Date:         Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:38:04 -0800
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Rear Shocks, Syncro vs. 2wd
In-Reply-To:  <4516DDDB-D38D-4350-8C0A-D4B8FC7E5A53@shaw.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 8:16 AM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

>  If the OP's friend's van had been lifted 1", then it makes perfect sense
> to install a shock with a 1" longer stroke.
>
> Otherwise the shock will be bottoming out more often.
>
> Some folk cleave to stock set ups, some folk don't. There is no need to
> smugly dismiss those who wish to modify their vans



> >
> > So Dennis, you are saying that we 2WD drivers should use the shocks
> specified for our equipment, not for the Syncro, especially if we drive on
> rough roads, right?  Exactly as I suspected.  I definitely do not know more
> about our vehicles than the engineers who designed them did.  Thanks,
> mcneely
>

  I have some difficulty understanding the wide-spread opinion, the
belief,  often expressed like it's Gospel, that "Factory Knows
Best"....every time.  Not actually true, though you will encounter this
'advice' often...  "Don't change from stock, you think you know more than
the Engineers?"..

  The Engineers who design things aren't omnipotent Gods...they are people
just like you and me.    Yes, it is their "day job" and they get paid to do
it, but they also have company bean-counters who limit them to building and
designing stuff that maximizes earnings for the company....They aren't
allowed to build the 'best possible" thing, they are instructed to build
the most 'cost-effective' stuff with tightly-targeted markets in mind, and
in light of various government tariffs and trade policies.

  If you just happen to fit perfectly into the targeted buyer's
'profile'..then changing what you get from the factory is probably not
advisable....but we don't very many of us fit, exactly.

 The Marketeers, the salesmen, they would like us to 'just buy the right
vehicle' and if our needs change, toss it and get a new one that better
suits our needs.  The dealers would like us to have to bring every vehicle
back to get any work done "by factory authorized service technicians" and
they have pretty successfully convinced the Public that we "shouldn't do
anything" without checking with them and paying them for 'their engineering
skills'

  Not everyone who drives a certain vehicle fits that vehicle's 'Market
Target' or whatever the financial guys call it...Our vanagons are such
compromises in many many ways, to appeal to the widest possible
market....back when they were built.  Now a days, we would probably be
offered a much different "Vanagon" if they started building them again..

   There's no reason to believe that some fellow in a suit and tie with a
degree in downtown Stuttgart would have any idea what driving around in the
Western US outback is actually like, at least not any better than those of
us who've done it for 20-30-40yrs in various vehicles...
These things are only motor vehicles, built by people just like you and
me....If you need it to do something other than what that mythical Target
Market family might have needed...changing stuff from factory specs is not
'Verbooten', yet. (though they are lobbying very hard to make that the law)
  Yes, some care and knowledge is required to modify vehicles in a safe and
effective manner.  Un-thinking modifications can have unanticipated
consequences...Care should be taken with any improvement to your
vehicles..They are all compromises.

  The VW engineers sent out some pretty large 'compromises' in our
Vanagons.  It's OK, in my playbook, to make any vehicle perform the way
I...me... want it to rather than to blindly keep looking around for another
vehicle that works perfectly for me..."from the factory"....

  I  go ahead and change stuff from the factory, I don't let the Factory
dictate what I MUST drive..Sometimes I get it a little wrong, but usually
my vehicle work a lot better than a 'totally stock factory original'....for
me anyhow.
  Don Hanson