Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 08:06:25 -0500
Reply-To: Lawrence Johnson <ljohnson@HALHINET.ON.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Lawrence Johnson <ljohnson@HALHINET.ON.CA>
Subject: Re: Syncro Alignment & Vibrations
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The material in this document is copywrite 1994 by Derek Drew, 487 Columbus
Ave. #3R, New York, NY 10024 (212)-580-4459. It may be reproduced and
redistributed for any non-commercial purpose provided proper credit is
given to
the author. Contact the author for permission to reproduce in a commercial
work.
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Before giving you the specs, a disussion of how to lift the van is in
order.
Since I regularly drive my Vanagon Syncro Camper on rough terrible roads
and
bash the underside, I have undertaken to lift it a bit. I lifted it about
1" by
buying BF Goodrich Radial All-Terrain tires, in light truck size 27 x 8.50
for
the 14" alloy rims. (I love these bigger tires, and they provide excellent
handling because the sidewalls are relatively stiff, but they kill the
performance of the motor due to their effect on the gearing. You will feel
like
you are in a 1970s era bus again, but I feel the tradeoff is well worth it
for
my application).
Another method I used to raise the van is to raise the rear end. I did this
as
follows: in between the rear springs and the body of the vehicle there is a
small doughnut sized wedge of about 3/4 inch thickness. I went to the
dealer
and bought a pile of these little wedges and put 2 or 3 more on each side
of
the rear of the vehicle. I am still puzzling over how to lift the front of
the
vehicle so right now it tilts down at the front a bit. Any ideas on how to
easily lift the front of a Syncro Vanagon, guys?
------------BELOW IS WHAT YOU GIVE THE ALIGNMENT MECHANIC----------------
VANAGON SYNCRO --'86-'91
ALIGNMENT SPECS FOR CAMPER MODEL WITH DUAL BATTERIES UP FRONT
[Proper specifications for camper are NOT INCLUDED on Hunter
machines. Use the following.]
ORDER OF WORK
Alignments MUST be performed in the following order to avoid
one adjustment from changing other adjustments:
1st Castor
2nd Camber
3rd Toe
SPECIFICATIONS -- 30-40% laden
Left Front Right Front
-------------------- -----------------------
Min Max. Min. Max.
-------------------- -----------------------
-0.27 +0.40 Camber -0.27 +0.40
+3.8 +4.4 Caster +3.8 +4.4
-0.033 +0.033 Toe -0.033 +0.033
(-0.017") (+0.017") Toe (inches) (-0.017") (+0.017")
Front
-----------------
Min. Max.
-----------------
Cross Camber 0 0.3
Cross Caster 0 0.5
Total Toe -0.07 +0.07
Toe in inches: (-0.033") (+0.033")
Setback 0 0.5
Left Rear Right Rear
-------------------- -----------------------
Min. Max. Min. Max.
-------------------- -----------------------
-0.67 0.00 Camber -0.67 0.00
-0.08 +0.26 Toe (each) -0.08" +0.26
(-0.04") +(0.13") (in inches) (-0.04") +(0.13")
-----------------------------------------------------------
Rear
-----------------
Min. Max.
----------------- FINAL
Cross Camber 0 0.3 This page
Total Toe -0.16 +0.52 based on
total toe in inches: (-0.08") +(0.26") measurement
Thrust angle -0.10 +0.10 page 44.3a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes on calculations (for your own use/reference)
1. Calculating front camber spec:
Notes: The front camber spec for the regular Vanagon
peaks in the middle and then comes back down.
However, for the Syncro the spec seems to drop
directly. My figure should probably be centered
around zero. Thus:
+5' +- 20' is a good compromise
Range in degrees is 0.7*.
This translates into:
+0.0825* +/-0.334
This translates into:
+0.4165 -0.2515
2. Calculating the front castor spec:
Set arbitrarily at halfway between published spec
and halfway point.
3. Calculating the rear camber spec:
Empty Full
+0.25 Max -0.50
-0.25 Nominal -1.17*
-0.42 Min. -1.84
Has a 0.67* spread.
So, set this at -0.00 max.
-0.67 min.
4. Calculating the rear toe spec:
Empty Full
+0.125"
-0.041"
WEIGHT INFORMATION:
Premise: The empty non-camper syncro weighs in at between
3,641 and 4,000 lbs. depending on the model. The max weight
is 5512. The halfway point is therefore between 4577 and
4894 lbs.
My vehicle weighs in at about the halfway point, since I
weigh 4680 empty. Being conservative, I will produce a set
of alignment specs for a vehicle 33% laden.
RANDOM WEIGHT STATISTICS:
TOTAL Front Axel Rear Axel
Syncro Camper
GVWR 5512 2866 3042
Empty 3950
Actual 4620? 2310? 2310?
Pub. curb R&T 4000 1972 2028
Pub. curb C&D 4000
Extrapo camper 4350
Non-Syncro Camper
Empty 3960
Full 5280
Cargo weight 1320
Non-Camper Syncro 2.1 litre
Empty 3661 (3689) 1793 1867
Observed empty 4045 (4109) 1982 2063
Cargo weight 1929
Implied GVWR* 5590
(*meaning empty + cargo)
Non-Syncro, Non-Camper
Empty 3670
Road and Track states that Syncro adds 330 lbs to the 3670
non syncro Vanagon and the camper adds 350 lbs as well.
TRANSLATING DEGREES, MINUTES, AND INCHES:
Degrees Minutes Inches
0.01* = 0.6' = 0.005"
0.0165* = 1' = 0.00825"
0.025* = 1.5' = 0.0125"
0.05* = 3' = 0.025"
0.10* = 6' = 0.05"
0.167* = 10' = 0.0825"
0.25* = 15' = 0.125"
0.5* = 30' = 0.25"
0.75* = 45' = 0.375"
1* = 60' = 0.50"
Degrees devided by 2 = inches
2* = 1.00"
3* = 1.50"
4* = 2.00"
5* = 2.50"
Inches to Minutes
1.00" = 15'
Derek Drew
487 Columbus Ave. #3R
New York, NY 10024
212-580-4459
Internet: derekdrew@aol.com
Malcolm Stebbins wrote:
> Before I took it in to get it aligned I tried to check out what was
> posted on the web. On some web page someplace (I forget where) , there
> was a hot link to "Syncro Alignment" but every time I clicked on it, it
> came up "no data in file" - or some such.
>
> Can anyone confirm Sam Scholten's observation (no offence Sam)??
> Any hints/tips for alignments for Syncros (or a web page?)
>
> Thanks Malcolm Stebbins
