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Date:         Sat, 3 Aug 2002 12:22:16 -0400
Reply-To:     72510.1173@COMPUSERVE.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Helen Fahy <72510.1173@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject:      Re: lugs and studs for alloy  LONG- Project & quasi TRIP REPORT
Comments: To: Harmon Seaver <hseaver@CYBERSHAMANIX.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> So what did you do for the lugbolts in the front, which screw in to the hub?

Good question! The short answer is speak to Derek Drew as he sourced longer lugbolts for the wheels he sells. Note that these wheels, CV-900s, require using lugbolts and lugnuts with a cone type seat as opposed to a ball type seat that came with my stock steel VW wheels.

What started this project was a desire to get better front brakes. The SA big brake kit using 10.8in ventilated rotors was the only ~bolt on that I could find. These brakes required at least 15" wheels. After reviewing all the wheels and their pluses and minuses- BIG THANKS to DEREK DREW for summarizing these-, I came to the conclusion that the 16" wheels that he advocated, and sells, were they way to go for me.

So I purchased: the big brake kit, 5 CV-900s(with longer lugbolts and cone type seats) and 5 Michelin X-One 215/65/16s .

The brakes kit comes with a hub using studs instead of lugbolts and a separate brake rotor. I have been told that this arrangement is like a syncro, but I have not verified that. The studs that came with the brake upgrade hub were long enough(~42mm I think) to work with the CV-900s.

The 215/65/16s have a 96LI so they handle 1565 lbs @ 35 psi and they rotate at 782 revs per mile @ 45 mph. My vanagon speedometer face has an "805" printed on it. This means that the internal gearing of the speedometer is calibrated for a tire that rotates 805 times per mile at 45 mph. So the above X-Ones are going to affect the speedometer reading and the ultimate vehicle gearing. On my Vanagon with automatic & 2.1l, level road, no noticeable winds, AC on,4200 rpm indicates ~68 mph and from pacing my wife's New Beetle 2 seconds back, her speedometer indicated ~75 mph. Similarly 4000 rpm was ~68-70 mph.

The new 16"setup(hubs/rotors/calipers/wheel/tires) weigh about 12 pounds more per wheel than the stock 14" steel wheel setup.

What these two details(805 revs/mile and +12#/wheel) mean is that it does take significantly longer to get up to speed. It also means that to hold speed on the Pennsylvania quasi-mountains, I need to maintain a minimum of 4000 rpm~68-70 mph. If the revs drop below 4k and the hill is long and the AC is on, they continue to drop and around 3k I end up shifting to 2nd to get back up around 4K.

We just came back from EAA Airventure air show at Oshkosh WI with all this stuff installed. The round trip was just over 1600 miles. The results: brakes are fantastic(I also replaced rear drums,shoes, and wheel cylinders), mileage sucks(my wife's NB TDI gets 50+mpg!), van accelerates slower than before(sigh) and the headlights are finally up to modern standards- I upgraded to the SA headlight setup for this trip(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Bottom line NO PROBLEMS!!

Next set of upgrades:

Short Term- oil cooler .

On the trip, at 4000 rpm, 75 degF outdoor air temp, AC running, full camping load(no potable water or grey water); the oil pressure/temp was ~40 psi/215-220 degF. This pressure is great, 10 psi/1000 revs. The oil temp is measured with a VDO sensor replacement for the case drain plug. So this is not the coolest, that would be after the oil cooler, but it is probably not the warmest either. When the outdoor air temp went up over 90 degF, the numbers were ~35 psi/~240 degF. The water temp gauge went from a needle below the red led to a half needle above the red led for the same conditions. This indicates to me that the cooling capacity of the oil/water heat exchanger capacity has been exceeded. Bus-Boys lists a oil/air exchanger that I am going to look at. I use Synthetic Rotella 15/40 oil in all my vehicles ~$12/gallon at Wal-Mart.

Others may know that I use the VW filter for the Diesel vanagon on my 2.1l wasserboxer and use exactly 4qts + 10oz of oil, prefilling the filter from this quantity. The diesel filter holds 10oz more oil than the stock 2.1l oil filter. These steps minimized oil frothing in the case and corresponds to a dipstick level of just under halfway between the high/low marks on my dipstick. Filling the case to the high mark resulted in ~30 psi>250 degF oil conditions at outdoor air temps in the 70s at 4000 rpm. The pressure and temp would not return to normal levels without turning off the car and allowing the oil to deareate or reducing the oil quantity.

Long Term- new engine.

I would really like a TDI!

Big Thanks to: Doug Stewart @ European Imports Lockhaven,PA(mounted/balanced tires/wheels & 7" headlight fittings), Derek Drew(wheels), Tirerack(tires), Bus Depot(rear brake components), Vanagain(headlights) and Bugs and Buggies(studs).

Helen & Joe Fahy '87 Westy

----- Original Message ----- From: "Harmon Seaver" <hseaver@CYBERSHAMANIX.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Saturday, August 03, 2002 9:01 AM Subject: Re: lugs and studs for alloy

> > So what did you do for the lugbolts in the front, which screw in to the hub? > > > On Sat, Aug 03, 2002 at 09:48:13AM -0400, Helen Fahy wrote: > > The website does say: "Installation requires a hole drilled and reamed to > > .562 diameter. " This is meant to describe what is required for the stud to > > fit into a previously undrilled hub, as you might have if you were building > > a custom sand rail. These studs are VW wheel studs manufactured by > > Sway-Away. > > > > There was no additional drilling or reaming necessary to install these studs > > into a vanagon hub. They pressed into the hub with the correct interference > > fit of 0.3-0.4mm(~0.012-0.016in). > > > > I used the 52mm long studs which are $3.00ea, the postage was more than the > > studs as I wanted them fast. > > > > Helen & Joe Fahy > > '87 Westy > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: <BenTbtstr8@aol.com> > > To: <72510.1173@compuserve.com>; <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> > > Sent: Saturday, August 03, 2002 5:32 AM > > Subject: Re: lugs and studs for alloy > > > > > > > > > > In a message dated 8/2/02 5:44:16 PM Pacific Daylight Time, > > > 72510.1173@COMPUSERVE.COM writes: > > > > > > << Here is where I picked mine up: > > > > > > > > http://www.bugsandbuggies.com/Parts.asp?CN=914&SN=102&GN=13&Subgroup=Wheel+A > > > dapters%2C+Mounting+and+Covers&RefPage=Sway-A-Way > > > > > > They were real good about shipping them out fast. >> > > > > > > Helen & Joe, et al. > > > > > > The one objection I have to these units is you have to ream (make the > > bigger) > > > the holes in your hub to fit them per the instructions on the webpage you > > > noted above. There are aftermarket and factory studs available which do > > not > > > require you to alter your hubs. Not to mention cheaper than these guys. > > You > > > can also get Porsche studs which work w/o modifications but much pricier. > > > > > > At any rate, if anyone desperately needs longer rear studs, I can offer > > some > > > assistance as long as the number of requesters do not get overwhelming as > > > they did in the past. > > > > > > BenT > > > > > > --- > > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > > Version: 6.0.362 / Virus Database: 199 - Release Date: 5/7/02 > > -- > Harmon Seaver > CyberShamanix > http://www.cybershamanix.com

--- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.362 / Virus Database: 199 - Release Date: 5/7/02


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