Date:         Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:38:18 -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: Pop top -- catch this before it's too late.
Comments: To: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <4c4c8fe6.9a5ae50a.1800.465a@mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

David Beierl wrote:
> I'm talking about the hinges in the middle of the lifting
> struts.  They have an extremely serious design flaw and if not taken
> care of you are headed for a nasty fall.  The pictures at
> http://picasaweb.google.com/dbeierl/VanagonPopTopHingeTroubles#  will
> show how to evaluate the situation and a possible repair.  There are
> no doubt many ways to repair this; the one I used is based on what I
> had conveniently available, i.e. a lathe and some bronze round
> bar.  There's a discussion on Samba involving this in which the
> repair was done by welding.
>
> The basic cause of the problem is that the part of the hinge that
> bears on the center tube is much too thing and acts more like a knife
> than a bearing.  The rather frightening damage shown in the photos
> happened between 1984 and 2004.  Another cause is that as Scott
> points out, this stuff never gets preventive lubrication.

I can't find a post from Scott dealing directly with this. I eyeballed
the situation here and it's not clear where/how one lubricates the
problem area. And with what.

--
Rocky J Squirrel
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Bend, OR
KG6RCR