[TR04gli]

Okay -- So here it is. I did a search and didn't turn up anything. Bently wasn't that helpful.....
Directly below the dash of a cabby is ( -- was in my case -- ) this metal knee bar that runs from side to side of the car. I'm fairly certain it is important to the structure of the car ( I think I read someplace that it keeps the car from sagging in the middle...).
OTOH, I have an upper strut bar (pic below) so my question is --
Since I have an upper strut bar, do I need to put that KneeBar / Shelf back in, or can I leave it out. I dont particularly like the look of it, but I dont want my car breaking.

One last note.... When I bought the car the shelf was NOT installed, and the windshield had a hairline crack about 50% the width of the glass. It started about 25% in from the left side, and stopped about 25% from the right side. I then put the car on a U-Haul Tow Dolly (the 2 front wheel type) and towed it 300 miles. By the time I got home that crack had grown from just side to side. It reached both the top and the bottom of the windshield (in several places) and almost the sides. Was this because of the lack of the knee bar or just because the windshield was crap?
THANKS!!!! (and sorry for the long post)

 

[The Nothing]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (Xanthazar)

yes. the cabby knee bar is structurally important. I wouldn't take it out without having something else there...

 

[Lunitixx]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (Xanthazar)

yeah it's important. That thin metal bar is a strong part of the cabby's structure once the top is cut off. Here is a pic that shows all of the enforcment the cabby got from Karman.

Thanks to Wolgang the talking VW site for the pic.

 

[evpusher]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (Xanthazar)

Oh Yeah! I remember that reinforcement at the back ¼ panel from when I cut up the rear clip of a cabby to build my trailer. Basically, they weld *another* skin over the stock Rabbit interior sheet metal to stiffen it up. It was a b!tch cutting it all to shreds with a saws-all.
Your cracked windshield-on-the-car-trailer problem may have been from additional stresses induced in the car's body from being shocked when the trailer bounced up-and-down and the chains securing it to the bed of the trailer went slack and then snapped taut. It's always better to use wheel straps to secure a car on a trailer. When I trailered mine back from Eastern Oregon last summer, I put blocking under the car before I set the binders on the chains. This made the Rabbit part of the trailer in effect, and I had no damage from the trip over two mountain passes (other than to my wallet, I've never seen a gas guage actually visibly move toward "empty" before!).

 

[VW Maverick]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (Xanthazar)

My 85 Cabby, which was the first year with the name, did not come with a knee bar. I have an upper and lower stress bar, which does tighten up the car, especially without a roof, and I have not have any problems with undue stresses or cracked/leaking windshields. Maybe they added it later for more support. That's just a guess though.

 

[Lunitixx]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (VW Maverick)

They didn't add it later. My brothers old 81 had one.

 

[stevelangford]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (VW Maverick)

maverick:
maybe it had the knee bar when new, look on the sides underneat the dashboard, sii if the bolt studs are there, if they are then maybe some one removed it before you bought it.
on the main post question: yes it is important and if you dont like the looks of it you can make a powder coated cool looking bar to replace it, or maybe a cool looking aluminum extruded bar with carbon fiber inserts or something that cool.
remember that if you open the doors on your convertible and look at it from the side, the only thing keeping the car from colapsing is the floor/rails structures, and they need all the help they can get from other structural supports, brackets and additional reinforcement items to keep the car from twisting and breaking things.
Steve

 

[TR04gli]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (stevelangford)

To Maverick / stevelangford:
Yes, mine has the bolt studs, they have the nuts still on them... the knee bar was laying across the back seat when I got the car (along with the bumpers), now it's sitting on the floor of my garage... it looks kinda ugly, but sounds like it's important.... guess it goes back in today

Thanks for all the help though

Additionally maverick, I'm fairly certain I only have the upper stress bar (the lower one would be the on that is seen on a rocco, right? on the newer cabby's perhaps they removed the knee bar and put on a lower stress bar ??? (of course I have no idea what i'm talking about, so I could just be babbling) ....
Thanks aga for all your help everyone

 

[stevelangford]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (Xanthazar)

quote:[HR][/HR]To Maverick / stevelangford:
Yes, mine has the bolt studs, they have the nuts still on them... the knee bar was laying across the back seat when I got the car (along with the bumpers), now it's sitting on the floor of my garage... it looks kinda ugly, but sounds like it's important.... guess it goes back in today

Thanks for all the help though

Additionally maverick, I'm fairly certain I only have the upper stress bar (the lower one would be the on that is seen on a rocco, right? on the newer cabby's perhaps they removed the knee bar and put on a lower stress bar ??? (of course I have no idea what i'm talking about, so I could just be babbling) ....
Thanks aga for all your help everyone

[HR][/HR]​

I don't think a lower stress bar (the one that ties between the 2 front mounting bolt of the a-frame) is a substitute for the knee bar, maybe the upper will help on that spot.

 

[TurboCabby]

Re: Cabby KneeBar / Shelf - Is it Important? (stevelangford)

quote:[HR][/HR]I don't think a lower stress bar (the one that ties between the 2 front mounting bolt of the a-frame) is a substitute for the knee bar, maybe the upper will help on that spot.[HR][/HR]​

Well, actually those 2 bars will only increase the need for that kneebar bracing, by transferring more stress (that would normally have been absorbed by tower flex, etc) through the rest of the chasis.
Also, the lower suspension bar is way more inportant than the upper one. And in these cars anything that can be done to stiffen things up should be done.
Peace,
Kevin M
92 cabby WE turbo