Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 21:21:11 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Some ride height and suspension observations..
In-Reply-To: <000901c7eea2$ec5d5240$a8b2d8d1@dhanson>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The LF was low, and the RR high,
So you added spacers at the rear ?
It's not exactly perfectly clear to me where you added two 1/8 thick
spacers.
I think the rear suspension travel on vanagons is fine, a good 5 inches...
Possibly six inches.
I don't find that 2WD vanagons are at all limited in traction, not even
slightly.
Any rear drive car will be at a traction disadvantage backing up a hill.
Perhaps tire type, tire tread pattern and depth, and tire pressure are
factors.
I think they have bomber traction in snow.
Also, snow in the Rockies will be drier. ( don't know where you are, but I
suspect it's damper snow territory - no one ever thinks to mention where
they are it seems )
How wet or dry the snow is makes all the diff in the world.
Dry snow - great traction.
Wet snow, mushy snow, and old snow - horrible traction. The extreme worst
I've found is many months old snow in the spring time.....no traction in
that stuff at all.
Shoot....I've driven a turbo diesel vanagon on black ice where cars and
trucks where spinning off left and right, where if I got out to pee, it was
hard to walk it was so slippery.
Driving, I had to be careful, but drove for hours and hours without a
problem, in a 2WD vanagon. I don't think I've ever gone where I didn't
intend to, due to lack of traction ( i.e. crash ) in a vanagon, or had a
place where I couldn't go. Pretty much. There are limits of course,
especially regarding snow depth and snow type......but I consider them fine
snow vehicles for two wheel drive.
Tires make all the difference in the world of course.
And I can't imagine that your little tweak will have much affect on rear
traction in your vanagon.
A worn out and tired front spring, or springs.....it would be good to fix
that all right. The springs on 2WD vanagons, front or rear, aren't that
hard to replace at all.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Don Hanson
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2007 8:23 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Some ride height and suspension observations..
Today I began working on the traction issue with my 84..Unlike me..because
I usually wait till there is snow on the ground before I try to address
issues like poor traction, etc..but I recalled last fall, trying to back up
on slick grass to get into my shop with the van, and also chaining up to
make a silly little hill.. I lived in the Rockies for over 20 years and I
NEVER had to chain up..but with the van, I can't even make my driveway when
it gets slick...
A few observations: First, the rear suspension travel is pretty pathetic,
at least on my 84 it seems to be. Didn't measure it for 'droop', but it
seems like the rear wheels only have a few inches of travel. So I'm
guessing it takes very little to lift a wheel or at least greatly diminish
the weight on a rear corner...
I had a feeling my van was not very well balanced, corner to corner.
I've noticed that the right rear wheel always seems to spin with ridiculous
ease in low traction situations. I could see, with my carpenters eye, that
the left front seemed a bit low and the right rear seemed high..So, I took
my tape and did a 'quick and dirty' check. Indeed, the left front was low,
the right rear was high..by about an inch..Now, I know measuring body panels
is not accurate, but I think this van is so wacky that it gave me a place to
start..
Now all the previous ride height adjustments I've made have been on true
coil over suspensions, and what I wanted was to lower either the right
front or the left rear, in order to even up the load on all four
wheels...Like cutting off the legs of a rocking table, right? Looking at
the front suspension..no deal there..Too complex and not any provisions for
adjusting the ride height (or the load on wheel)..So, to the back I went,
thinking to extend the spring, at least for now, on the right rear, the one
that has almost no load on the wheel...Actually lowering the left rear is
what I wanted, but that was not looking easy at all.
So, I jacked it up under the bottom of the a-arm, compressing the spring
at the right rear. Clamped the coils and released the shock, then dropped
the A-arm, making some room at the top of the spring to add two 1/8"
aluminum plate donuts as spacers..
We shall see if that improves the traction any, by putting a more even
load onto the rear wheels...actually kinda like sticking a matchbook under
the kitchen table to stop it from rocking...
Not quite as precise as putting my Porsche racecar onto four digital
scales and adjusting the coil overs to within a lbs or two, corner to
corner...but maybe now I will be able to back up on grass, at least as a
start...
Don Hanson
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