Date:         Tue, 11 Oct 1994 18:04:29 -0800 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         John Ritchie <ritchiej@ucs.orst.edu>
Subject:      Re: those cab separators



Thom wrote:
> I wrote:
> >I don't know what the purpose is but I strongly suspect that they add a great
> >deal to the structural integrity of the bus.  If you look at them closely
> >they're welded in and have what looks like a major support bar running along
> >
>  
> But how are walk-thru busses supported?
> 
> Thom

My bus is a walk-thru bus, and so is Sami's, I think (`75, right?).  The thing
I think Sami is talking about is the little mini-wall that is behind each seat
but has a gap in it for access to the rear.  I just went out and re-inspected
mine, and not only is the side of each of the little walls welded to the side
of the bus but there is a tubular reinforcement bar running around the top and
down the inside of each mini-wall.  It's also welded to the wheel well and/or
floor.  It looks to me like a structural peice, probably to reduce
side-to-side flexing.  Think about it; on the side with the sliding door
there's basically nothing to hold the side of the bus square except the little
door pillar and the metal in the back.  Although this is probably enough for
most purposes I would bet that the little mini-walls were meant to provide
more support under extreme circumstances (age, collisions).

I AM curious, though, what later-model vanagons do for the same support (if it
is, indeed, support that these little walls provide).  Vanagons don't have the
walls behind the seats, do they?  I haven't seen the inside of many vanagons,
but the ones I've seen have free-standing seats like minivans and the like
(thinking of Steve's `91).

> -- 
> >> Work is for people who don't know how to surf.

Heh!  I wish!  8-)

John