Date:         Fri, 17 Nov 2000 17:16:12 -0700
Reply-To:     John Klun <jklun@GJ.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Klun <jklun@GJ.NET>
Subject:      NOT a Fryeday Funnie
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Volks-

Yesterday, I decided to repair my odometer once and for all.  I thought
I did when I followed the directions some of you had  posted to the
list- one was by 'crimping' the end of the spindle on which the plastic
gear sits, the other to epoxy the gear to the end of the spindle.  The
only thing I succeeded in doing was turning my odometer back by a mile.
It didn't work.  While attempting to road test it I decide to take the
dogs for a little ride up a mountain and see the snow.

Anyway, the light truck M+S tires I have all around didn't work.  The
tread looked aggressive enough but it really sucked in the little bit of
snow on the road.  In fact, I was in 3rd gear at around 35-40 mph going
up the road.  Suddenly, my right rear wheel seemed to break free and I
found myself sliding almost backward up hill towards the opposite side
of the road.  I nearly came to a stop at a 90 deg. angle facing the
opposite side of the road but as soon as the front wheels cleared the
crest, the rest of the van decided to slide down the incline.  A 100
feet to the right and my journey would not have been stopped by some
scrub oak bushes. There are places on this road with no guardrails and
when you go over, it's long ride/slide down.  As it was, the incline was
about 60 deg. and the van was nose down.  The dogs didn't like that at
all.

Thanks to a friendly State of Colorado plow and sanding truck,  I was
back on the road again (much more carefully this time and headed for
home) after about an hour.  Lesson learned- don't drive TO a snow storm
(especially in CO); stay home where it's warm; don't p*off the vanagon
gods and put some more weight in the rear.  By the way- no damage was
done to the van, just a little scratch here and there, but the van needs
to be repainted anyway next spring.

This has been my first vanagon driving experience in the snow and I
didn't like it.  I used to have an Aerostar van and it was better in the
snow.  Maybe it was the tires...