Date:         Thu, 02 Jan 1997 05:40:59 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Richard Paverd <rpaverd@ibm.net>
Subject:      Re: BIG VAN LOAD

Its amazing what we did when we were younger....!

About 20 years ago, when I was at university (for those of you who might
be interested - University of Natal, Durban, South Africa) I was asked
by the underwater club if I could help them carry a container of
seawater from the aquarium to fill their new (large) fish tank.  Well,
the container didn't look that large, so I took the middle seat out of
my 71 breadloaf and we loaded it in. It just fitted in, which should
have made me suspicious right away.

At the aquarium, the container was filled, and off we went...  
Immediately, something felt strange;  the steering was HEAVY, and the
pull off was SLOW...

As we gathered speed, just as a matter of interest, I asked the
underwater club member who was with me how much water was in the
container. "About 2,500 liters he replied.  Suddenly all things were
clear !  2,500 liters equates to 2,500 kilograms which is near enough
5,500 lbs plus myself and two other passengers!

I immediately had to concentrate a lot more.  Not only was this an
excessively heavy load, it was also a LIVE load in all kinds of ways. 
Coming to a stop at traffic lights was an excercise in itself - apply
brakes early and as smoothly as possible and then handle the jerks as
the water sloshed initially forward, then backward, then forward again. 
Cornering was simiraly tricky and, needless to say, was handled very
carefully.

The breadloaf handled this load without a problem and went on to give me
many more years of good service.

Richard Paverd
86 GL