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Date:         Thu, 28 Aug 2014 08:49:11 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Tranny musings (or, getting stuck on my lawn)
Comments: To: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To:  <1409239447.6571.YahooMailNeo@web164603.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

The E brake does help....sometimes in a very limited way. When one wheel has dug a hole in sand you can stop it digging deeper, but that usually just causes the other wheel to spin instead. Anytime you lose traction with a wheel, chances are there is not much traction anyhow and transferring the drive to the other wheel is not often effective, though it is worth a try before you get out the shovel or the tow chain.

A somewhat solution is to pile a bunch of weight over the back wheels. That helps, but you have to be aware of whatever you use as ballast may become deadly missiles in the event of a crash, if the ballast is not very well secured. There are documented incidents where people have been killed by flying objects inside a vehicle during crashes or roll overs...

On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 8:24 AM, Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Regarding the lack of LSD on a given Vanagon, it has been suggested often > here that you can improve your traction on slippery surfaces by applying a > little of the emergency brake to help cut wheelspin on the spinning wheel. > I have not had occasion to try this myself. > > Stephen > > > On Thursday, August 28, 2014 10:13 AM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> > wrote: > > > I was just under my 84 5sp/inline powered Van last night, adding gear oil > and checking things out. > > In my opinion, the 5sp manual tranny is an excellent unit in a > Vanagon...The gear spacing adds a lot of driveability, it seems, when > compared to what is written about 4sp manual or automatic Vanagons. > > I find my very low first gear (essentially a granny gear) handy for > off-road or very steep situations and some help with the very poor traction > that Vanagons seem to have. > I usually skip using my first gear in every-day driving, except when > stopped on an uphill or on ice, snow or sand.. > .The spacing between the upper gears allows me to keep my highway momentum > when I hit a long steep grade, by timely downshifting from 5th to 4th as my > speed drops through around 65mph. This brings my inline motor's rpms to a > comfortable 4000 rpms (the upper limit that I choose for sustained high > loads)...I rarely have to use my 3rd gear on hills, only when traffic or > tight curves are encountered, and then I can quickly get right back up to > 55mph and ~4000 rpms in ,4th and hold that, comfortably at less than full > throttle.... > > The Net-rap on the 5sp is that it is "weaker"....Mine has shown no signs > of weakness and I've driven a lot of very tough miles with heavy loading > and very rough terrain.(eg. 7 times down Hwy 395..Portland to San Diego > with a weighed 4900lb vehicle) .I did, when I first bought the van with > the 5sp already installed, re-furbish all the shift linkages using a kit > from one of our fine list vendors.... It's still, after 60k of my miles, a > real pleasure to shift and drive. I will, however, soon be replacing an > axle oil seal..mine has recently begun slowly leaking my expensive Swepco > gear oil. > > I am also looking into some type of traction enhancing differential. > If and when I do have to do major service on my transmission I will most > assuredly include something to enhance the very poor traction these > vanagons have. Some will chime in and say..."heck, mine has Great > traction"...but over the past few years, here on the list, getting stuck on > grass has been mentioned numerous times....THAT is poor traction..... I'd > be happy with a 'locker' like a Syncro, but syncro parts are way out of my > price range and rare. > > Once moving, I can usually 'drive around' the crappy traction I have, but > when someone gets stuck in front of me or there's a long deep snow climb > (like my driveway sometimes), forget it! I also find my campsite > selection often is limited by my need to be conservative with the vanagon, > to not get stuck... When that perfect (or empty) camp site is down in a > depression, or perhaps on dirt with later predicted rain...maybe on a > deserted beach somewhere....I have to pass on these, often negating the > advantage a Vanagon has, being smaller and lighter, over real RVs and > camping vans... > > I've had experience with various limited slip solutions on other vehicles > but not vanagons. They do work amazingly well. Not a substitute for 4wd > but good enough for a prudent driver to get through reasonable low traction > situations without chaining up. For my application, I think I'll be > looking at modifying my own transaxle to make it lock, hopefully with some > type of mechanical cable device activating the locking mechanism. Then > when I do get into a sticky situation I can lock the diff and get out or > through, then go back to your basic one wheel drive... > > > On Wed, Aug 27, 2014 at 8:19 PM, Roy Nicholl <RNicholl@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote: > > > All, > > > > While I have not had time to fully hunt down the "new" surging idle issue > > on the Hyena ('88 2.1l WBX Westy), I am slowly working through all the > > suggestions given here last week and employing a copy of the Digifant Pro > > manual. > > > > Dennis raised the possibility of the 3/4 slider is moving with input > shaft > > as the cause of my shifter moving with throttle change. I have since > > inspected and checked the torque on the engine and tranny mounts and all > > seem within spec. I have also confirmed that I do not get this movement > in > > first or second gear. Short of dropping the tranny, what other > diagnostic > > tests can be used to confirm/refute Dennis' rather expensive hypothesis? > > > > Assuming Dennis is correct, I have the opportunity to acquire an ACW > > tranny from a '91 with only 125K on it. I was thinking about updating > that > > one then swapping out my current transmission {I also have a line on a > > 5-spd ASR transmission, but it has a diesel bell housing and would > require > > finding a 5-spd linkage. However it does have a 40% LSD. It is also > > significantly more money). > > > > One thing I have notice in my short time as a Vanagon owner is the Hyena > > gets stuck much more easily than the '66 Westy. I actually had to use > the > > TDi Jetta to pull the Vanagon out of the wilderness that is our lawn the > > other day. You would think such an undignified event would have shamed > the > > Hyena {or at least its owner} into not parking on wet surfaces, but less > > than days later a similar event occurred climbing out a drive at a > friends > > cottage. I have started investigating adding a limited slip or torque > > biasing differential to the tranny when rebuilt, but the projected cost > is > > not encouraging .... I have only found one or two offerings (and suspect > > they may both be manufactured by the same provider) and the cost is more > > than what I would pay for the tranny itself. > > > > Could someone with experience with a TBD/LSD weigh in on whether it is > > really worth the cost? Are their providers other than peloquin? What > > impact on my already pathetic fuel efficiency would it have? > > > > Roy > > > > >


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