Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:22:42 -0700
Reply-To: "Mike \"Rocket J Squirrel\"" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Mike \"Rocket J Squirrel\"" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Vanagonginity lost...
In-Reply-To: <BLU0-SMTP282F1ACE843E8740356B37D1CB0@phx.gbl>
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Peter Kraiker wrote:
> I just thought I'd let everyone know that after about 8 weeks of
> educating myself I took the leap and bought my first westy... flew to
> Montreal on Friday, spend the morning with the PO (definitely not the
> dreaded variety!) and then drove her home to Toronto... my first
> taste of being passed by almost everything else on the highway! lol,
> loved it.
>
> I have 2 new questions, one more pressing than the other: Hot Q #1.
> how the h3!! do i persuade it to stop heating my feet or face? I
> have all the levers all the way to the left and I'm still getting a
> steady stream of warm air from the heating system. I'd like to just
> have flow-thru cool air this time of year! She came with the original
> manual and I can see what the various levers are supposed to do, i
> would have expected the 2nd from the bottom to let cool air thru when
> moved to the right, and it does open up side vents (near doors, 1/2
> way down the dash)... still heat coming out of either the window or
> floor vents though :( Cool Q#2. I will want to add a bike rack... she
> has a very strong bumper with a towing ball... I was thinking of
> getting someone to weld a receptacle for a hitch bike rack but don't
> know the load it could handle (I want to be able carry 4 bikes). The
> other option I'm considering is a rear hatch rack, the local Rack
> Attack doesn't have anything to fit a vanagon though. Suggestions?
>
As Robert Fischer, he of the humongous shapeless nylon bag strapped to
his hatch, will attest, I am not a fan of mounting anything that
interferes with the rear hatch because I am so scatterbrained that I am
continuously opening and closing the hatch to put stuff in or pull stuff
out.
So I had a local welding shop mount a hitch receiver on the front of the
van, a tricky proposition given the location of the spare tire, its
cover, and the cover latch. I carry two bikes up front, it does protrude
a bit, and four bikes would do more so, but after crunching a bike or
two on unfortunate utility poles (and, in one case, a brand-new pickup
truck) when backing, I've come to the conclusion that I have no business
carrying anything on the rear of the van.
The bikes were not damaged, much. The telephone pole still stands, and
the owner of the truck looked at the scratch on his truck and said,
"It's just a truck. They get scratched. Thanks for leaving a note."
--
Rocky J Squirrel
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Bend, OR
KG6RCR
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