Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2010 08:01:14 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: That's it, I've had it. (Driving with brake on)
In-Reply-To: <094601cb1b19$9e384010$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 6:38 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> right on Don.
> . Some people are really brutal on equipment...
> and often don't even know that they are.
>
My SO, bless her, is one of those people. She drives me crazy with
'over-enthusiastic' inputs. She's constantly 'over driving' every corner,
over-revving her Ford powerstroke diesel truck, over-opening drawers in the
kitchen, slamming doors and cupboards. When she does something, she rarely
does it 'just enough'...she almost always starts out really 'full-tilt' and
then maybe backs-off to a more appropriate level...
I get 'sea-sick' in her truck or her Subaru...she corners with a connected
series of 'tangents'.....Yank the wheel over, then let it relax a bit to
correct...then yank it again to get turning again, then relax.....Or when
we're hooking up to her horse trailer and she is directing me in reverse,
it's like....Pointing a little left, a little left, then "Whoa!" and if I
don't stop completely, so she can point right, or show me how much we have
to go to the hitch, she won't give me any more input until I do "Whoa!" and
completely stop.. We've tried for years to get past this...me saying..."No
need to stop me completely, just point which way and I will adjust the
line"...."No, that's not how you do it...."
Last summer I rode a 12hr bike race. She offered to drive 'support' for
me...we used my van, on a long (about 140 miles with 6000' of elevation
gain) initial loop in the mountains south east of Mt Hood on forest service
paved roads. Me riding and her 'leap-frogging' along driving the van,
supplying me with water, food, carrying spares and keeping track of my
competitor's positions. My van, with it's inline four Jetta motor and
Magnaflow muffler has a very distinctive sound...like a quiet "kid's Honda"
almost, a sound I could hear for a few miles out in lonesome back country
roads of Oregon. I tell you, it was somewhat 'painful' listening to her
drive that van! She did plenty of inadvertent 4th gear uphill
starts...Clutch chattering and slipping..."Ooops, missed 2nd gear" (where I
normally start out) I'd also mentioned that she 'should try to avoid
'lugging it'....so I would hear her heading up the road, climbing a hill but
turning the motor over at about 6500 rpm for a couple of miles at a
shot...Or engine braking...second gear downshifts at maybe 35mph, then dump
the clutch....(after a few hours in the saddle of my bike, listening to my
van go up the road or approach from behind, or conversing through the window
as we rolled along, that was a welcome distraction) I never heard a 'wrong
note' from the van in about 6hrs, but I now understand better why some of
M's vehicles have issues more often that seems proper. She is a good
driver, but 'not too well connected' to her vehicle as it runs along...She
is not a 'natural'
< btw, one of the very worst things you can do for a car is loan it to
> someone.
>
> but no, you can put that brake on carefully, as hard as it will go ...not
> gonna break any brake parts unless they are very old and tired anyway, or
> out of spec, like too thin rear drums.
> I like the feel of those later handles myself..
> It's the only way . They work just great.
>
The E-brake 'conversion', combining a different handle with the standard
rest of the system (26yrs old) I am reluctant to give it the 'full yank'
because the combo of parts could give me too much 'mechanical advantage' or
something...Been there, done that, combining non-matching components from
different M.Y. systems to the detriment of the weaker part.
Don Hanson
| 
