Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 12:58:30 -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: What do I need?
In-Reply-To: <47488D42.7050003@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I'm hoping you meant they said the rear 'caster' was not adjustable Mike.
The rear camber is adjustable and very important.
Wishing you many happy miles to the gallon......
On Nov 24, 2007 12:44 PM, Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Patti, welcome to a small club of Vanagon owners who are experiencing
> pretty darn poor mileage for no known reason. We feel your pain. My 1984
> Westy achieves a mighty 15.5 mpg on the highway, while others with the
> same vehicle type get two to three more miles per gallon. My city driving
> is more like 11 mpg. I get about 240 miles per tank on the highway.
>
> Many of the group's list contributors have offered suggestions for things
> I should consider (see http://camping.elliott.googlepages.com/poormileage
> for some of the things I've looked at). No explanation for the poor
> mileage has been found yet.
>
> But more than one list contributor has been pushing me to get my wheel
> alignment checked. I noticed uneven front tire wear last January, so bad
> that I had to take my van to a shop where the fellow spotted worn out
> upper ball joints, and swapped the unworn rear tires for the front so I
> could get home. But even after replacing the ball joints, the front tires
> started showing the same wear pattern, so I took the darn van to an
> alignment shop last week.
>
> Of the 14 measurements that their system made (caster, camber, toe, and
> others), my van was out of range on nine of them. So they adjusted
> everything -- everything except rear camber, said it's not adjustable.
>
> Given the tire wear, a certain percentage of engine power has been
> consumed scrubbing rubber off the tires. So next week I'm going on a trip
> on which the mileage has been previously measured. If the problem has been
> wheel alignment, I'll know it.
>
> Fingers crossed!
>
> Maybe there's something on my poor mileage page that will explain your
> fuel consumption. Pretty much everything that anyone has suggested is
> there.
>
> --
> 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 11/24/2007 12:18 PM PB wrote:
>
> > Would I need new shocks, a wheel upgrade to 16" or both? I have to
> SLOWLY
> > creep out of my normal driveway into the street, as if I'm driving on
> > eggshells in order to avoid hitting the street with my front bumper.
> This
> > is not a steep driveway at all.
> >
> > Another question: with local driving - no freeway, I have a range of
> 169
> > miles on a tankful of gas. That seems extremely low. With freeway
> driving,
> > my range increases to 189 - 200 miles. Since I live only 3 miles from
> my
> > job, I don't do much freeway driving. What's this all about?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Patti
> > Still very much a newbie
> > 90 Westy automatic
>
--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
Crescent Beach, BC
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/
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