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Date:         Mon, 9 Apr 2012 11:41:24 -0500
Reply-To:     JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Simple but oh so effective maintenance task (lubricate shift
              linkage)
Comments: To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <CAHTkEuJFPh7bp4r3wB--xzgsnbC80eTMy5esA+SjgmnCC0Eqkw@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Don,

Back in the day when I was aviating and airplane mechanicing - lubrication was the thing. It had been hammered home in Aviation mechanic school and even in pilot training I got a lot more on the subject, but from a pilots point of view. Lubrication is where it's art. Regular lubing will save endless hours of agony over maintenance issues if done timely and properly. Airplanes have regular maintenance schedules based on hours of operation, and for air carriers those schedules are tough and tight. When working for one air carrier we lubed everything right down to the teflon rollers in the aluminum slots on the the flaps and ailerons on the wings, and aluminum rollers in teflon slots elsewhere. We went by the book. And those procedures ensured hours and hours of operational time without unscheduled maintenance which always cost the company money. I am a believer in that lubrication, even if you have to flush out the old and put in new every time. You do what it takes. Then you don't suddenly find yourself broken down on a dark and stormy night on a backroad halfway between Somewhere,Oklahoma and Nowhere,Oklahoma! - or Georgia - or Alabama!

John Rodgers 88 GL Driver

On 4/8/2012 9:26 PM, Don Hanson wrote: > Today I dropped my spare to check it's condition (found it's "Born on" > date to be 1988!) I recall just sticking an old wheel with a fairly good > appearing tire mounted, one I got with a set of give-away steel wheels, > into my spare carrier and thinking...'better check this sometime.. but for > now it's gonna have to do..." I just found the front tire on a > motorcycle I recently got was 9yrs old, too, despite being brand new > looking...so that inspired me to check the van spare.... > > Anyhow, while in there I decided to lubricate all the shifting mechanism > at the bottom of the stick, the end of the long shift rod, the bottom of > the delrin 'ball' and the fulcrums (don't know the Bentley term for these, > my book is buried in the van). Really easy on my 84 5sp manual...just > four 10mm(?) nuts and the housing that holds the shift pivots and encloses > the bottom of the stick as it emerges from the floor, that comes right > off. I cleaned that all up inside and put some white grease wherever I > saw clean bare shiny metal, where it actually wears as you shift. Put > that back together, put a good tire in the clam shell and went on back > (underneath the van) along the whole length of the shifter linkage, using > my can of spray chain lube on all the delrin bushings and the pivot points. > > What a great thing to do. Before, my van shifted fine...no problems, > but it wasn't smooth. I thought it was just the complex nature of all > that distance and all those connections and joints that made it shift a > little stiff. It always has felt a bit stiff, though in the past when I > squirt the bushings with spray lube, it got somewhat better...But cleaning > the inside of the box in the spare and putting grease on those 'posts' that > the stick levers off of to move the linkage properly....that was probably > the key.. > > I'd say it's quite a good and easy thing to do for your van (Hi Scott...I > know you LOVE oiling stuff) Worth getting a little dirty to have the > shifter be "Buttery-smooth".....a term often used to describe the ride of > tubular bicycle tires as compared to modern bike tires. > > Don Hanson >


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