Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (August 1996)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Thu, 08 Aug 1996 10:24:30 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         e freeman <efreeman@surfsouth.com>
Subject:      trip report '72 westy (quite long)

hi guys. i have been gone for a month or so, and i am now back.

i just returned to south ga from a 6500 mile around-country jaunt.

a friend and i strarted in atlanta, went to austin, tx via new orleans to pick up a friend, and then went to idaho for a backpacking trip. we returned to denver, and those two friends both rode busses back to austin, and i was left to myself. i stayed out there for a while, living in the van, and then drove back to northern indiana to visit my girlfriend, then home to south ga. i drove from northern indiana to atlanta in one day--12 hours or so at 55-65 mph! it was a bit uncomfortable but fun.

my van performed very well. we were able to speed along at 65-70 mph when the ambient temp was below 80deg F or so, but our midday speed in texas (temp 100 plus) was down to less than 50 at times. my new oil temp guage acted as a speedo. i tried to keep it under 220, and when the air temp was chilly, it stayed at around 200. i think this is pretty good, considering the huge amount of weight the van was carrying. highest speed reached was 85 in wyoming somewhere, and the lowest was first and second gear in colorado on small mountain roads.

problems: the fuel pump died in texas, and i replaced it in about 1.5 hours during dinner with a spare electric one i just happened to have along. i later replaced it with a proper mechanical one in denver. thanks to stock and custom parts store for that. after the backpacking trip, the gas mileage went way down, and the van backfired a lot. i traced the mileage problem to a clogged air filter (40 miles each way on a dusty dirt mining road into the river of no return wilderness area finished it off), and changed it in pocatello, id. near salt lake, i worked on the timing and dwell for some improvement there. the backfiring did not stop, and i was told that it could be an exhaust leak. i fixed the leak in boulder, co, but the backfiring continued(s), albeit abated somewhat. it frightened people into hiding in denver. ;)

the trip back from denver was uneventful--i drove from denver to culver, in in a little over 2 days, and the van did not complain. i still get a lot of backfiring, though. i will post another letter about that.

i saw lots of vw people. there were several living in their vans in boulder--alex and sam from virginia or somewhere and several others. it was neat to see others doing the same as i was doing. i saw a caravan of 3 seventies campers in kansas travelling west on I-70. they waved at me. the vans were painted in funky colours; anyone know these guys?

well, i will end this so you guys can go on with your lives.

i guess the moral is, you can drive around the country in a vw van and make good time, and not abysmal mileage. i averaged about 20-21mpg the entire time, and that is with a lot of weight.

have fun

evan


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

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.