thought so but was just checking. I ordered some raised spindles so your video hopefully saved me hours of the unknown struggle. Thanks again.

[@mandfmarine]

So I finally did it. Your video was super helpful. I did however struggle getting the spring plate covers back on. So I went and got some longer bolts. That cured that issue.

[@MrGarcon98]

and in the front is toe in . just saying check it

[@MrGarcon98]

vw calls for toe out on beetles ,

[@marbleknight]

You run your suspension the way you want. A baja is far from what VW envisioned when the specs were written, and a much different purpose vehicle. Just sayin'.