Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 10:13:00 -0700
Reply-To: Westyman <syncrowestytd@MINDSPRING.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Westyman <syncrowestytd@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject: SDME, VC strength and life-span
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Syncro De Mayo East took place this weekend past, as some of you may be
aware. Although it involved an over-abundance of gravel and dirt road travel
[i.e. dust in every crack and crevice of our vans, well maybe not Kim's] we
did manage to find a few spots in the wilds of West Virginia in which to
play. I drove my old trusty Canadian Syncro Westy 1.9 TD for the event, now
at 459,000 kilometers with all original CV joints AND viscous coupling.
Since I'm upgrading to 16" wheels soon, I opted to continue using the winter
snow tires [BS Winter Duelers] rather than springing for new treads for the
event. In the first play area with several steep climbs, the van easily
clawed to the tops and over. During the last climb, I noticed a clicking
sound, followed later by a couple little jerks in the drivetrain. Then all
was quiet, so I just ignored doing any sort of further checks. As we
continued up and around the hills, I began noticing a bit of strange
handling when applying throttle, and also thought the clutch was slipping.
The engine would rev ahead, much like an automatic transmission for a few
seconds, but would lock in consistently and pull the van ahead normally. It
wasn't until we drove about another five or ten miles that I had that I had
the idea to pull the rear diff lock. Voila! Slippage stopped, handling back
to normal. Closer inspection showed both left rear CV's to be broken, the
shaft just floating. I had been driving along with only the front wheels
pulling! This should answer those inquiring minds that want to know how well
a VC really transfers power to the front wheels! This VC [in case you missed
it, with 459,000 km of use] has always and still does today function
perfectly. Solid shaft in my vans future? Nah. Why? I love the seamless way
it delivers power as needed, with no reason to ever fiddle with buttons in
advance of conditions. If I ever need to crawl rocks, I'll for sure get a
Unimog, this VC setup works just fine for me in the Westy.
I'd love to see all photos taken at the event, maybe someone could
coordinate getting all in one spot and burning copies to CD? I'd take on the
task if needed. Thanks to all who attended, it was fun to get together, and
a special thanks to Kim Brennan for hosting the event, and to Brady for the
loaner axle shaft and for providing Syncro entertainment factor on more than
one occasion. See all of you next year, unless of course we organize another
play day sooner.
Karl Mullendore
Westy Ventures
'87 Syncro Westy 1.9TD
'85 Westy
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