Date:         Fri, 13 Sep 2002 22:54:41 +1200
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject:      Re: Comments on Splittie (steering, noise)
In-Reply-To:  <Pine.SUN.3.96.1020912082009.10862A-100000@grex.cyberspace.org>
Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=us-ascii

>You had the one, eh? ;)  The steering mechanism on those old buses just
>had too many pivot points in it.  When I got my Vanagon I couldn't believe
>how tight the steering was.

The two! Maybe I was lucky. I doubt the center pivot had ever been
replaced. But I did look into the possibility of putting a Golf I
rack into the Bay... too much trouble, as the pitman arms are behind
the stubaxles, so requiring multiple U-joints in the steering shaft.

>Oh, yeah, it's great.  I liked how you could get different wrist angles by
>changing where you gripped the wheel.  It was very relaxing on long trips,
>sort of like resting your hands on a tabletop.

Yup... I'd hold the front part of the wheel and rest my arms on the
sides otr rear part. more comfortable than it looked, by far.

>Mine was noisy as heck, but a lot of that was because the wood beam in the
>front of the pop-top had warped.  It wouldn't seat properly when latched
>and caught a lot of wind.

Mine weren't campers, so wind noise wasn't a problem. The 57 was
pretty noisy; the 66 a bit less so, probably due to having rear seats
and somewhat takler gearing (lower rpm). They had an extractor, so
the exhaust had a really nice note, sort of a growly howl. Not the
stock whistle overlying a dak-dak noise.

>I thought the 75's brakes were okay when the rears were properly adjusted.
>They'd only stay properly adjusted for maybe two weeks, though.

I had my 75's brakes completely overhauled. Still poor. Mum's 75
Scirocco TS also had crappy brakes. Part of the problem may have been
pad material (lost the TS's going down a long hill once, had to turn
the ignition off and wind it down through the gears to stop!). I put
metal pads in the Bay, but still not good. These pads are good in our
diesel Toyota sedans, though! All the taxis here use them (Bendix
Metal King).
--
Regards
Andrew