I seem to recall, perhaps incorrectly, that my '83 VW Quantum Wagon had some sort of heavy nylon shear pins integrated into the rear bumper mounts. I guess the idea being that at least some of the impact force would be dissipated in shearing these big plastic pins, leaving the rest of the frame to absorb the remainder. Of course, any kind of parking-lot 'boink' would require that these big pins be replaced, no doubt at great expense by your local VW dealer, but it probably prevented your crumple zone from becoming too crumpled. May be something to think about when devising one's own Vanagon bumper setup. Me, I'd like to have a set of those big band-steel bumpers you see on Jeeps and UPS trucks. Those are bumpers you can truly BUMP ...
"OK, I'll leave it at that since I've already gone on for far too long about something I don't know a whole lot about ..." Jeffrey Earl 1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"
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