First post here. New to 914's, but I have had a '74 Super Beetle for quite some time, so its the same but different . . . .

Got my new-to-me 1974 on Friday. One of the issues I knew about was that the car sits a little [too] low in the rear. I don't have plates yet, so I could only drive up and down my street a couple of times, but I don't hear any or feel anything funny from the rear and the ride is pretty nice.

Any ideas on where to start to level this or problems I should be looking at regarding the rear end sag?

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Thanks,
Bruce

Most likely you need new rear springs.

Matt

maybe lower the front torsion bars.

It is a gray area. Originally 914's were a little high in the front from the factory to meet headlight spec's. On the other side your rear springs are close to shot IF they have not been replaced.

As others have mentioned,
From the factory the fronts were adjusted high so the headlights would meet the minimum height requirements at the time, AND your rears are probably worn out.

But, you can adjust the front very easily. Under the car there is an adjustment screw on the base of the A Arm that sets ride height. Many will adjust it until the A-Arm is horizontal under the weight of the car. Be aware that you can over adjust and the car will come off the screw and the front wheel will fully collapse into the fender. Its obvious, but still something to be aware of.

Obviously any adjustment will require an aligment.

Zach

Two things:
As stated above, front looks high. Easily adjusted.
Rear looks low. Probably springs. Every 914 I’ve ever purchased had worn out springs. Easy to fix.

Another thing is check to to see if you have mismatched shocks. Hopefully you have 4 of the same type, all of them gas or hydraulic.

Is there a preferred brand or type of shock? VW guys could fight all day over gas vs. hydrualic.

Looks like I'm in for a day of maintenance - shocks all around and rear spings. Brakes are a little soft too, so while I'm in there . . . .

I'm going to order a copy of the Porsche service manual on CD. Is there a preferred workshop manual for these things?

Thanks for the quick help,
Bruce.

look under the rear and see if you have an adjustable spring plate first, you will see notches for setting the plate at different heights. This is on all koni and bilstein shocks which will be red or yellow.
If you have the standard gray boge shocks with affixed spring plate, the rear springs have sagged and need to be replaced with the stock set. This is typical for all 914s after years of age

Be careful about purchasing rear springs.

These had stupid soft rates and it's easy to put too much spring on them.

The normal replacements are the 100lb ones like this.

https://914rubber.com/100-lb-sport-rear-spr...google_shopping

Any higher spring rates than that and you can adversely affect handling unless you have a bunch of other suspension mods.

Welcome to the madness!
Factory manuals can be seen here:
http://p914-6info.net/Manuals.htm

I think most would agree that the Haynes manual is the basic one that everyone needs - at least as a baseline.

https://www.amazon.com/Porsche-Automotive-1...C167&sr=8-1

They can frequently found used on ebay and TheSamba.com

Also - this is THE place for 914 info but searching can be a bit wonky - I have good luck using this link and then entering your search criteria:
https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=0024083458981...772:ajvfxschcgc

And if you replace rear springs/shock look at Ground Control adjustable set.
You can ask for any spring rate you want based on your type of driving and then adjust the rear to match fronts. Works great, Best, Mark

One of the better setups around.

By the time I'm adding a fully adjustable rear spring set up I've changed to adjustable struts (Konis are my favorite), adjustable sway bars, performance bushings, etc...

Suspension mods are a slippery slope.

If you're planning on a serious set up anyway this is the way to go.

I've got two cars. One will be serious, one will not.

I found a set of the 100 lb springs on the classifieds here new for $50 plus shipping.

They will reside in the "stock" car just fine.

Even still, the stock car I changed up to 5 lug anyways so even my stock stuff isn't...

The car is in very good shape. It was either seriously loved and cared for or had a very good restoration done. I'm trying not to do any mods except for LED lights and and a stealth radio [retrosound - no dash cutting]. I'll probably replace the springs with fresh 100 pounders. Shocks/struts seem sound for now, but that's an easy enough switch.

I’m pretty sure I have a pair of new 100lb springs. $50 + ship. PM me if interested. Mark

Upon seeing the pics I'd say drop the front and get an alignment.
Get 'stance' for little cost

Thanks - I'm not looking to make a stance car. I have never been a fan of lowered or raised vehicles. They rarely look good to me.

I'm trying to figure out why the back end is so low - right now the concensus is worn out springs and possibly adjustable shocks adjusted too low.

