Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:57:19 -0600
Reply-To: JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Syncros. Positractions, Peloquins, and One Wheel Drives
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Wishing I had one of the first three, but unfortunately, mine are the
latter - the one-wheel drive Vanagons.
Alabama really got clobbered yesterday with a snowstorm. By nothern
standards it wasn't much - two inches - maybe three in places. But strom
was expected to hit the southern part of the state - but it didn't do
much there - but did do much further north - and it caught the
weather-men in the back room with their britches down. As the day
progressed - the highways and by-ways became clogged with cars
colliding, sliding off the road, getting stuck on bridges, huge multicar
pile-ups, tractor trailer rigs jack-knifed across the roads, a total
mess. Schools closed, but the buses couldn't take kids home - they spent
the night in the school buildings - teachers with them of course - they
couldn't go home either. Parents couldn't get their little kids out of
day care - or nursery - nobody could go anywhere. People out on the
highways were walking to shelter any where they could find it. Temps
were 15 degrees. Many wound up spending the night in their vehicles. The
roads are still pretty much closed as I write this and people are still
being told by the DOT to stay home and off the r5oads. A thaw is
expected to begin Wednesday night and be well under way by Thursday -
with temps moving from mid to upper twenties into the 40's. IN the
meantime - it's a mix of water, ice and snow out there, and the City of
Birmingham where I am is shut down. Fortunately I'm well provisioned and
have heat - so long as power stays on.
This brings me to the point about the vans. I wonder how good a Syncro,
or a positrac or a peloquin would have performed in this. In Alaska we
always joked about people from the states bringing their four wheel
drives up to Alaska just to run off the road and get them stuck in the
snowbank. I laugh about this because in all my years in Alaska, the
first 15 I never had a 4WD vehicle - and in the last 15 years I only had
one for about 4 years. Most of that 30 years I drove a VW bus - s '68
loaf and later an '85 GL Vanagon. Never needed the 4WD. Would have been
nice - but not necessary.. Here - yesterday - many, many 4 WD vehicle
drivers found themselves off the road or in the ditch or in a collision,
or sliding across the highway or backward down a hill in spite of their
4-wheelie-ness.
All that being said - I don't ever expect to own a syncro - but at
rebuild for my tranny, I fully expect to have the positraction rear end
installed.
Has anyone actually experienced driving the peloquin or the prositrac
under adverse conditions? Can you comment please.
Thanks,
John in Snowy Icy Birmingham. AL
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