Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?!

[captincanuck]

Hay Ben: I put a set of Rancho RS9000 on my bus back in September. Here is a link to the ones I went with. I got an open box deal, so figured I would roll the dice on them
http://www.gorancho.com/products/shock-absorbers/r...99147.html
Disclaimer: I barley put two month of driving on them before the bus went away for the winter, these shocks are not designed for the bus an I have no idea how long they will last. Mounting point modification (shortening) was required. I'm a professional idiot, do not try this at home

_________________
1979 Westfalia "FireFly" Subaru 2.2 with Subaru gears 5spd.
Build Thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=634777&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[HastaAlaska]

ILL let you know what we come up with

Does anyone know if they he rear torsion bars are interchangeable. We have one of the thinner ones. Might be a good idea to exchange for a heavier bar?
_________________
Around The World in a VW - Follow the Docuseries
2011 - PRESENT
Hasta Alaska Series - https://kombilife.com/hasta-alaska/
World Overland Series - https://kombilife.com/world-overland-travel-series/
Latest Adventures - https://www.youtube.com/@kombilife

[airschooled]

[HastaAlaska]

[richparker]

[Xevin]

[OrangeZA]

I am confused.

The above was taken from the “VW Transporter Instruction Manual” printed August 1977.

Why does the Kombi have a total permissible weight of 2300kg while the Microbus is only permitted to weigh a total of 2250kg?

The difference appears to be linked to the rear axle as the Microbus is only permitted to have a load of 1270kg on the rear axle while the Kombi is permitted 1300kg. When I first noticed that I thought it must be because the Kombi is fitted with the thicker green coded rear torsion bars, but that is not the case. According to the VW parts catalogue on jerseylooker http://www.jerseylooker.com/FicheDump/EarlyBaywindow/EarlyBay-Main.html and the Molenaar/Prinz Specification Guide, if a Kombi is fitted with option M13, Middle three-person bench seat, rear three-person bench seat and interior trim in passenger compartment, it is fitted with the slimmer red or red/brown coded rear torsion bars.

So maybe the total permitted weight and rear axle load of a Kombi changes when it comes fitted with option M13? No, the Molenaar/Prinz book has photos of the chassis and M-plate from the same Kombi on page 18 where they explain how to read the plates. It shows that this particular Kombi, VIN 2362129476, has a total permissible weight of 2300kg and a permissible rear axle load of 1300kg, but is fitted with option M13 and so must have the slimmer rear torsion bars.

To confuse me further, I notice in the information Ben provided above that the Kombi based Campmobile has the reduced total permitted weight and permissible rear axle load of the Microbus and whether is comes with the thicker rear torsion bars depends on whether it is fitted with automatic transmission or not.

Also notice in the photo above that the Ambulance has a lower total permissible weight of 2100kg. The Ambulance, Type 27, is also fitted with the slimmer rear torsion bars of the Microbus and M13 equipped Kombis. My only theory is that the engineers expected the Ambulance to be driven in more extreme circumstances and so reduced the total permitted weight specification to provide a greater safe working margin. Plausible?

I started looking into this to figure out how to increase the load capacity of Ben’s Type 22 (Microbus/Station Wagon) and I thought it would be as simple as fitting the green coded bars. https://www.volkswagen-classic-parts.de/en/federstab-1f36a9.html 50kg doesn't sound a lot, but it is like 2 suitcases of clothes, a skinny passenger or perhaps just a little bit more working tolerance on a heavy camper.

Ben, if the torsion bars are set correctly, you shouldn’t lose any ride height by swapping to the green coded bars. There are different settings for the different thicknesses of bar because they react differently when a specific load is applied to them. The thicker bar wont twist so much, so if you installed them in the exact same position as your slimmer bars you would actually increase your ride height.

In the Z4-Journeys Under Difficult Conditions Booklet, VW recommended adding a maximum of 2 degrees to the setting of the rear torsion bars if more ground clearance was required.

