Mark, Andrew:
What do you suppose the weight difference is?  I suspect that is not
much, but probably the fabbed steel part is a bit lighter. I am puzzled,
too, why the different years would handle differently.
And YES, I stand corrected, it is cast steel, not cast iron. Can anyone
tell me the difference? I suppose the steel has some toughening alloy in
it, like nickel or vanadium or molybdinum?
I'm curious about the steel and the Vanagon handling!
Al Brase

mark drillock wrote:

> Solid cast steel front lower control arms were phased into production
> during the 1985 model year for 2wd Vanagons and during the 1989 model
> year for
> Syncros. The earlier stamped arms used a removable solid steel end piece
> for mounting the lower ball joint to the hollow arm. The earlier 2 piece
> design allows for replacement of the lower ball joint without as much
> disassembly of the front suspension. This was perhaps a greater
> advantage on Syncros. My guess is that the solid design was intended to
> be more resistant to corrosion over time. AFAIK, the steering geometry
> remained the same.
>
> Mark
>
> Shawn Wright wrote:
>
>> Al,
>>
>> Of course, you are right - I just put a magnet on my '88! I simply
>> assumed the cast
>> lower CA was aluminum, as this seemed like a logical move toward
>> improving things,
>> whereas cast iron does not. Perhaps there is an improvement in
>> stiffness, given the
>> more complex nature of the Vanagon control arm (with the radius rod
>> tie in) versus
>> simpler designs like the A1/A2 models. I don't know of any other VW
>> model where
>> cast iron supplanted a stamped steel part... I wonder why this was
>> done on the
>> Vanagon?
>> All this time I assumed it was aluminum - am I the only one?
>>
>> On 11 Feb 2005 at 10:56, Al and Sue Brase <albeeee@mchsi.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>