Rear suspension on a Thing

[MySUVW]

How does the Thing get it's extra 2 1/2 inch lift in the rear suspension? I already know how the Thing gets its lift up front, (longer trailing arms) but there is some confusion on my part on what VW did to bring the rear end up to level with the front end. What did VW modify on the Thing rear end that is different that your 1969 and up VW Bug? I always thought that the Thing pan and Bug pan were the same except for the the Thing has wider pan halves simular to the Gia. I also have noticed that the Thing pan has some more reinforcements welded on it like on the bottom of the torsion bar housing and the angle brackets for the front beam but that is all of the differences I am aware of.
I have aquired a 1974 VW thing pan with the front beam and the rear trailing arms. The Thing body was completly rotted out plus it was hit in the front. The pan is still good, but the pan halves are rusted also. I am thinking of removing the rusted out Pan halves and installing Bug pan halves and then dropping a Bug body on the pan, is this possible? Thanks - Roy

[Kubelmann]

No your idea will not work. The Thing floor pan is wider than the Bug. It shares the pan shape with the Ghia. I am half way through wiht a pan replacement on one of my Things and the shapes are far to different to be interchangable.

[hotrodsurplus]

By replacing the pan halves with Beetle parts, yes this is possible. Is it desirable is the big question. You'd likely have to surrender the Thing and the Beetle title to the DMV and have those friendly and speedy folks there issue you a new VIN to reflect this new breed of car. Otherwise you might catch heat from Officer Friendly if he notices that your Beetle looks Thing-like.

If you have a BJ/IRS car, it may be easier in the long run to swap all of the Thing parts to it. It would sure be easier from a legal aspect.

I'm doing just that on my wife's Baja. There's something that may require a modification, though.

I think that VW may have rotated the rear torsion housing ends downward as part of the means to lift the rearend. To get my wife's Thing-armed-and-axled Beetle to sit the same height as my stock-height Thing, I think i may have to notch the spring plates on the Beetle. This is undetermined, though, since my Thing is 1,200 miles away.

[MNAirHead]

I just parted down a thing chassis...

The rear torsion is the same as a bug.. the parts are welded together different.

T.

[Kubelmann]

What part of the rear torsion are we talking about? There are some common but others not. I have taken apart more than a few undisturbed Things. I also have a few factory original Thing parts.

[MNAirHead]

Kubel..

I'm in no way an engineer..

Basically seemed as if the frame horns, torsion housing and center tunnel were jigged and spot welded at a different angle than a bug.

We just redid a customer project converting a standard to an acapulco.. seemed as if the 181 chassis has a bit more hand work and fab going into it.

Would be nice to know if this is an optical illusion...

[Marc]

How does the Thing get it's extra 2 1/2 inch lift in the rear suspension? I already know how the Thing gets its lift up front, (longer trailing arms)...

No, it's done with different spindles. All four ball joints point down (like a bus) too...but the control arms aren't any longer than Bug. The shock absorber studs are longer.

[hotrodsurplus]

What part of the rear torsion are we talking about? There are some common but others not

Good point. For the record, I'm specifically referencing IRS cars. I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with the reduction cars. To be more specific, I'm specifically referencing the parts of the end castings that limit downward suspension travel (droop). To be more redundant and to repeat myself once again, I'm specifically specifying the specific parts of that specified assembly.

I'd like to hear about this from someone with more experience than me (which shouldn't be that hard), but I'm thinking that there's a slight difference on the Thing torsion end castings. Maybe I'm totally wrong here, but I believe that they're oriented in such a way that lets the spring plate "droop" enough to make the car sit higher. For example, to get a conventional IRS beetle to sit at the same rear height as a Thing, I believe that the spring plates end up being very close to the lower spring plate stops. I think you can approximate the same height on an IRS bug, but at the expense of suspension droop (the trailing arms won't extend any further if you lift the rear of the car off the ground). The typical remedy requires notching the lower edge of the spring plates. Then again, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the notching is a result of getting greedy with height and all cars need it once they've been lifted.

I should clarify at this point that I don't believe that the entire end castings are just rotated rearward. Doing that would muck up the relationship between the body and the end casting, which is the same as it is in a Beetle. Tim, what was different about the Thing rear torsion housing?

...the frame horns, torsion housing and center tunnel were jigged and spot welded at a different angle than a bug.

Another good point; however, if the frame horns were at a different angle, the engine/trans would also sit at that angle. A different position could be possible, but I don't recall that a Thing's torsion housing is any lower in relation to the rest of the pan. Again, I'm at a loss here 'cause mine is 1,200 miles away.

seemed as if the 181 chassis has a bit more hand work and fab going into it

That's certainly the case. There's a HUGE gusset under the torsion housing that spans the space between the frame horns and the end castings. That's a good idea on any torsion-equipped baja for sure.

Sh!t. I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[hotrodsurplus]

Okay, just to prove that I'm not totally off my rocker and talking about cars that I don't have, here's a pic of my Thing. Yes it's a dumb way to introduce myself and a poor photo of the car, but it'll have to do for now. I sorta figgered that I'd put off a formal intro until I'm done wrenching on this kooky Baja car for my wife, but for now this is the least I can do.

Oh yeah, my name is Chris. I bought the car in 1986 for $200 because everybody else thought these cars were dumb. I guess it's a way of saying that I've been a dork for at least 21 years. I bought the car so I could fix it up, sell it off, and use the proceeds to buy a split bus. IRONY: I fell in love with the car and have never owned a split bus (for more than a few days at least...).

Out of all of my cars, this one's my favorite. It's also my first. I'm proud of it and proud of myself for keeping it. And don't hate me for the shiny paint and white wheels; I did all of this in the '80s when I was even dumber than I am now.

[Towel Rail]

IMO, you have nothing to apologize for. That's a sharp Thing.

[Kubelmann]

That is one beautiful Thing . Nice work!!!! I hope the one I am working on now comes out half as nice as yours.

[DannyK]

Out of all of my cars, this one's my favorite. It's also my first. I'm proud of it and proud of myself for keeping it. And don't hate me for the shiny paint and white wheels; I did all of this in the '80s when I was even dumber than I am now.

That's a beautiful Thing ! It looks like mine !

[Lotrat]

I have aquired a 1974 VW thing pan with the front beam and the rear trailing arms. The Thing body was completly rotted out plus it was hit in the front. The pan is still good, but the pan halves are rusted also. I am thinking of removing the rusted out Pan halves and installing Bug pan halves and then dropping a Bug body on the pan, is this possible? Thanks - Roy

Check out this video. Start at 3:50. Looks like it's possible... these guys did it.

[Kubelmann]

Great video. Shows something that I have considered. From the video I can see the alignment points/ The roller I have has nice pans so it will not work for this idea. Too bad for me because I have a very nice 73 standard bug donor body.