Thanks for the info and pointer to the spring perches Craig.

I pulled a pair of arms off the '85 I parted out. They look good, but
I'll have to measure to see if they'd fit. For sure it's a job I knew
needed to be done, hence me pulling them.

The good news is that i don't *think* I heard any noises from the '85
wheel bearings when I test drove it and the backing plates look good.
If the arms fit, I can swap the whole she-bang in, then change out the
new brake parts and CV's from my Westy.

"It's just that easy" (Yah right Shell Busey! --- :^)

Cheers,

Neil.

On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 9:09 PM, craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com> wrote:
> Be sure to check the top of the trailing arms, where the springs contact....
> These rust out pretty quickly, so if you have holes like that there, i'd be
> curious to know what you could find with a screwdriver and hammer under the
> spring perch.
> If it's good there, and this hole is you're only problem,
> FIX IT! You have a welder, you can access some scrap metal i'm sure.....Just
> do it.
> If not, take it to a welder, pay him $50 (That's how much it was to have 2
> spring perches done on my mini van, about the same problem), and just don't
> worry about it for a while. In the meantime, source a good set of trailing
> arms, and use this as an eventual excuse to do your rear wheel bearings (And
> everything else that has to come off to get these arms off).
>
> -Craig
> '85Westy (kindof)
>
> On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 11:52 PM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> At 07:59 PM 9/4/2008 -0700, neil N wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all.
>>>
>>> *sigh*
>>>
>>
>> Neil!  What a bummer!
>>
>> But hey -- poke around it vigorously until you can see how much sound
>> metal is there, before you panic.  You've been driving on those
>> holes, only difference is that some chunks of rust fell out that were
>> keeping you from seeing the holes.  Maybe a big chunk of steel could
>> be welded to the outside to bolster it temporarily?
>>
>> Good luck.
>>
>>
>> --
>> David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
>> '84 Westy "Dutiful Passage," '85 GL "Poor Relation"
>>
>

--
Neil Nicholson '81 JettaWesty "Jaco
http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/