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On 4 Oct 98, at 21:40, Ginger D.&Peter P. wrote: > My materials engineering is a bit hazy now, but I believe the > torsion bar would become stiffer if it sagged. Like a paper clip that > is bent too many times gets brittle and then breaks. I'm wondering if > this stiffness would be noticable or not. Permanent deformation changes the point where mor permanent deformation will occur, but does not change the "stiffness" (Young's modulus.) > I guess the main issue is if a sagging bar is about to break. I > don't believe so. A simple bump in the road is bending the bar > elasticaly (not permanently). The sagging bar is in effect the first > permanent bend, and it took 25+ years to happen. What would really make > that thing break would be a nick, scratch or rust on the surface. That > would be the stress riser to begin propagating a crack. If the sagging happened all of a sudden, then it is probably the sign of a bar that is partially cracked through. This will eventually break and will break sooner if reset, because it will then have more range to be stressed through. I have a VERY good pair of used Squareback swing axle bars if someone needs them. I have had bad experience with some of the aftermarket bars. I replaced the rears in a 914 3 times and they just kept breaking. I don't remember the brand (Sway-A-Way??), but they replaced them under warrantee, still the labor was much worse than the part cost. One thing that the OE bars have over the aftermarket ones is that they have been prestressed (twisted) so that they are different on L and R. If you mix them up, they will break quickly. They are marked on the ends, so install them correctly. This goes for front bars as well. All this is covered well in the Bentley manual. Jim - ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------- Too much? Digest! mailto:type3-d-request@vwtype3.org Subj=subscribe