Date:         Thu, 11 Mar 2004 20:43:27 -0500
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Anybody up for the UK quick shift kit at about $55 plus
              shipping?
In-Reply-To:  <030c01c406f3$150c1730$0100a8c0@RON>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

> As I said, I'll check and see if I can provide a third
> alternative. Actually I already sent out one inquiry. Frankly
> I wouldn't rate the odds as being particularly high, but
> there's certainly no harm in asking, and nothing to lose by
> giving it a week or so just in case...


Well I did a little checking and the only alternative to the Berg kit
that I could find was indeed the British one. So I looked into this one
a bit. Someone who had seen both units opined that the Berg unit seemed
heavier duty than the British one, which is made out of urethane. I also
received one report of a problem that may have been related to the shift
kit. A Vanagon owner reported that his shift lever literally snapped
near the bottom shortly after he installed the kit according to the
instructions. The individual (who is very knowledgeable about Vanagons
but not a professional mechanic) said that a quick shift kit can alter
the dynamics of how the force is distributed to various parts of the
shift assembly when you shift. He theorized that this kit had increased
the amount of stress borne by the lower part of his shifter, causing it
to break.

I want to be careful not to disparage anybody's handiwork based on a
single incident. This could be an isolated case, and there certainly
could be other explanations for the damage. Maybe the shifter was
already fatigued, and the installation of the shift kit just exacerbated
a problem that might have happened anyway. (Although I must admit that
it is quite rare for a shift lever to snap under typical circumstances.)
It is also possible that this was an isolated defect, or that it was
improperly installed, and that this had absolutely nothing to do with
the overall design or quality of the kit.

The problem is, unlike a mass produced product where there have been
thousands used over a period of time, a low-volume product like this has
much less of a track record that can be examined. (How many users would
represent a sufficient sample to establish that the failure was
atypical?  Ten? Fifty? A hundred? And for how long would they have to
have used the part?)  As a result, when you hear feedback like this
about a somewhat less established product, it's hard to gauge whether
it's indicative of a design/quality issue, or just a fluke. When it
comes to products that I am considering carrying, in situations like
this I tend to err on the side of caution and opt not to offer the
product. Then again it's my customers' money and vans that I'm putting
on the line, not just my own, so I must be more cautious than I might be
if I were just buying one for myself.

So, while I don't want to be unfair to the manufacturer if this was
indeed a fluke, I also feel that I would be remiss if I didn't share
what I was told and let you make your own conclusions as to its
validity. As for my involvement, if you do still want to do a group
purchase, it still may or may not be possible for me to get a slightly
better price (I do import from the UK regularly.). I don't know yet, as
I didn't try. Anyway, now you know as much as I do.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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