Date:         Sun, 24 Jul 2022 08:09:50 -0700
Reply-To:     Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject:      Re: Trailing arm replacement
Comments: To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <BL0PR05MB4916B1508B600D3A04731392A0929@BL0PR05MB4916.namprd05.prod.outlook.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Dennis,

Before the trailing arm mod, my ride height was about 19 1/8”.

Btw, this is all on empty van, unladen.

Now I have 20” rear and just below 19” front. I’m adding a small spacer to my spring perches up front to even things out.

I expect it to be 19.75”

With the rear higher than the front now, it does push the front down a little.

I expect I’ll be at 19.25 , give or take, when loaded for trips.

Suspension drop? Oh yeah , the vanagon has suspension travel I’ve heard. Meagre.

I’m not bothered at all at any extension loss with the van being at 19.25”.

I’ve had fair bit of experience on the rough roads we like to go on. Lack of lots of articulation is not a problem.

Alistair 


> On Jul 24, 2022, at 7:11 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> With the amount of lift have you given thought to available suspension drop? You need to be sure to have enough travel for angled ramp approaches and also for a tire failure event. 
> 
> Dennis
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> On Behalf Of Alistair Bell
> Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2022 8:53 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Trailing arm replacement
> 
> 
> Dave
> 
> Thanks, but I didn’t make the arm! Just the angled spring pads and plastic.
> 
> The angled metal part, was about 1/8” mild steel. 
> 
> Alistair 
> 
>> On Jul 23, 2022, at 2:15 PM, ddbjorkman@verizon.net wrote:
>> 
>> Wow Alistair!  You are quite a metal worker, from a guy who worked with some excellent sheet metal men.  What material did you use for the trailing arm?
>> 
>> Dave B.
>> the Boston one
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Sent: Sat, Jul 23, 2022 12:41 pm
>> Subject: [VANAGON] Trailing arm replacement
>> 
>> Finally getting round to posting a few pics of the trailing arm chore 
>> I did l= ast month. I had modified the arms , a welded angled spring 

>> plate. Seems to w= ork so far :-)
>> 
>> Blog post here
>> 
>> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshuf
>> ti.blog%2F2022%2F07%2F23%2Fvanagon-trailing-arm-replacement%2F&amp;dat
>> a=05%7C01%7C%7C802e72f1afb94fc3b8ae08da6d109126%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435
>> aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637942215169734031%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJW
>> IjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%
>> 7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=jDHK%2BTFINTIrts6BPFwsxQ5B7WcWo234KoUqQuGhJIY%3D&am
>> p;reserved=0
>> 
>> 
>> Alistair=20=