re: sway bar and axel swapping

["Ryan Schuermann"<rts@nol.net>]

I swapped my 81s rear axel with my 87 16v rear axel. It was
a big pain in the ass but it was the easiest way to move
my rear coilovers off my 87 and onto my 81 (trust me).

anyways the 81 had the pre drilled holes for the 2 inner
sway bar mounts. The 16v sway bar will bolt right up to
the 81 axel.

However...after putting the 81 axel on the 87, and bolting
the hubs for the rear discs, the round trailing pipe sticks
out a bit farther and you cant bolt the bottom of the caliper
so you have to grind a notch in the outer side of that pipe in
order for that bolt to screw down. the round pipe seemed to
stick out from its welding point to the hub mount 2mm more
than the 87.

I had no problems with putting the 87 axel on the 81 which also
has read 16v disc brakes but im sure drums would have been no
different.

brake lines ended up being a bitch too since i didnt save them
from my 87 16v that i stripped the disc setup off of, so i
took the ss brake line (last piece) off the 87 16v and put it
on my 81 setup, then took the 87 brake line, bent it along that
trailing pipe, around back to the inside, down and made a tight
upturn right into the caliper. I mean i didn't end up with even
1 mm of extra length, makes me wonder why vw didnt stick with
a solid brake line from axel all the way to the caliper, instead
opting for that short piece of hose.

Ryan
..and yes all my brakes work just fine.

-------------quote-------------------
Another data point:  Drilling through the rear axle beam is a JOB.  BTDT 
with my 78 for GMP OEM work alikes.  Need good drill bit and I used lotsa 
oil.  I don't know for sure, but the 16V rear beam -may- be different in 
good way (beefier?) than earlier.  If your planning on doing anything 
with your fuel tank or flexible brake lines, you may consider swapping 
axles after you swap stub axles.

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