Bigger brakes on their way.

Labor Day sale at Go Westy meant I bought the Bigger Brakes kit.

A bit tweaked over a $90 UPS ground shipping charge though.  That box ought to be silver plated. 

The late model spindles, rotors and calipers I received few weeks ago was $38 for UPS ground and also from California.  I ship 250 pound ovens, valued at $7000-10,000 for $250 and that is with packing insurance and lift gate service!

Seems a big excessive.

Still patchy drizzle.  So I broke out sandblaster, hung the sway bar beneath my ez up tent and sandblasted it.  Cleaned it off with some enamel reducer, primed and painted with Imron.  Moved it to my garage to dry (which will take a few days to properly cure).

At least I got something done on the van.

Supposed to rain again tomorrow, so I am thinking about digging back into the dash. Blue foil needs replacement, have a couple tweeters I have needed installed, controls on heater are tight, usual stuff.

UPDATE - received the kit.  It was 73 pounds, plus the other box for the hubs.

The hub kit seems to be a complete kit, with everything except thrust washers.  Studs are pre-installed and I guess if you do not have spacers, they will be sufficient for most wheels. 

 

The caliper assemblies are noticeably larger.  The carrier is huge, as is the reservoir behind the piston.  From a quick measurement, it looks as if the piston diameter is the same size as stock (2.25 inches) but the claim is that the larger mass of the rotor will increase the stopping power.

The outer diameter of the new rotor is roughly the same as the original '84 rotor.  This is a hair larger than the later models diameter.

 

Here is to hoping the larger mass of the rotor and the addition of the BMW booster I have will dramatically add to the stopping ability of the Thingamajigger.

 

The expense is up there for a nominal change in stopping power, but what is my family's safety worth? 

Suspension . . . Next steps

Tomorrow I start the preparations for the front end changes.  It will be down a week, but with an action packed September planned, I want it done. And considering the Labor Day weekend warriors, I will choose to stay local and continue camping when they are all done for the year.

First things first - need to install the replacement compressor.  Then organize the garage to provide maximum working space on both sides. And hope for appropriate weather.

Will need the compressor to do some sandblasting- on the sway bar, and the undercarriage before pulling it in to the garage in order to minimize the mess inside.  Hoping to have all blasting done in a couple days as I do need to work during the day. Need a few bags of blast media, as I won't be using the cabinet and some paint / under coating.

There is not much under there that I plan on reusing, so after I remove the wheels and the shocks I only need be concerned with the coating on the new springs.

The upper control arms, lower control arms, sway links, radius arms and spindles are all ready for install.  Even bought some stainless cup washers and sleeves as a kit from T3 Technique this week as something I overlooked.  Had the sleeves, just not the cup washers.

Looking for a Labor Day sale to order my bigger brakes.  Had a near miss last trip that I want to avoid if it happens again: little 'back to college' airhead, with her brand new Honda Civic chose to stop for a yellow light within 10 feet of the intersection with a big Westy and a Suburban directly behind her.  Her tires squealed, never mind ours.  We veered away to each side and avoided a bad situation.  If my Westy did not roll up over her car on its own, the Suburban behind me would have finished the job.

Update - Got my blast media, procured a few tyvek spray suits as the DuPont Corlar I will be applying underneath is nasty stuff when wet and extremely durable when dried. Ordered up the Corlar and will be picking that up today.

From the DuPont site:

DuPont™ Corlar® 934S™ 3.5 VOC Primer-Sealer

A two-component, 3.5 VOC, non-sanding epoxy primersealer that delivers excellent appearance (very smooth, very little texture) and excellent corrosion protection. Recommended for use over properly treated metal substrates.

Oooooh, sounds toxic and downright indestructible.

Update 28 Aug - weather is not cooperating.  Rainy today.  Reinstalled compressor, and relocated first water separator 5 more feet away from compressor as when it was 4 feet up the line the air was still too hot to condense and be separated. Moved another 5 feet, might help but I do still have the second separator that moves where I need it.

