Date:         Thu, 14 Nov 96 20:53:32 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      cup holders! getchur red hot cupholders rycheer!

On Thurs, 14 Nov 1996 Tom Forhan (for whom "pop-top" has an ENTIRELY
different meaning!) said these words (or words to this effect):

>Hey! Stop laughing! This is serious!

<sniffle, choke, Guffaaaaw, Chortle!> :)

>My buddy's Carat came with all the original cupholders broken or
>removed, and I'd like to get four for the Syncro Westie as well.
>I saw the thread in the archives about OEM cupholders
>being seen at K-Mart or Wal-Mart. Well, around here, no luck.
>(1) Anybody seen any lately?

see below.

>(2) Where?

see even belower.

>(3) Are they really identical to the VW unit, or just similar.

just similar. possibly better, in one case.

here's the old info from my "what have i done to my bus" file:

drink holders: the best i have found are from Herringtons ...
1-800-622-5221 order number B832 = white/vertical, B833 =black/vertical.
they have one that fits horizontal surfaces, too, but i couldn't make
much use of it. now the gotcha: they are $9.95 EACH!  yeah, well, i
tried all the wal-mart and k-mart ones, but they just wouldn't hold a
big enough drink cup ... like they hand out at the Mickey D's and such.
so, after wasting money for several years, i broke down and bought the
good stuff. these holders expand to hold almost anything.  i put them in
the back for the second and third seat people. in the front, for the
driver and passenger, i used some Rubber Maid K-mart types that have a
drink holder molded in with a ? holder ... sort of a two-compartment job,
with a rubber flap to fix the thing into the window glass. i permanently
fixed mine to the plastic heater cover (in front of the gearshift) with
some more stove bolts (short ones) ... one drink-holder-thing on each
side of the gearshift (leaving room for the gearshift to move around).
not much of a reach down to get/put a drink, and it doesn't interfere
with my right leg when driving.

>(4) Anybody actually buy one and know who the manufacturer is;
>maybe I could contact them to find someone retailing them?

ok. back into the StoreRoom of my house. :) out with the examples of the
yet-uninstalled cup holders (gee. i've only got NINE in my bus. i need at
least TEN more to beat that dufus GM minivan (it has 17 cupholders. 17.
that's SEVENTEEN! for a 7-passenger van. go figure).

the expensive one has on it's outer cover "Expandable" and on the back
"made in Hong Kong". on the inside is "ITC Marine". the difference with
with this one is that it has "jaws" to grip the cup/drink and those jaws
can widen/expand about an inch to accomodate containers of about 3.5"
(90mm) diameter. it has steel spring clips (to keep the jaws upright) and
six pre-drilled holes in the back for mounting. availble in vertical or
horizontal mounting. costly, but nice.

at Wal-mart, in the FISHING area (of course. why, it's not save to drive
an automobile while drinking!!), is the $2.97 (your price may vary) one.
quote:
"Flip-Down Drink Holder
* High-Tech Plastic Construction
* Ideal for Boats, RVs, Vans and Other Vehicles
  Stock NO. 62128    Made in America
    Another Quality Product from
      WJB Industries * Clear Lake, Iowa 50428 * USA"
it is approximately the same (mounting) size as the others (roughly 4"
(10 cm) square), and has the six pre-drilled mounting holes, but uses
plastic spring clips to hold the cup-holding-ring. in fact, i wouldn't
call it a "cup-holding-ring", because i don't think a coffee cup would fit.
the enclosed-circle holder is about 2.8" (75mm) in diameter and will hold
only a soda/beer can or small bottle.

the next candidate was also bought at Wal-mart, but has on the cover
"L S Brown Company" on the cover. when opened, it's identical to the WJB
one above.

i recommend checking out the wal-mart ones, but i think you'll find that
the more expensive one is that much better. just my opinion. ;)

joel