On Fri, 10 May 1996, William A. McKinley wrote:
 
> The springplates are under load from the torsion bars when they rest on 
> their stops. I unloaded mine thusly:
> 
> 1. Loosen the lugnuts on the rear wheels.
> 
> 2. Put the rear of the van on jackstands.
> 
> 3. Remove necessary items off the springplate (see Bently).
> 
> 4. Using a floor jack, jack the springplate up just off the stop.
> 
> 5. Pull or pry the springplate out over the stop (be sure to keep all body parts
> out from below the springplate).
> 
> 6. Slowly lower the floorjack. 
> 
> 7. To replace the springplate, reverse the proceedure.
> 

I had to do this last weekend. My local VW guru loaned me a turnbuckle 
and some chain to lift the spring plate off the stop (Step 4) and then 
lower if after prying it over the stop (Step 5). The eye of the 
turnbuckle was bolted to the upper shock mount and the chain was hooked 
over the hook of the turnbuckle. The other end of the chain was attached 
to the springplate with a D shackle. 

I suppose my guru developed this method because he works with vehicles 
on a hoist (a luxury most of use don't have) and the turnbuckle/chain 
set up has a little more control, ie the springplate won't slip off 
the jack.

The thing that he had to tell me about, because it's not clearly explained 
in Bently, was that the springplate is flexible enough to bend out over 
the stop while still being held by the torsion bar. Just keep bending it 
(I used a small jemmy bar) until you get it out over the stop and then 
lower it down (as in Step 6).

Ian Hallett
Orange NSW Australia 2800

email: halleti@agric.nsw.gov.au