Date:         Tue, 30 Oct 2001 17:36:42 -0800
Reply-To:     Joel Cort <joel_cort@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Cort <joel_cort@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: How does a Westy Camper Handle in the Snow?
In-Reply-To:  <MBBBLCBMBJACGAAFMONKIENLCBAA.mayfly95@paonline.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Rich,

I use to have an 84 Wolfburg Westy... It was beautiful two tone
brown, I loved it.  But that was then.  I lived in the mountains of
Utah,in the Wasatch range in the town of Price.  I got over the
mountains and to Salt Lake just fine.

One day I though I could go skiing and attempted to drive the van up
to Little Cottonwood canyon to do some shushing.  At the time I had
the cheezy stock Continentals.  I spun out and got stuck so well down
this unplowed road that it took all the 8 buddies to push it back
out.

So ... with stock tires, I would stay away from snow. Get snow tires
on it.

My old 71 Westy would not have gotten stuck where this Vanagon got
stuck so I would say the older Type 2 had better traction and weight
ratios.

Last year I purchased Nokkia Hakkaapalita 185R14 C reinforced for my
89 Syncro Westy. These can be studded if you wish, but they are fine
to drive around most of the year.  They worked fine on snow and slush
but even a Syncro can spin out on ice.  I had a close call on a patch
of black ice with these tires and doing about 10 mph.  I tapped on
the brakes and the van did a 180 facing on coming traffic.

Ok  those are my stories.

Cheers,

Joel
89 Syncro Westy MV
Rochester NY.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On
> Behalf
> Of Richard Huey
> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 8:56 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: How does a Westy Camper Handle in the Snow?
>
>
> I recently purchased an '85 full camper.  If I put on good snow
> tires, what
> are my chances of using this vehicle as a base for skiing and
> snowshoeing?
>
> Will it handle OK, or should I stay out of the mountains until
spring?


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