Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 20:36:10 -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)
In-Reply-To: <53FFAAAB.70202@colorado.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
I did make some improvement on my vanagon (also running Nokian M&S
almost new) by working on the corner balance....I got it to just be awful
rather than pitiful...
There does not seem to be a way to adjust the ride height (and the
corner balance) without adding shims, but a properly corner balanced
vehicle is really a lot better than most unmeasured unadjusted vehicles.
Think: Your old dining room table with the matchbook under one
corner.......... The four tires are very similar to a table....If your
vehicle was put on a set of scales, like used for race cars, one on each of
the four tires ("corners") you would most likely find that two of them,
the kitty-corner ones, are carrying significantly more of the vehicle
load...and it doesn't take much to have a vehicle behaving like your old
dining room table without the matchbook.... You try to go and the weight
transfers back, mainly onto the one wheel that sticks down the most. You
put on the brakes and the opposite happens, often lifting the rear wheel
right off the ground....Your vehicle rocks on the two wheels, the other two
just have incidental traction.....
A way to visualize your traction in action....sorry... is to take two
pencils or straws in one hand, crossed in the palm of your hand, with your
palm down....so the sticks or straws form an X....Hold them in an X and
rotate your wrist around and up and down...watch the ends of the sticks
straws. The ends of these are equivalent to what loads your tires see as
you corner, brake and accelerate...
Now imagine that your tires are rocking like that table, because one
corner is too high and is causing the kitty corner wheels to have a big
load, the other two to be hanging there, not doing much...
On tightly sprung vehicles like our vanagons, just a few fractions of an
inch throws things way off.
I found to even get close I need to shim my right rear spring about 1/4"
with a metal donut and that gave me better traction....and handling..
Too much involved in suspensions and ride height to go into it here,
really...but there is plenty on the net or in books if you want to learn
some interesting stuff.
On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 3:18 PM, Richard A Jones <Jones@colorado.edu> wrote:
> 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
>
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