Update 29 Aug - still raining.  Too wet to sandblast.  Starting to think my timeline may need to bounce back a bit. Won't take much more than a few hours to strip the front suspension out.  Then a few more to prepare for sandblasting, couple to do the blasting and another to clean up.

1800 miles and all is well

Just back from a trip to the North Carolina Outer Banks.

1800 miles of travel to and from an amazing seashore.  Not a single issue that prevented us from our next adventure.  My brakes squeaked a bit, but probably from glazing over in some deadlocked New Jersey traffic.  Also have some new squeaks from suspension, which I am sure is due to the alignment, but will be alleviated in the new suspension build.

Lots of comments wherever we went, and even a moving photo session when we passed a couple V Dub tuners.  They caught up and took a bunch of photos.  The wife fit right into it, playing the Asian Vanagon race queen.  Funny stuff.

Guess where I was . . .

Dash cluster blue foil

Since the alignment, I only went for a small test ride.

When I got on to the open road, I realized the speedometer was not working correctly and was reading far less than I knew I was going.  Verified this on the speed box app on my phone. Need this to properly judge when I need to stop for fuel as my fuel gauge is not really accurate.  Something I have just dealt with, and find easier to just start looking for fuel when the odometer reaches 225.  That gives me a buffer of 75 miles before emergency backup.

Movie reference

Wingman: Fuel status says we seriously look now.

Chojinchef: Wait a minute. Fuel status? You have a reserve, don't you?

Wingman: Yes, sir. I've got a ten minute reserve... but I'm not allowed to invade that except in time of war.

Chojinchef: Listen, mister, if you don't get me on board with some goddamn fuel, that just might be what you'll have with my wife! You got me? Now you have ten more minutes' worth of fuel, we keep looking ten more minutes!  

Lifted the cover off, reached in and found the cable not plugged completely into the speedo.  Although when I tried to plug it in, the cable was too tight.  Alleviated this underneath, and again reached in to plug the cable in correctly.  This time I got a burn on the underside of my wrist, and I watched smoke wisp up from the cluster.  The foil had separated and had arc'd against itself.

I lost the directional indicator, the temp gauge, and the fuel gauge. Have another at home, but this week I will be without I guess.

Speedo is working correctly though. Two steps forward, one back.

UPDATE - with the loosening of everything for the alignment, and the humidity of August I am now getting some interesting squeaking from the suspension. Had some definite new noises this week and will continue to look forward to the front end complete rebuild to get rid of them.

Anxiety sets in

Due to the new rack and tie rod assemblies, I set up an alignment tomorrow AM.

There is no way I will be able to pass 100% with the older parts, but at least I won't chew up the Michelin Pilot Sports any more than necessary over rest of season. Then come late fall / early winter, tear it all out and sandblast the underside, paint and rebuild.

Will ride better than new.

At that time I can do the three window tent as well.  That's been sitting in the garage for months, with no time to do it.  That and the Wasserstopper. 

Alignment is covered in the Bentley as follows:

UPDATE - she did well, despite older parts.  The passenger front cam bolt would not move enough to make wheel within spec (real close, no cigar) but my replacements should do the trick come winter.

UPDATE 31 Aug - read this on the Go Westy site

Front Suspension on the Vanagon: Alignment Challenges

The problem with a Vanagon's front suspension is the same thing that makes it great: it has a lot of suspension travel. It's what gives the Vanagon such a great "ride." Vanagons, in fact, have almost twice the suspension travel than the average vehicle on the road. No suspension design can maintain perfect alignment throughout its entire travel—and, in the case of the Vanagon, the challenge is even greater. Adding or subtracting load causes the vehicle to lower or raise. The measured alignment variables—namely camber, caster, and toe—all change with differences in loading and the resulting suspension height.

We recommend 100 lbs be added to both front seats before attempting to align the front end. Better yet, if you know how your Vanagon is loaded most of the time, load it accordingly. For example, if you drive by yourself 90% of the time, and you weigh 200 lbs, then our recommendation is perfect. If, on the other hand, you almost always travel with a passenger that also weighs 200 lbs, then load your vehicle in that manner. Basically, for the best tire wear and vehicle efficiency, your vehicle should be loaded so that it closely approximates the way in which you use it most often.

Now, it is not actually necessary to physically put weight in the vehicle to load the suspension and get it to the desired ride height. At our shop, we just have one or two guys jump into the front seats, and then we measure how much the vehicle drops in height. Then we tell them to get back to work, 'cause break time is over! Afterward, we simply pull the vehicle down to that height on our alignment rack using a pulling jack. The same can be done using a winch or come-along. Any alignment shop worth their salt will have the ability to effectively set the vehicle at the correct loaded height beforeany front end alignment is attempted.  You can be proactive by advising them about the type of load under which your vehicle is most often operated.

Getting the correct loaded height is even more important on Vanagons that have been raised with lifting springs. On lifted 2WD and 4WD Vanagons, the upper A-arm ends up at a sharper downward angle. This causes a high degree of positive camber when the vehicle is unloaded. The problem is present only at the top 1” of suspension travel, and it is more prominent on 2WD models. It is not possible to get the camber angle within spec unless the vehicle is loaded with the weight of at least one human. Luckily, these vehicles are not remote-controlled and require at least one human behind the wheel (no backseat driving!). So, the problem of getting the desired alignment specifications is solved by simply getting the vehicle as close as possible to actual loaded height. 

Update: If you have 2WD lifting springs on your Vanagon, try installing a pair of our new upper ball joint spacers. Click here to read more about the spacers, and check out the product page in the "Related Products" section below.

One more tip: If new springs have been installed, or any extensive front suspension work has been done (bushings, ball joints, etc.), it is a good idea to get the alignment “close” and then take the vehicle out and mash it over some big bumps before the final alignment is performed. Springs are likely to settle into their perches, bushings will take a set—stuff will change.

So, mash away before getting in there and trying to split hairs at your friendly neighborhood satellite-calibrated, dilithium crystal laser-guided alignment machine…

Steering rack

.Today is the day.

My steering rack is getting swapped out.  At least temporarily, as I want to do some sandblasting underneath prior to a full install.  But if I want to have any near use of the van I need to get the bad inner tie rods out.

Just waiting on my rack bellows to show up.  Could not find the ones I ordered months ago, so a new set is set to arrive by 5 pm today.  Tie rod's urethane Imron is cured, new Redline waterproof grease in the rack, Powerflex rack mount bushings are installed and with new hardware - I am ready to rock.

EDIT - bellows arrived by noon, so as soon as I was done working for someone else I started working for myself.  Within a couple hours I had the racks swapped, my oil changed and I also checked my CV bolts. It's an easy job.

First I finished building the 'new'rack.  Slipped the bellows on the newly painted tie rod assemblies and screwed them into the ramrods of the steering rack.  Lubed up the ramrods liberally with some Redline waterproof grease and slid the bellows into place.  Secured them with some zip ties and moved on to the mounts.

I used a Powerflex bushing mount kit i got from Chris at T3 Technique and quickly got these installed with plenty of Redline waterproof grease within. Make sure the jam nuts on the outer tie rods were loose and moved on to getting the other rack out.

Really a simple job. All you really need is a needle nose pliers, a pair of 13mm wrenches, safety glasses, maybe a hammer and penetrant.  First spray the 4 mount bolts, the 4 steering knuckle bolts, the 2 tie rod nuts.  I put the van up on ramps to provide plenty of work room, but kept the wheels straight.  If you have solid wheels, you may need to take off one of the tie rod assemblies from one side.  

Undo the cotter pins at the tie rod ends / spindle knuckle and remove the castle nuts.  Tap the tie rod shaft with the hammer to release the tie rod end.  Once released, undo the 4 bolts on the steering knuckle and remove to inspect.  These deteriorate, so check them out well.  All that is left is the 4 bolts holding the rack to the body.  Remove them with the two wrenches (or wrench and socket/ratchet) and set them aside, particularly the thick washers.  Now the rack is loose.

I was able to slide the rack to one side, using the hole in the wheel to pass through enough to gain clearance on the other side and drop it down and out.  The new one went back in the same way.

Once in place, I had the large washers (I sandblasted and painted black) with some stainless ones I put on top to keep the look clean.  Using the new bolts I bought and new locknuts, I fastened the rack to the chassis.  I then bolted the new steering knuckle up with the 4 bolts / nuts.

Getting to the tie rod ends next, I had approximated the length with the ones that came out (measured total length of assembly and adjusted accordingly).  Now affix the tie rod shaft to the spindle knuckle with the new nut and cotter pin.  I use anti seize on this shaft, as you never know when you may have to remove it again.  

I also use anti seize on the steering knuckle bolts.  There is a lot of weather beating down there.

The purple is the Powerflex bushing.  Then the stock thick washer and my addition of the stainless cap washer.

Even more front end work

In between trips to Denver and Atlanta, I got a bit of 'ME' time in the garage. 

Started by finishing the sandblasting.

Got everything done except the sway bar as it was too large for the cabinet. That included the spindles, dust covers, radius arms, upper and lower control arms, control arm knuckles, sway bar clamps, and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff.

Cleaned up with some enamel reducer.  I set them up like VW lawn art and got to priming.  Using the Metalok primer again, as I like how it covers and the funky mustard color will make it easier to paint the black color.

Moved the van far enough away so that overspray would not be a problem, mixed up the glossy black Imron paint (because I had some in the garage, otherwise I may have chosen a matte finish).

Baking rack makes a great drying rack, and an old rotor is perfect to screw in the tie rod assemblies for painting and drying.  I will let them sit this way for a few days to allow the urethane to properly cure before installing the Powerflex bushings.  Then we are set to do the install.

Also cleaned up the replacement steering rack and installed the Powerflex kit.  That will get installed in the next few days as my passenger inner tie rod is toast.

So in the middle of this process, my spiffy 16 month old 60 gallon Kobalt compressor went south.  Once it got hot, it seized up tighter than a mouses sphincter. Would only get to 65 psi.  I was fit to be tied I was so angry.  Here I was about to finalize the preparations for the front end, and no more air.

Called the number on the side of the unit, which got me to Lowe's customer service.  Some woman with a slow South Carolina drawl started trying to talk me off the edge.  She must have apologized a dozen times in the first minute but ultimately stated that I needed to bring this 250 pound compressor (that is hard lined, hard wired and bolted to the floor) into Lowe's for them to send it out and repair it.  Now the sticker that is still on the side of this unit states that there is a 3 year hassle free guarantee and on site service, and I bought the extended warranty on top of this, but I still need to bring it in?

Completely did not make sense, and this woman's accent was really getting under my skin because all I can imagine is a heavy Paula Dean type sitting in a cubicle with an extra heavy duty chair to support her Bon Bon inhaling body talking around the the issue as if I was lying about what is stated on the side of the unit.  I thanked her for her time, followed by a comment stating that she has not helped anything nor my confidence in anything Lowe's sells. And to have a thoroughly un-enjoyable day - but I said it very nicely and with a slow drawl so she would fully understand.  I was getting no where fast, and angrier by the second.  After all, when you spend $700 on a compressor you have certain expectations.  And I am by no means a constant user of the unit, so for it to die this soon baffles me.  If I were a constant user, I would have bought a higher quality unit.

For this last half of the conversation, I had been watched by my wife.  She later told me she has never seen me so angry and now knows why I got into so much trouble as a child with all the fighting.  Anyway . . .

Took a few breaths, grabbed my paperwork, the sticker on the side of the unit and headed to my local Lowe's.  I was polite in explaining my story to the assistant manager at the entry door.  Within minutes I was surrounded by more blue vests (managers) than I knew existed at any one time at a single Lowe's. A call into corporate on how to do the exchange led to a profuse apology from the manager for the customer service person (who was obviously wrong) and that they will exchange the unit.

Now to find a time to get it swapped out - and prior to doing so I need to disconnect power, hard air lines and detach from floor.  They state they could swap the next day.  Great!  BUT, in order to do so I would need to buy the new one and then when the old one shows up, they would refund the original purchase.  Just happens that this day was a Massachusetts state tax holiday - so I saved tax, and my delivery costs.  So when the older compressor is refunded, my new cost will be $100 less than original cost.

Guess that helps offset the hassle.  My warranty will restart as day one when the unit is delivered.  Best reasonable outcome I can think of?

Vermont's Green Mountains

So this week work had me in the Green Mountains of Vermont, specifically Stowe.  

I know, it's a tough assignment, but someone has to do it. :)

Trouble is, when dealing with food folk - sometimes the hours are not as conducive to sight seeing. 

Driving up to Stowe for a 6 am breakfast start is nice enough, but getting out by 2 and having time to see things rocks!

Served 250 people breakfast in an hour for my client, cleaned up and made sure we were set for next day.

Upon release, we did the touristy things:

The Von Trapp family lodge

After a couple flights, I was tempted to run own the hill singing 'the hills are alive' but the local police stopped in for lunch and I did not need any more attention. Not after those two flights.

Then we hit Ben and Jerry's for a sweet fix, and to see the dead flavor cemetery.  

Found this at the Matterhorn:

A BBQ rig set up in a VW bug.  Clever marketing.

Then, socially lubricated to the right setting, it was time for the alpine slide.

I found the slide to be a tad lame, but the views were breathtaking.

Then it was time for a nap before dinner, all to do it again in the morning.

White Mountains

There are endless things to do up in NH's White Mountains.

The Lil one and I went back this weekend.

Camped on the Kancamagus again.

Found our way to Monkey Trunks which was an aerial adventure area.

Then we did some go kart racing and a bit of golf.

All in all, good fun.

Van is shaking a bit more.  Will need to get the remainder of the parts quick and get it done.  Rear brakes feel like they need adjustment as well.

May end up replacing the steering rack, tie rods and bushings along with the sway bar prior to doing the rest.  Not sure I will have time prior to our planned trip to NC to get it all done.  That means I will have to take it out again to do my full cleanup under there, but it will be good for the trip.

More front end work

So I have been trying to determine a sure fire way to get those three bolts out for the readers.

PB Blaster or some sort of penetrant is definitely necessary, over time.

This week I had to fly to Denver for work so I put the lower arm in the press and put some pressure on it to see what would happen after three days.  I was secretly hoping that constant pressure would have it pushed out when I got back.  Alas, that was not to be.

However, after the three days and a couple days prior of multiple penetrant applications, the 5 pound sledge popped that bolt right out with a few taps.  Now for the other two.  More penetrant last night, and put it into the press.

Will see where that gets me later today.

Got notification this morning that my 88 spindles were sent from CA a couple days ago.  Now to order my big brake kit. 

There is a whole heap of effort going into this particular Thingamajigger project, but I know it will pay off in spades.  Having a quiet and responsive suspension under the old girl will be a very comforting feeling, especially since my other vehicles ride this way.  No more shakes, wind gust directional changes, white knuckles or unnecessary road noise.  And having the additional stopping power will be more than welcome.

Gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling just thinking about it.

2 August 13 Update: second bolt didn't do anything in the press except start to mushroom on the end.  Looking into other options - probably lots of heat.