A Tale of Two Vanagons (apologies to Dickens) 1) My '81 passenger Vanagon was my driver for years--many ski trip into the mtns. Traction was always a worry, even with M+S tires. This was for 20 years. I had to put chains on when we had a big dump or to get up some of the steep roads to go skiing. 150,000 miles of experience. A couple of winters ago I put studded Nokians on the rear. Those made an enormous difference in traction, especially getting started on inclines. (I've always had concrete splash blocks or sand tubes on the engine deck.) I think it proves that a real winter tire (with the mountain/ snowflake symbol) really helps and is worth it. 2) My '87 Syncro Westy does not have a locking rear diff. It never got stuck in snow, but I was always nervous about sand. On one beach in Baja with Mark it almost bogged down. I got to harder sand just as my momentum was expiring. That made me cautious about sand. When I had the tranny rebuilt I added a Peloquin LSD. I can really tell the difference in sand. I have been into Canyon de Chelly and on the Medano Pass Road in Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park (twice) with no problems. Some with lockers got stuck in Canyon de Chelly. I can feel improvement when crawling over rough stuff, too. I consider the Peloquin one of the best upgrades to my Syncro, along with the Subaru 2.5--and the Propex furnace. ;-) If I wanted to put money into my '81, I would put a Peloquin in it. If it had to be my winter driver, I would for sure. Richard Boulder |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.