[HastaAlaska]

Thanks so much for all that info Neil. Robbie - let's do this
_________________
Around The World in a VW - Follow the Docuseries
2011 - PRESENT
Hasta Alaska Series - https://kombilife.com/hasta-alaska/
World Overland Series - https://kombilife.com/world-overland-travel-series/
Latest Adventures - https://www.youtube.com/@kombilife

[HastaAlaska]

[TDCTDI]

Load the vehicle as you plan to drive it, figure out where it sits & where you would like it to sit, do the math & figure out how many inner VS outer splines you need to adjust it from where it is now & make the adjustments.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[airschooled]

Have you called Blair and Sons in Phoenix, AZ? They have tons of chassis there.

Sorry I forgot about your PM- I'm also strapped for time and have no place to do the swap here, nor the tools.

I would recommend loading the bus up with your "standard" traveling kit and setting the spring angle there, not completely empty. For me, this includes a large tool box, some cooking stuff, and a compliment of parts and clothes. All of that never leaves my bus anyway, so I don't remove it for alignments or adjustments.

Robbie
_________________
Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[HastaAlaska]

Unfortunately I’m already heading across country. Out of time on the US visa, have to head to NY to ship the bus to Europe. Currently in Louisiana, moving fast.... well, 55 mph anyway
_________________
Around The World in a VW - Follow the Docuseries
2011 - PRESENT
Hasta Alaska Series - https://kombilife.com/hasta-alaska/
World Overland Series - https://kombilife.com/world-overland-travel-series/
Latest Adventures - https://www.youtube.com/@kombilife

[Spike0180]

[HastaAlaska]

[pkrboo]

[HastaAlaska]

[Manfred58sc]

Any heat exchangers you rig up will reduce the ability of the oil cooler to shed heat ( movement of air is key which is innately opposite of how heat exchangers work). Just buy one of those nice camp portable hot water heaters and adapt them for the inside. As far as your immigration issues, have you been paying any attention to the news since the new administration has taken power? The doors are closed and rules have changed. Safe travels , I hope you visit lots of migrant camps as you go through Europe, I would love to hear your take on the situation.
_________________
Fat chick owner/operator

[HastaAlaska]

[Manfred58sc]

How about this?? Alcohol should be available anywhere.

https://thehomestead.guru/off-grid-water-heater/
_________________
Fat chick owner/operator

[HastaAlaska]

Not sure how well that open flame shower would fair outdoors.

After much research I've decided a couple of things:

1) Heating hot water via a heat exchange with the engine oil would work but it would be more efficient to just have the oil pumped through a calorifer directly.
However it may interfere with the engine and on this long journey I can't afford that risk. Shame as it would be quite a neat solution.

2) The ideal solution would be to use a dedicated external-mounted aux fluid heater mounted, such as the semi rare gasoline version of the Webasto Thermo Top C, also an ESPAR version available too). With the lack of a water cooled engine there is no cooling fluid to pipe into, but this system can still run stand-alone in an aircooled bus.
- This system can generate heat via mini air-blown radiators and also hot water on demand, however you'd need some kind of accumulator tank to regulate the temp of the heated water (a calorifer probably) which also needs an expansion tank and all up that is quite a bit of space taken up. This is the best system and would work for mini-trips, but not full time living as we also need a lot of space for belongings. It's also pricey.

I'll be going with option 2 with a different vehicle in the future.

Option 3) dedicated propane powered on demand heater. It's a space hog and It's not my favorite option as I'd rather a single source of fuel, but it's the one we are going with. At least it is cheap

So that means a propane cooker, a propane shower and a gasoline fed heater. It kind of bums me out that there are so many different heat sources, it seems inefficient but that is what we are going with.

We've listed a more shower options as well as a bunch of other van dwelling gear and info here if people want more info: https://kombilife.com/van-life/ (likely to be expanded in the future as our research continues)
_________________
Around The World in a VW - Follow the Docuseries
2011 - PRESENT
Hasta Alaska Series - https://kombilife.com/hasta-alaska/
World Overland Series - https://kombilife.com/world-overland-travel-series/
Latest Adventures - https://www.youtube.com/@kombilife