Date:         Tue, 13 Apr 2004 10:38:59 -0400
Reply-To:     Matt Sutton <msutts@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Matt Sutton <msutts@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      9000 mile trip report- positive
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hi Folks,
    Between march 14th and april 12, I drove my 4 sp 1988 GL 9,193 miles.
Fully loaded down with gear, we criss-crossed the Northeast, Midwest, and
South, driving every day to a different city. Average MPG was 20-21, and the
only repair required was the replacement of a short length of fuel line
behind the firewall, directly above the starter, along with 3 oil
changes(castrol 20w50) and some spray lube on the gear linkages and new
suspension parts.
    Before leaving I put on Bridgestone Turanza 215/70R14's, and ended up
running them @ 38psi in the front, and 42 in the rear(measured cold with the
van loaded), and this seemed to work well for the long-distance drives.
Along with new control arm bushings, upper ball joints and shocks, this made
it feel like a completely different vehicle, and was a little hard to get
used to. I'm happy with the larger size though, and the decrease in
quickness off of stops and harder parallel parking was more than off-set by
the ability to run lower RPMs for highway speeds. I tried to do some
speedometer correction for the larger tire size, seemed like around 5% below
actual speed. If that's true, I guess I can adjust the odometer and MPG
numbers upward.
    Had my first real experience with wind, driving west from Chicago to Des
Moines. Five hours of holding the wheel at 2 o'clock, felt like sailing in
really rough seas. MPG dropped to 12. I'm not sure if this was more
difficult with the new tires and pressures- it may have been just a really
extreme situation.
    As some of you may know, I almost bailed on the van earlier this year.
Leaks of all kinds, low financial resources, and no option of losing days on
the planned trip (I'm a touring musician). Any mechanic I'd gone to (except
Dennis Haynes who took care of the front end) would say that it simply
wasn't worth repairing.  I ended up sticking with it though, doing most of
my own work, and am glad of my decision. I know I've been lucky, but some
luck is always required on a trip like this one. We met tons of great
people, saw many really beautiful places, and played the best music we knew
how every night.
    Thanks to everyone on the list; there is no way I could have taken the
van this far without your collective knowledge.

-Matt Sutton
88 GL
Brooklyn NY