I've never done it on a bus, but I've done it on a Beetle a couple of times.  All I used was a floor jack to slowly raise and lower the spring plate and a heavy rubber "dead blow" hammer to tap the spring plate off the stop and then back on it.  While I was replacing the bushings, I also "re-indexed" the torsion bars on my wife's 75 convertible to get the sag out of its rear end.  I didn't use a protractor . . . just a little trial and error.  It took about 3 or 4 attempts on each side to get it just where I wanted it.

That reminds me . . . I forgot to add a disclaimer.  This technique may only work correctly in "The Triangle."  If you don't know what I'm talking 'bout, ask the Godfather (a.k.a. RetBugtech) to explain.

If you use the prybar, jack and hammer method, you definitly need to respect the stored energy in the torsion rod.  Make sure the vehicle is secure on GOOD, heavy duty jack stands, operate the jack slowly, and always have every part of your body well out of the line of fire "just in case."  
 

Scott, I want to say something soooooo bad, but I shall go easy on you this time.  You know, they say if it doesn't work out the first time, get a bigger hammer.  I think my problem is that I always get a bigger retarded and forget where I placed the hammer.  That's actually not true.  Retarded implies a legitimate disability.  I think we may just be guilty of the "stupid factor".....Hee Hee Hee.....Ooh, look, something shiny!

Hey SC . . . Yep, stupers have the rubber bushings and see'n's how it's been bouncing around on them since the early 70's, Stupie's rubber bushing thingies are probably worn . . . but unless you hear metal stuff clanging around in the rear suspension every time you hit a bump, or have some specific reason to tear into them, you're probably best off just leaving them alone for now.   :wink:

Rick, Don't spare Scott bad words . He 's a grown man and is lucky not to be in a cast. Trust me on that.
   Zen has the right idea carefully using a floor jack, but sometimes when you use a jack ,it will start moving the whole body up before you get to the spot where you can "bang" the plate back on . You can get hurt here also. I have a very easy trick to make this painless ( pun  intended) and no its not a homemade turn buckle. If you just have to "bang" the plate on or off ,work over the top.
    I can show you several tricks to use if you need to set the bars and don't have the proper tools.
    Another thing NOT to do: If the bar slides all the way out, don't go banging on it or scratch the red coating when you find out it makes a wonderful , beautiful bell unless you have a death wish. THEY CAN EXPLODE into 100 zillon metal fragments if you get the right harmonic going. I saw this demostrated in a flim clip at VW school. A rare thing but it can happen.
   I really think we need to talk about this before someone gets hurt. Sometimes you guys scare me to death.
   If you want to set the bars on a van or Westy you need to find the proper tools to be safe or install air shocks with independent air valves.
  Did Allen say he had the plate vice ?  His punctuation and spelling is almost as bad as mine. :lol:

If you want to set the bars on a van or Westy you need to find the proper tools to be safe or install air shocks with independent air valves.

I guess I looked at his screen name instead of his post  :tard:  . . . Westfalia7's original question was about replacing the bushing on a 73 Thing.

Allen has (or "had") a turnbuckle to raise and lower the spring plate.  We used it to collaps the suspension on the shower bus when we set it up at BP8 . . . Allen, if you didn't get it back, it's probably in the front of the shower bus.

Welcome home,now go work on something. I saw a few nice vintage garage signs at Lockharts that some old guy had wrote and stuck to the wall. A few customers took some of them. Pretty funny stuff.