I've also had very good luck off-road with Vanagons.  Been all over northern
Baja and the only problem I had was digging the nose into the ground when
going through gullies.  After a while you get good at approaching from a
slight angle.

Cheers,

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Rob Campbell
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 2:02 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: General/Sorta dirt-road worthiness of 2WD Vanagons?

I've taken my 87 GL Westy on lots and lots of dirt roads with never a
problem.

I've also driven in sand, at Pismo Beach.  I did get stuck there once, but
it was easy to rock it out.  Deflating the tires slightly also works.  I
drove a lot in the sand at Hot Wells Dunes in AZ as well, never a problem.
You just dont want to stop in the soft stuff.

The traction I would say is above-average for a 2wd vehicle.

The one time I got a little nervous was a road Larry Chase told me about
near Big Sur.  It was largely composed of rock and mud towards the top,
and I was getting tired and it was getting dark.  I would have turned
around, but the road was too narrow to even do that.  So I slowly and
carefully pushed on, and made it to one of the best camping spots I've
seen.

I've taken the van on several "4wd only" roads in national parks etc.
Perhaps foolish and naive, but a little common sense goes a long way and
my ignorance has taken me to some truly amazing places.  I say carry a
spare, some extra food, and have some faith in your rig.  You might think
twice about this advice with the Mrs in the van though...

  > Compared with other 2wd
vehicles, like full-size pickup trucks, and
> mid-60's station wagons . . . how dirt road worthy is the 2wd Vanagon?
> How good is the traction? I'm talking about rutted sand and gravel roads
> out here, not mud or streams. Not dunes or beaches. No swamps. Regular
> street tires, stock size.