Date:         Tue, 4 Jun 2002 22:20:00 +0000
Reply-To:     Mike Finkbiner <mike_l_f@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike Finkbiner <mike_l_f@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Weigh your Westy...
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Here's part of one of my posts from April 99.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I work at the University of Idaho, and the campus steam plant burns several
semi loads of wood chips a day, so we have nice combination scale and tipper
to dump the chips into the silo. I can drive onto it any time and find out
how heavy I am. The plant manager likes it, because it is +/- 20 pounds, so
he can weigh himself and round down 20 pounds <G>.

The vehicle is an '87 Westy. I weighed it yesterday after I got back from an
unsuccesful tour of Spokane and Coeur d'Alene wrecking yards (I need a front
rubber bumper strip). It was almost empty of fuel (I'm getting ready to
replace the fuel tank cross vent line, and might have to pull the tank), had
no people, water or camping supplies on board, just a few tools.

Total weight of van rounded up - 3740# Front axle - 1700# Rear axle - 1780#

Obviously the axle weight is low, perhaps because that was at the end of the
scale, not the middle. They were on the same distance, about half the
wheelbase, so I marked them both up by the percentage difference between
their sum and the total weight. Unfortunately, that makes these figures less
solid.

Adjusted Front Axle ~ 1825# Adjusted Rear Axle ~ 1915#

To figure full up weight, add 14 gallons gas ~ 85# 12 gallons water ~100# 4
people ~600#

Add camping gear ~500# Added ~1285#

Total ~5025#

If you assume that ~900# of the additional weight goes on the rear axle,
(not likely because ~300# of people are up front) that would bring the total
rear axle weight to about 2800 lbs.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

IIRC, when I finally did weigh the van pretty well loaded, with one person,
it came to ~ 4400 #




Mike Finkbiner
'87 Westy
Moscow, Idaho (and I don't have locking lug bolts either)
mike_l_f@hotmail.com

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