Here is a pic showing the adjustment for the front suspension. Nice car

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The back does not look that low to me, it is the front that is so high

I'd take mepstein up on that offer!
I'd snake you out if I didn't already have a set...

One NICE thing about wimpy spring rates.

EASY to compress!

Cheapo compressors work great.

The rears on a 914 are what technicians consider "Gravy"...

Tip for reuse on old struts. Keep them in the same place and mark for direction.

Bottom mounting bolt will be an absolute bitch if reversed as they twist the lower rubber bushing with age.

A great book to have is George Hussey’s Tech Tips 700
You can get it from Amazon. A good book to own

Welcome to the world.

Best Bob B
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I have always liked a little rake with the front a little lower than the rear. I have used Bilsteins in the rear with their adjustable spring perches to achieve this rake. Too low limits travel and a lousy ride. While I like Koni’s, I have blown them out. I’ve had better luck with Bilsteins.

Charlie

thats completely stock and original factory set up.
the 4 seem to have been set nose up (in contrast to 6s).

there are a few different views on that.
USA bumper ht regs, headlight regs etc.

i favour the VW engineers wanted the 4 that way.
there are european market 914s set up the same as USA models - photos taken when new back in the 70s.
if you look at original type 3 and type 4 VWs they were set up the same.
two potential reasons. tuned for understeer to suit everyday drivers, and able to take a load in the frunk and level out rather than go nose down.

here is mine back in 89. a 74 L jet identical to yours.
when it was still on original boges with single fixed spring perch.
nose up as per yours.

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how it is now (2022).
boges replaced with bilsteins. has a number of perches for adjustment of rear spring position. bils do not match spring perch position exactly of original boges.
one perch is a little higher and one a little lower.
we went for the slightly higher. still running original springs.
after rear spring position was set we levelled the car out by adjusting the front torsion bar settings to bring the nose down.
it could be set up lower by choosing the next spring perch on the rear and bringing the nose down level with that. but i am happy with this set up.
suits the roads down here (which used to be good but are not so good anymore. )

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there is some truth to the sagging rear spring theory.
based on evidence of a problem back in the day.
but i believe this afflicted early cars.
yours is a 74. i believe the original factory springs will be fine.
certainly no problem with mine and the springs are 50 years old.
my car also has soft factory springs but luckily was built with factory installed sway bars.
this compensates for the spring softness.
excellent compromise between handling and comfort.

EDIT - PS
i looked at the documentation on that car you have when it was on BAT.
i think you got yourself a very very good car.
when you have time and if it is not too much trouble i'd love to get some details from you on the car that we can add to our L jet data files. that car looked to be very original.

What is the ride height, measured from the tops of the fender arches or from the flat part of the lower sills (not the seam), front and rear?

As for new rear springs, I like 100 lb. And for springs, Bilsteins (with adjustable rear perches).

you can download the original full factory service manuals here.

http://p914-6info.net/Manuals.htm

here are some period photos.
cars on the karmann stand at the paris auto show october 1973.
shows the stance the way VW wanted it set up?
one of them is fairly extreme.
springs didn't get a chance to sag over years, did it instantly! if indeed springs were the problem.



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Wow that is ridiculously bad. Both for appearance and for high speed front end lift.

Maybe that was a secret cooling aid; funnel in a ton of air under the front end.

could be they tied up f piech and locked him in the trunk for the duration of the opening so he did not insult anybody due to his Asperger syndrome.

or.........they retrieved a real gone hopelessly wrong car from the reject yard out the back of the factory to lay on the mod squad go fast stripes. it sure looks.........

Was watching a vintage German language video on 914/6 the other day, I had no idea what was being said but it was mostly just early 70s video production and advertisement video. It starts with a guy sitting in the car with the roof off waiting for his female companion to clime in - he starts ripping it up thru curves and thru traffic. My first impression was that the front of the car was too high at the nose.... and this was a /6 ! So who knows, but at least it's an easy remedy.

.

i think i have seen that clip.
its a 4 not a 6.
its nose up and on real skinny 155 tyres.
and..........he does cane it ---- pretty hard.
he looks real square for 1970 but in fact you realise he can drive.
i think he even gets the back out on it.

nose up slows down the spin the backside timing - specially on 155 beetle spec tyres.
lets you actually swing the backside out on a 914?