Re: 73 Beetle out of storage
She's alive!
more details to come.
What is the torc specs for tightening on the rear castle nut to put the drums back on?
Re: 73 Beetle out of storage
Great 
The torque for the rear axle nuts is 217 according to Bentley
Last edited by burrhead (2010-11-23 17:37:08)
burrhead
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion.
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion.
Re: 73 Beetle out of storage
I'm thinking that the "Tightening Torques" chart in Section 5, page 37 (Brakes & Wheels) of the "Orange" Bentley manual is missing the tightening torque spec. for "CV Joint" rear axles. It does list the "castle nut" tightening torque as 217 ft. lbs....but I think that this is for "swing axle" Beetles.
In the same manual (Orange Bentley) section 5, page 23 (lower right of the page)...it does list the tightening torque for the castle nut as 253 ft. lbs.
In the Haynes Manual, Chapter 9, page 9-1...it lists the tightening torques for the castle nut as:
- 217 ft. lbs. for swing axle
- 253 ft. lbs. for "drive axle" (axles with CV joints)
- Nick
1979 Super Beetle Convertible
Re: 73 Beetle out of storage
Imagine that, the Bentley 66-69 blue book, In the print 217 and in the chart 253. Does not differentiate between swing or IRS.
In the brown Bentley 68-73 type 111 chart 217, in the print 217 for swing and 253 for IRS.
In the green Bentley 68-79 bus both the chart and print say 253 and this is for the big 46mm nut for the larger shaft size, go figure,
Never noticed all this before.
burrhead
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion.
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion.
Re: 73 Beetle out of storage
burrhead wrote:
Never noticed all this before.
If you're like me...you probably have some tightening torques memorized (so not always a need to go to the manual). Since the tightening torque for the rear brake drum on IRS VW's is so high (253 ft. lbs.) I sort of remember it being "about 250 ft. lbs." since it's one of the higher torques we com across on air-cooled VW's.
I have a relatively inexpensive 3/4" drive torque wrench that goes up to 300 ft. lbs....and if you set it for like 250 or 255 ft. lbs...sometimes the "slots" on the castle nut don't line up with the hole in the axle for the cotter pin. So I would say that (from time to time) I've slightly over or under torqued the castle nut to get the cotter pin to fit.
- Nick
1979 Super Beetle Convertible
Re: 73 Beetle out of storage
A side note: the specified torque is not primarily to keep the nut from loosening (the pin would do that), but is to adequately tension the rotating axle so the stresses are always in tension to avoid fatigue failure from reversing bending forces. You used to see Beetles and Buses on the side of the road without a wheel, from folks not understanding the importance of proper torque on a rotating axle.
Re: 73 Beetle out of storage
^^^THAT is real interesting Tom--never knew that--thought it was either to get it tight to stay on or line up or not bugger the threads.
Patty B.
'69 stock bug
'69 stock bug