Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 09:27:41 PDT
Reply-To: Mike Finkbiner <mike_l_f@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mike Finkbiner <mike_l_f@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Westy Weight
Content-type: text/plain
Volks -
After all of the discussion about how heavy duty a T*** you need, I
decided to weigh my Westy.
I work at the University of Idaho, and the campus steam plant burns
several semi loads of wood chips a day, so we have nice combination
scale and tipper to dump the chips into the silo. I can drive onto it
any time and find out how heavy I am. The plant manager likes it,
because it is +/- 20 pounds, so he can weigh himself and round down
20 pounds <G>.
The vehicle is an '87 Westy. I weighed it yesterday after I got back
from an unsuccesful tour of Spokane and Coeur d'Alene wrecking yards
(I need a front rubber bumper strip). It was almost empty of fuel
(I'm getting ready to replace the fuel tank cross vent line, and might
have to pull the tank), had no people, water or camping supplies on
board, just a few tools.
Total weight of van rounded up - 3740#
Front axle - 1700#
Rear axle - 1780#
Obviously the axle weight is low, perhaps because that was at the end
of the scale, not the middle. They were on the same distance, about
half the wheelbase, so I marked them both up by the percentage
difference between their sum and the total weight. Unfortunately,
that makes these figures less solid.
Adjusted Front Axle ~ 1825#
Adjusted Rear Axle ~ 1915#
To figure full up weight, add
14 gallons gas ~ 85#
12 gallons water ~100#
4 people ~600#
Add camping gear ~500#
Added ~1285#
Total ~5025#
If you assume that ~900# of the additional weight goes on the rear
axle, (not likely because ~300# of people are up front) that would
bring the total rear axle weight to about 2800 lbs.
The next question is - what does my Westy weigh full? Do I carry 500#
of gear? I hope to be heading over to the Columbia National Wildlife
Refuge in a couple of weeks, so I'll try to weigh it before I take
off. If any of the rest of you are traveling full, and pass a grain
elevator, they have a scale, and would probably be happy to weigh you.
A lot of them are unattended, and have an LED display that shows your
weight when you drive on.
What does your Westy weigh?
- Mike Finkbiner
'87 Westy
PS - I sold my '83 last week. It was a sad feeling watching her drive
away, but the new owner promises to take her fishing a lot, so I wish
them well, and lots of trout. He was kind enough to let me keep the
VW symbol from the front grill, so I could replace the missing one on
my '87. I like the feeling of continuity.
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