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Date:         Sat, 4 Jun 2011 19:49:04 -0700
Reply-To:     Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Help the chimp avoid getting crushed
Comments: To: Don Hundt <dhundt@bendbroadband.com>
In-Reply-To:  <000a01cc2317$43e28380$6400a8c0@Hundt>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

Super kind offer. But the plan's off -- the van is not built for overcoil shocks.

-- RJS

On Sat, 2011-06-04 at 17:26 -0700, Don Hundt wrote:

> Bring it over to Redmond sometime next week and I will help you put those > on. Nice flat driveway, floor jack , jackstands and tools. > Don > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> > Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2011 3:55 PM > Subject: Re: Help the chimp avoid getting crushed > > > > On Sat, 2011-06-04 at 18:04 -0400, David Beierl wrote: > >> At 11:53 AM 6/4/2011, Rocket J Squirrel wrote: > >> >Would such a jack be helpful when working on a not-level car? I find > >> >that when all four tires on on the ramps, the van seems mighty stable > >> >and high enough off the ground for me to feel comfortable. > >> > >> It's more stable than before...probably. If you've spiked those > >> ramps into the ground then definitely; otherwise you're still > >> depending on ramp-to-ground friction with the same vectors > >> involved. > > > > Ground is concrete driveway, not notably spikeable. Once the vehicle is > > up the ramps, you can push on it all you want from any direction and it > > doesn't seem to pay attention. > > > >> But. From your numbers I'm guessing you have to raise the > >> wheels about six inches to level the vehicle. That means your > >> driveway is about a thirteen per cent grade, or a bit under four > >> degrees. > > > > 8 inches, more like, the height of the ramps. About 6 degrees, according > > to the bubble level screwed below the driver's seat window. But your > > analysis still applies. > > > > [snip] > > > >> I'm with Scott. Find or build a flat place to work, or get out from > >> under. Not that we care about you or anything, but reading gory > >> stories can ruin your morning. ;-) > > > > Indeed and I thank you for your consideration. > > > > I'm pretty much tied to working on the driveway. The street is a busy > > one and last year someone driving down the street plowed into a parked > > car in front of our house. If it had been on stands and someone under > > it, they would have been in serious condition. Likewise if you want to > > stick your feet out from under the vehicle -- curbside won't work, and > > traffic side would be worthless. So the street is out. > > > > The only level place in the front of the house is the front lawn and I > > guarantee that Mrs Squirrel would not take kindly to me parking the van > > there to tinker with it. When we first moved in, when the front had no > > grass, and was just dirt, my son parked his Jeep there. Once. She let > > him know that while the front of the house wasn't landscaped yet, that > > was no excuse to make the place look like hillbillies had moved in. > > > > Jonathan Poole's suggestion to pack everything -- tools and parts -- up > > and move location to someplace flat with resources, like the parking lot > > in front of a FLAPS is a good one, but better suited for the kind of guy > > that doesn't need to take six trips from the van to the tool cabinet and > > back again just to get the right tools and bits to replace a light bulb. > > I'm not that kind of guy. I have never walked out to the van with the > > right tools, there's always something -- or a lot of somethings -- that > > I need to fetch. > > > > Really -- the van is really stable atop two or four of those steel > > ramps. More stable than it would be on jack stands or a floor jack. > > Floor jacks have wheels and that would not be helpful on a concrete > > driveway with an 8-degree slope. > > > > This is just the way it's going to have to be. It is, as they say, my > > funeral. > > > > -- > > Rocky J Squirrel (Jack Elliott) >


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