See ***, due to the volume of nested quotes we receive. :)

On Jul 12, 2004, at 8:34 PM, BA wrote:

> On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 20:36:13 -0600, you wrote:
>
>> 1. Rocks, branches, chocks, coupla 4x6's... whatever's lying around.
>>
>> 2. Absolutely not. Your suspension EXISTS to deal with irregularities
>> in the surface below your van. That is it's sole office in life.
>> Is your usual parking space perfectly level and smooth?
>
> Pretty near ...
>
*** Lucky you! I can't get my van into my garage... not on a normal day.

>> Do you park on hills, ever?
>
> Not analgous.  On a normal hill, one corner of the chassis is not
> "raised" with respect to the other corners of the chassis.  They're
> all *resting* on their suspension.  When just one tire is up on a
> raised surface, the other three wheels are not *resting* on their
> suspension.
>
*** I think there is an analogy there. Ask your downhill end or side
pair of springs if they're just resting...
On a sorta related note, if one wheel is higher than the others, notice
that the van DOES NOT REMAIN STATIC. This is the big point; I think
it's being missed. The high wheel will raise it's corner, thereby
increasing the weight on the remaining corners. The van seeks it's own
level, and all springs are sharing the "high" wheel's extra.. strain?
stress? load? Anybody out there got the right word?

>> Do you start your van and drive it anywhere? Then you're
>> on the highway to hell already... might as well chock that sucka!
>
> Heh!  Ain't dat the troof ...
>
>
*** Pretty much. These things are like boats... I think Dave Barry said
something about sitting in his boat, on it's trailer, in his driveway,
and listening to brand-new boat parts corrode and fall off... might as
well be driving the entropy box, and parking where you like!

>> -Simon
>
>
> B

-Simon, A.K.A. The Notorious Jack Donkey

PS. Let's see how many irate emails I get from folks who are offended
by my suggesting that anything ever breaks on a Vanagon... ;)