Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:51:59 -0800
Reply-To: Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Now that the mileage survey is done . . .
In-Reply-To: <473D3AAB.5090209@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Mike, get them to set the toe to 1/8" front and 0 rear, the front camber to
between 0 and 1/4 degree and rear camber to 1/2 degree. Not 'within spec'!
I usually have to pay more for this but its worth it every day.
These settings make for the easiest-pushing Vanagons ever, one man's test of
rolling resistance. :)
On Nov 15, 2007 10:37 PM, Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm thinking that there is indeed something messed up with the alignment.
> Back in January I saw that the outer edges of the two front tires were
> being worn down to the casing. Took the van to a shop along Highway 1 in
> Northern California and the fellow pointed out how the upper ball joints
> were messed up. I had him swap the front tires for the rear and after I
> got back to SoCal I replaced the uppers. Front tires seemed to be doing
> just fine after that, but today I noticed that they were rapidly wearing
> down on the outsides also. I have an appointment with a local shop that
> was recommended by Hugo's Foreign Car in Encinitas, Dan's Precision
> Aligning, to get this mess straighted out. I'm curious to hear what they
> find. Yes, my cruddy mileage might indeed be due to alignment, something
> that a few list members suggested.
>
> As a side issue, I did the stall test to the torque converter as Dennis
> Haynes suggested in case the transmission is slipping. Engine stalled at
> about 2400 rpm, which is a tad low per Bentleys, for the 1984 auto
> transmission, but I dunno if it's low enough to worry about.
>
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> KG6RCR
>
>
>
> On 11/15/2007 10:09 PM Jake de Villiers wrote:
>
> > Yeah, he's running Ken Lewis' little wonder.
> >
> > I think that van must have 1/4" toe-in front & rear or something
> similar,
> > the better to scrub off speed and mileage.
> >
> > On Nov 15, 2007 9:59 PM, John Bange <jbange@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >>> My city mpg = 11. My highway mpg = 15.
> >>
> >> Wow. That's worse than mine (14-16), and I have an automatic, a mystery
> >> problem (bad injector, i think) that makes it run rich, constantly make
> >> jackrabbit starts, and nearly always have the AC running full blast. Do
> >> you
> >> have a meter on the O2 sensor?
> >>
> >> --
> >> John Bange
> >> '90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jake
> > 1984 Vanagon GL
> > 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> > Crescent Beach, BC
> > www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> > http://subyjake.googlepages.com/
>
--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
Crescent Beach, BC
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/
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