When I first got the '74 Thing it was sagging in the rear which is nothing unusual in the VW world. So one day, with shop manual in hand, I went about resetting the rear torsion bars. Using my handy magnetic protractor I set them to the listed angle and put everything back together. Not long after that I started to hear a new noise from the rear of the Thing. Click. What was that? Click... Click... Click... and so on. It soon became apparent that I needed to do something about the CV joints. Well since I had the '73 I cheaped out and robbed Peter to pay Paul. Swapping the axels from the '73 to the '74 and voila! The noise was gone... for the moment. Click... Click... Okay now what? Well since I was planning even more lift in the future the obvious choice was to upgrade to 930 CVs. So how does one go about doing this you ask? Well for starters you need to assemble the parts to do the job. Based on past experience I chose to get a kit from Weddle Engineering. Now this kit was not complete but the only items left to gather up were new seals for the transmission output flanges and a couple of axel seal kits. To do it right you should really replace the rear axel bearings too but I am planning on new rear trailing arms in the future as part of adding more lift so I left the bearings be except that I cleaned and regreased them. Below are some of the pictures I took along the way and yes there are a few missing as not all of them come out crisp and clear. I will of course fill in the blanks as I get into the rear end again.
So how do I like the conversion? I love it! The noise is gone and the car is one step closer to where I want it to be. Was it worth it? If you want to add a little lift to the rear then definitely yes. Otherwise save your money and get 181 part # CV joints. BTW, the '73 is still missing it's axels;)
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| This is one half of the conversion kit. | Start by removing the axle nut. | Remove the old axle assembly. |
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| In order to remove the drive flange you have to remove this seal. | Start by stabbing a screw driver into the middle of it... | ...and levering it out. |
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| Remove this snap ring. | Pull the drive flange off. | Install the 930 CV drive flange and secure with snap ring. |
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| Next up is the stub axle. | Push the stub axle out. | Tape over the axle splines before sliding on the CV joint boots. |
If you would like to get a conversion kit contact Weddle Engineering.
©1997-2003, Thomas M. Ainlay
