Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2013 11:00:02 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: cv, wheel bearings, or both? castastropic failure!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Those failures can and do happen. Once the inner cage breaks the ball are
going where they shouldn't and the van will stop, if you're lucky. I've seen
them jam in such ways to even break the end off the drive shaft and the axle
stub on the differential.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Craig Cowan
Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2013 6:18 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: cv, wheel bearings, or both?
I've never heard of a rear cv on a vanagon failing catastrophically enough
to affect driving.
Generally they just start to clunk when turning one way.
Yep, 1 wheel drive in snow. GOOD snow tires help alot.
Otherwise a 2wd vanagon is "ehh" in snow.
The droning could also be a transmission related issue, such as a failing
Ring/Pinion Gear or Bearing.
Rule out wheel bearings first and change your transmission fluid if you
never have.
-Craig
On Thu, Jan 3, 2013 at 5:59 PM, Zoran Mladen <zmaninco@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I would agree that the droning is likely a wheel bearing.
>
> As far as the one wheel drive...that is correct! These vans...as most
> cars are...is a one wheel drive vehicle. Whichever rear wheel has the
> lesser resistance will spin. Hence, if you raise one rear wheel in
> the air, the van is not going anywhere.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Jan 3, 2013, at 15:35, Ed Duntz <eduntz@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> > As soon as it's not quite so cold out, I'll jack up the van and do a
> little more investigating, but until then, I pose this question here.
> This is about my 1984 Vanagon.
> >
> > I have two symptoms. One is a noise from the rear which I think
> > might
> best be described as a "droning." I hear it almost all the time that
> the vehicle is in motion. I haven't really listened for it at low
> speeds, but I hear it when I'm going about 30 mph, my average speed on
> my back roads. It is more prominent when cornering to the left. I hear
> it whether the van is in gear or not, and whether the clutch is in or
> out. This is what makes me think it may be a wheel bearing.
> >
> > My second symptom makes me wonder if I have a cv joint issue. I
> > realize
> that when a cv joint goes, it usually means that the vehicle won't
> move, as the transmission can't turn one axle if the other has a bad
> cv. But I was traveling on snow, and I wonder if that allowed the
> wheels to turn independently and made a difference. I was traveling up
> a slight incline on snow and the van went up the hill partially
> sideways, probably at a 30 degree angle. It seemed like one wheel was
> turning more than the other, and I had to steer accordingly so that
> the van went up the hill in my lane, but at an angle. There was not
> significant difference in the rear tires to make me think that had a large
impact.
> >
> > Any thoughts are appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Ed
>
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