Date:         Tue, 11 May 2004 07:12:44 -0700
Reply-To:     Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Subject:      Re: Shocks
In-Reply-To:  <130.28bf9e9e.2d00df61@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

On 4 Dec 2003 at 14:05, George Goff <THX0001@AOL.COM> wrote:

> In a message dated 12/4/03 1:04:51 PM, kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET writes:
>
> << It
> just sounds like a difference in contruction to me.  A solid steel beam
> is "beefier" than a steel I beam.  Does that mean it is better? >>
>
> How right you are, Ken.  I guess it has something to do with the Deutche
> Methode which has seen some recent mention on this List.  It all starts with the
> metallurgist and the engineer who has enough sense to consult him.  For
> example, I have homely and skimpy German wrenches which will continue to outperform
> the fat and shiny junk from the Pacific Rim long after the junk has been
> returned to a blast furnace.  Look at that simple piece of swaged tubing that VW
> calls a lug wrench.  It looks like a piece of shit, but even it works
> surprisingly well.

I'm digging up an old thread, but had to comment on this one - it reminds of a
story I'll never forget:
When I was about 13, our family went to gather some landscaping rock on
the logging roads that we had spotted on a fishing trip. It was about 2 hours
away on rough roads, and we were driving a '69 GMC 3/4 ton pickup. On the
way, we got a flat, and had trouble removing the lugs with the stock solid
steel bar, which would actually bend when forced hard. Finally did it, and
carried on. On the way back, with a large load of rock, and four of us
squeezed in the cab, my Mom was driving, and we were sleeping. At about
55mph on a straight section of highway, we felt a thud and the back end
dropped. We awoke to see the driver side rear wheel passing us across the
highway, and my Dad calming my Mom as she carefully brought the truck to
a stop. The cheap lug wrench was insufficient to torque the lug nuts tight
enough, and we narrowly missed a serious accident as a result.
Yes, I've been amazed how well the tubular VW lug wrench works also,
although I don't have the original one from the Westy, so I carry a metric
cross bar type.


--
Shawn Wright
http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright
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