Date:         Mon, 27 Jun 2005 15:24:37 -0600
Reply-To:     Aaron Pearson <Aaron.Pearson@GXT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Aaron Pearson <Aaron.Pearson@GXT.COM>
Subject:      Re: General/Sorta dirt-road worthiness of 2WD Vanagons?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

the difference between a bay and a vanagon in this regard is a result of
front/rear weight distribution, right?  there was a thread about this a
while ago.  vanagon seems to be 50/50, the bay has more weight in the
back.  maybe this was a secret vw ploy to build a market for the syncro.

aaron
'87 syncro gl (never been stuck)

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Tim Demarest
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 2:54 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: General/Sorta dirt-road worthiness of 2WD Vanagons?

Generally speaking, the traction of my 2WD '85 Westfalia is not all that
great... if you try to start off on any kind of uphill grade with loose
footing (gravel or mud), you are likely to spin one wheel until it digs
in while the other one sits there not turning. Sometimes you can get out
of this by putting the e-brake on a notch or two (to convince both
wheels to turn), but doing this too much will burn your brakes.

I wouldn't want to take a 2WD vanagon off-road without aggressive tires,
a winch, and maybe a locking differential from a Syncro retrofitted in.
If you want to do serious off-road camping on bad roads, you'll be
better served by a syncro, or a bay-window camper (much better traction
in those).

The scariest ride I *ever* took was down a muddy hillside in my
westie...
it was a music festival, a  rainy night, tents to each side, and a car
ahead of my putting on it's brakes... the back end of the westie really
felt like it was going to come around on me, fortunately, the car ahead
kept moving, and I was able to reach level ground before I had to slow
down.

Admittedly, the only other rear-wheel drive vehicles I've ever driven
were a '73 super beetle (superior traction, never, ever got stuck, ever,
even on ice, mud, gravel or any combination of the three), and a '76 AMC
Gremlin (traction was not bad, surprisingly good ground clearance, but
poor general reliability... I never got stuck, but frequently broke
down).


At 01:33 PM 6/27/2005 -0700, Michael Elliott wrote:
>Compared with other 2wd vehicles, like full-size pickup trucks, and 
>mid-60's station wagons . . . how dirt road worthy is the 2wd Vanagon?
>How good is the traction? I'm talking about rutted sand and gravel 
>roads out here, not mud or streams. Not dunes or beaches. No swamps. 
>Regular street tires, stock size.
>
>Generally-speaking. Anecdotal is good. The more colorful the better.
>
>As in, "Vanagons get stuck more easily than any other 2wd vehicle ever 
>made," or "I've taken my 2wd Vanagon places that my brother's 1963 
>Plymouth Belvedere station wagon couldn't go."
>
>--
>
>Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
>84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana") Carlsbad, CA 
>KG6RCR