I am rebuilding a california sidecar, friendship II. I am not that familiar with this system, and am wondering how do you set up the suspension. I removed the mount for the wheel so the frame could be powder coated and am now wondering what is the best way to set up the suspension.
thanks
tmara77
The torsion strap suspension can be upgraded to coil over shock. If some straps are broken, I believe old VW leaf stock can be used.
The main things that need upgrading on the pre '89 CSC's is the marble sized balls and the extruded metal collet "Flowers". These have been known to fail. These need to be chucked and newer model heim joint connectors used.
Lonnie
VW torsion springs from the front of a bug can be used but most are a little wider than needed. A little grinding on the edge will work. Don't allow it to get too hot when grinding just do a little at a time.
I said 'most' because there is one model that will fit but i am not sure which one it is etc.
I have a Friendship II and serviced the suspension about 12 months ago when I first bought it. Lonnie and Claude are right, the torsion leaves are short sections from an early VW Beetle front end - in fact the whole thing is a poor copy of the VW front torsion arm arrangement.
When reassembling, you want to get the stack of leaves as tight as possible in each end plate - flat shim stock could be handy. Make sure the anchor bolts at each end are very tight as well and either stake or loctite them in accordance with your preference. Attention to these areas will remove a lot of the play out of the assembly - mine was pretty bad before I started.
If you want to replace the needle roller bearing, it is a BA2420Z G6 and you can get it from E.B Atmus for $6.13. The seal is a 343099 ($3.53, also from Atmus) dimensions 38.10-47.50-6.35.
This is probably real obvious, so sorry - you can adjust sidecar ride height (and bike lean-out, so careful!) by adjusting (rotating) the position of the trailing arm before you clamp it up on the torsion bar end housing. I used a centre punch and made a couple of small index marks (one on trailing arm clamp, one on housing) so I had a reference point to start from with any future adjustments or disassembly.
If you have any more specific questions, post them here and I'll see if I can answer them.
Stout
Good, comprehensive post Stout. The numbers always help.
Lonnie
I have a Friendship I and would like to redo the torsion bars. Are the Volkswagon parts available as new or do you have to go to a salvage yard to get them?
Dick
J.C. Whitney may have them. I've gotten shocks and a bunch of other stuff for the early Beetles.
Lonnie
I have a friendship 1 that I would like to replaceme the roller needle bearing I not sure how to remove it. I also have brass bushing that rides on the frame axle that i also need any help would be great.
thanks rick
