Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2013 14:06:14 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: DPO damage from using the wrong shocks
In-Reply-To: <CAFnDXk2hn8Hc9AtCVHfs_78gjWx3=FR7z-CxJZP2gjstvzyYfQ@mail.gmail.com>
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I'd say the correct repair is a set of used stamped lower arms .
or far better..
upgrade to the 'whole shebang' from a later vanagon..
the cast lower arms start midway thourgh 85 ..
you need the anti-sway bar too ..
I just upgrade to the spindles that come with the cast arms , just leave
them attached at the lower ball joint as long as it's good there.
I know for sure that 82's have underbuilt outer front wheel bearings..
your 83 might to, not sure,
but that also is another upgrade you could do at the whole time.
there is a minor difference between power steering and non-power
steering spindles ..
but not enough that putting PS ones on your rig would be a problem ..
and heck ..
might as well upgrade to PS too ! ..but that's a huge job, if you do it
the pure factory way. There are small cut-outs in the frame near the
filler neck for stock metal PS lines to go though. I had to cut those
myself converting an 83 to PS .
86 and up have the later style brakes ...
that would be the really good full upgrade..
86 and later cast lower arms, the later front brakes, and PS too !
It would be a whole new machine then.
Fitting PS to a diesel vanagon engines can be a bit involved sometimes.
Your situation also could have been caused by a part sold as fitting
your van ..
but not actually being correct.
For example .....there are mufflers sold to fit 2.1 waterboxer vanagons ..
but they are smaller diameter than stock, so the muffler bracket
over-straps are too long ..
it's a part sold to supposedly fit that model van, that just plain is
not shaped correctly , not even close.
Right length.....very wrong diameter.
scott
On 4/1/2013 6:45 AM, Jim Felder wrote:
> Just thought I would mention this example of how using the wrong part can
> cause unexpected trouble.
>
> Yesterday I complete my front shock install, completing all four shocks on
> my 83. These, of course, were made with the stamped steel control arms.
>
> I easily removed the bottom bolts and the shocks dropped right out, but the
> new ones would not go back in. I puzzled over this for a while and finally
> figured out the reason.
>
> The old shocks had not been made specifically for a Vanagon. Where the new
> replacements have a solid steel sleeve at the bottom that serves as a
> spacer that fits in the box-shaped opening in the control arm, the ones
> that came out had rubber extensions to fill up the space on either side of
> what was otherwise a narrow eye. So, instead of steel, there was 3/4 inch
> or so of rubber on each side of the shock.
>
> This allowed the grease monkeys employed by the PO or the PO himself to
> torque down on the bolt and nut, crushing the control arm metal to the
> point that the new shock could not be installed without grinding on it a
> little.
>
> Everything seems OK but long term I want to figure out how to get the sheet
> metal back out to its original dimensions. This is what happens when
> somebody lets the wrong parts get put on a car by the wrong people. The
> rest of the car was pretty well taken care of and I know the shop who cared
> for it. They would not have made this mess, which must have been done by a
> generic shock place.
>
> Shocking.
>
> Jim
>
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