My Fug, of which I shall soon add some more pics, sits pretty high on the suspension. Concidering this, what is the best geometry for it, I'm assuming it won't be the same as a standard Beetle due to it's weight. Can anyone throw me some numbers please. The handling is pretty nasty, I'm not expecting an Elise, but it must be possible to get it better than I have.

Hi bob, you want to aim to run a touch of toe-in all round, about 15 to 30 minutes per rim, which is 1/4 to 1/2 of a degree, this will keep the fug stable at speed, otherwise it will wobble about, which is quite un-nerving…….aim to run about 1-2 degrees of negative camber on all wheels too……I think you will be stuck on the rear, as I think yours is IRS.

The absolue worst aspect of the old VW suspension system is actually the steering box and tie rod geometry……..its so crap, and its affected by the smallest of bumps, my fug is terrible under braking, I can see the wheels toe out as the nose gos down, hence I have been limiting front suspension travel to about 15mm with bump stops……..you want to aim to have the tie rods as horizontal and flat as possible when looking at the car from both above and the front…….I will be doing this on mine in the spring, with an extension to the steering arm, and by using a bump steer kit, which places the ball-joints on the underside of the upright steering arm on the wheel……it wont be perfect, but it will be so much better than it currently is

The above is making the best of a bad situation, if you want to go the whole hog, do what tiggar and Rutger have done, and fit yourself a snazzy steering rack……if I was building by fug from scratch this is what I'd do……but I just don’t have the time for such a major mod at the moment.

100bob
No reason why a fug can't beat an Elise B)

Agree with Knighty but would add the following...

Aim for about 5-8 deg of neg castor, you can buy shims that go behind the bottom of the front beam. The fug chassis never allowed for enough being primarily for off road the front end was never designed with standard hieght or lowered in mind. 911's have 8 deg, and Porsche know a thing or two about handling. The castor will do two things; it will help striaght line stability and will also make the turn in a lot sharper, you are probably scrubbing out your front tyres at the mo as they fight to grip, this will cure that.
The bump steer has always been a problem, the only true way around it is to put the steering box in the middle and have UJ's across from your steering column. This gives v.long tie rods which are least effected by the suspension movement. If this isn't possible then an idea I used on a Beetle once was twin steering boxes, take one steering box and take the shaft out, bolt it to the beam but other side as if it was LHD, attach an tie rod between the two boxes and then out to the wheel with two short ones, giving the short one out to the wheel at either end....if you see wot I mean. Use in conjunction with bump steer kit, and Knighty's toe in measurements. Fine tune with a spirit level on tie rods and slightly rotate steering box/idle box to suit.

As for the rear, you can have up to 2 deg (neg) a wheel with IRS, simply loosen the bolts and let the car settle back on the floor, re-tighten making sure the toe in marks still line up. That's all I did....

B)

Thanks for that, it goes without saying that you're going to be right, so I shall give it a go soon as I can. Mostly it all worked ok first driving it on the road, I have as yet only driven it to and from MOT station, approx 5 miles total. It passed on all the things needed for the MOT but as you well know things don't have to be set up right for it to pass. What I'm trying to say is it can have a strict MOT but still drive nasty. Steering was most noticable, it's not just because it's different, it's because it's wrong. Hope it all works, which I'm sure it must or no-one would run type 1 front axles I guess.

100bob,

Fundamentally there is nothing wrong with the type 1 front beam, anymore as there is with a swing axle rear. If you are off roading there is nothing better, the top boys are still using the design. On road people opt for wishbones only because it is more tunable. The swinging arm lets itself down on moving thru a pivot, meaning it up sets the toe quite badly when the suspension works...but once you know that you can work around it.... :rolleyes:

If its any concellation when I first drove mine I was so deeply deeply disapointed you would not believe it... :ph43r: taken a lot of fiddling since to do it, but boy was it worth it, has it made it sharper than a lotus? You bet B)

When you built something like this you have firstly many unknown varibles, which you need to iron out. You haven't got the backing of someone like VW or Ford to develop it, that's down to you and what you want from your Fug. But secondily, and more importantly driving a fug is nothing like driving a modern car, start again, there is no comparison......but that's why you built it, right ? :D :D

Should have replied to this earlier, done exactly what Tigger and Knighty said and it transformed it. Still amazed the front is so light and I don't get understeer! That said I've not really tried it on a wet road, and hopefully won't, especially with no body or screen :blink: