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Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:56 pm

when was the first walk through made and what models were they offered in?

Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:44 pm

Johnnybgoood wrote: when was the first walk through made and what models were they offered in?

Oldest known is the Bob Hammond 55 BD Panel:

Mon Nov 05, 2018 9:49 pm

All models but Panels are the most common.

Mon Nov 05, 2018 9:54 pm

srfndoc wrote: Johnnybgoood wrote: when was the first walk through made and what models were they offered in?

Oldest known is the Bob Hammond 55 BD Panel:

Can you imagine if you had to find those seats.

Mon Nov 05, 2018 10:01 pm

The earliest standard walkthroughs were built in 1958.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 7:07 am

EverettB wrote: All models but Panels are the most common.

with the obvious exception of Single cabs and Double cabs.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:44 am

a walk-thru double cab would be sweet...

mandraks wrote: EverettB wrote: All models but Panels are the most common.

with the obvious exception of Single cabs and Double cabs.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:04 pm

dubstar wrote: a walk-thru double cab would be sweet...

mandraks wrote: EverettB wrote: All models but Panels are the most common.

with the obvious exception of Single cabs and Double cabs.

A local guy here in Sacramento area has a '61 DC, where the PO replaced the hacked up, rusted original bulkhead with a walk-thru section and seats. It looks great and should have been a factory option, much like the deletion of the rear seat & pedestal...the idea might be 60 years too late haha. Damn, it would have met the utilitarian criteria for me.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 1:17 pm

62DoKaGuy wrote: dubstar wrote: a walk-thru double cab would be sweet...

mandraks wrote: EverettB wrote: All models but Panels are the most common.

with the obvious exception of Single cabs and Double cabs.

A local guy here in Sacramento area has a '61 DC, where the PO replaced the hacked up, rusted original bulkhead with a walk-thru section and seats. It looks great and should have been a factory option, much like the deletion of the rear seat & pedestal...the idea might be 60 years too late haha. Damn, it would have met the utilitarian criteria for me.

There have been a couple over the years, including one with corner windows, skylights and a sunroof, IIRC.

Definitely a cool setup.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 8:30 pm

Z wrote: 62DoKaGuy wrote: dubstar wrote: a walk-thru double cab would be sweet...

mandraks wrote: EverettB wrote: All models but Panels are the most common.

with the obvious exception of Single cabs and Double cabs.

A local guy here in Sacramento area has a '61 DC, where the PO replaced the hacked up, rusted original bulkhead with a walk-thru section and seats. It looks great and should have been a factory option, much like the deletion of the rear seat & pedestal...the idea might be 60 years too late haha. Damn, it would have met the utilitarian criteria for me.

There have been a couple over the years, including one with corner windows, skylights and a sunroof, IIRC.

Definitely a cool setup.

I've said it before- the most versatile model VW never made...

Wed Nov 07, 2018 9:15 pm

But don't forget the swivel seat panel walk-thru :D

Thu Nov 08, 2018 8:34 am

62DoKaGuy wrote:
A local guy here in Sacramento area has a '61 DC, where the PO replaced the hacked up, rusted original bulkhead with a walk-thru section and seats. It looks great and should have been a factory option, much like the deletion of the rear seat & pedestal...the idea might be 60 years too late haha. Damn, it would have met the utilitarian criteria for me.

speaking of rear seat delete for the DC. Always wondered why there was not a folding seat option without a pedestal so you could stick stuff under the seat? and fold it up to get bulky stuff in there.

If i ever build another crewcab, i will definitely do that.

Also: there is really no reason not to have a driver side treasure chest door for the DC.

and, clearly the coolest one would be a RHD crewcab with the suicide rear door. with semaphores

Thu Nov 08, 2018 10:50 am

62DoKaGuy wrote: A local guy here in Sacramento area has a '61 DC, where the PO replaced the hacked up, rusted original bulkhead with a walk-thru section and seats. It looks great and should have been a factory option

From the technical specs for 61 models, DCs had the lowest payload rating @ 1543 pounds. (SCs were a little more at 1764 and panels had the highest at 1830).

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/infoimages.php

They all used the same brakes and transmission, so the differences must reflect what VW thought the different structures could handle.

Taking out the bulkead would have weakened the DC structure further. Maybe belly pans would have fixed that, but maybe not. I'd guess VW went for practicality over convenience.

Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:19 am

Who.Me? wrote: 62DoKaGuy wrote: A local guy here in Sacramento area has a '61 DC, where the PO replaced the hacked up, rusted original bulkhead with a walk-thru section and seats. It looks great and should have been a factory option

From the technical specs for 61 models, DCs had the lowest payload rating @ 1543 pounds. (SCs were a little more at 1764 and panels had the highest at 1830).

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/infoimages.php

They all used the same brakes and transmission, so the differences must reflect what VW thought the different structures could handle.

Taking out the bulkead would have weakened the DC structure further. Maybe belly pans would have fixed that, but maybe not. I'd guess VW went for practicality over convenience.

"Weakened the DC structure" and "practicality" are not as important as looking cool, Andy hahaha, just joshin'. I hear ya, though; structural integrity is certainly important. I wonder how much weaker, if at all or measurable, a walk-thru section is/would be compared to a complete bulkhead section...

Either way, it would certainly have been a tits option, and as codename mandraks said, a smaller treasure chest on a DC would have really stroked my utilitarian cord haha.

Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:56 am

62DoKaGuy wrote: "Weakened the DC structure" and "practicality" are not as important as looking cool, Andy hahaha, just joshin'.

Yeah, I know. :wink:

I was surprised that trucks couldn't handle as much load as a panel, until I started to think about how the load is transmitted around the body.

Anyhow, back to the walk throughs :D

Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:27 am

Who.Me? wrote: From the technical specs for 61 models, DCs had the lowest payload rating @ 1543 pounds. (SCs were a little more at 1764 and panels had the highest at 1830).

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/infoimages.php

... differences must reflect what VW thought the different structures could handle.

Taking out the bulkead would have weakened the DC structure further.
287 pound range between panel & DC doesn't seem like much.

The differences in load is probably because the DC/SC load bed is higher in elevation that the cargo floor of a panel. Reduced load for SC/DC is probably for stability concerns vs. structural.

The bulkhead is perpindicular to the front / back wheels... so, it doesn't add much strength in the front to back direction (vs. walk through).

Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:59 am

easy e wrote: Who.Me? wrote: From the technical specs for 61 models, DCs had the lowest payload rating @ 1543 pounds. (SCs were a little more at 1764 and panels had the highest at 1830).

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/infoimages.php

... differences must reflect what VW thought the different structures could handle.

Taking out the bulkead would have weakened the DC structure further.
287 pound range between panel & DC doesn't seem like much.

The differences in load is probably because the DC/SC load bed is higher in elevation that the cargo floor of a panel. Reduced load for SC/DC is probably for stability concerns vs. structural.

The bulkhead is perpindicular to the front / back wheels... so, it doesn't add much strength in the front to back direction (vs. walk through).
You guys are way overthinking this.
The different models have different weights. The maximum gross weight is the same across the model line.
max gross weight = unladen weight + payload

Tue Nov 13, 2018 9:28 am

Way... like, totally dude... like... just do the math :roll:

Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:20 am

Who.Me? wrote: 62DoKaGuy wrote: A local guy here in Sacramento area has a '61 DC, where the PO replaced the hacked up, rusted original bulkhead with a walk-thru section and seats. It looks great and should have been a factory option

From the technical specs for 61 models, DCs had the lowest payload rating @ 1543 pounds. (SCs were a little more at 1764 and panels had the highest at 1830).

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/infoimages.php

They all used the same brakes and transmission, so the differences must reflect what VW thought the different structures could handle.

Taking out the bulkhead would have weakened the DC structure further. Maybe belly pans would have fixed that, but maybe not. I'd guess VW went for practicality over convenience.

this was a simple function of gross weight minus unladen weight.

Crewcab weighs 300 pounds more than a panel, and also more than a single cab.

gross weight is the same at 4112.

As far as structural stability goes, i think the Crew Cab is prolly as sturdy as it gets.

engineers who know please chime in. I only had 2 semesters of mechanical engineering and that was 30 some years ago :)

Tue Nov 13, 2018 2:02 pm

Fair enough. I guess gross weight reflects what the brakes could handle and they are likely to be the weakest link as all body styles have the same max gross weight.

Apologies to the OP for the thread drift.

I still think a DC would be fail earlier if you loaded them all up to breaking point though.

The forward support of the load platform transmits the point load closer to the midpoint of the floor/frame in a DC than a SC, and there is no monocoque-type body structure to resist bending like a bus/van where the load also is distributed (across the floor).

I do not wish to test that hypothesis though.