We took our Westie (stock tires/suspension) in the desert last spring
and it managed dry gravel "road" pretty well, feeling stable enough to
get up speed to ride (float) over the bumps, around 30 mph. Pots and
pans rattled a bit but the vanagon structure seems very strong.  We
didn't go on sand or mud, though.  At home, I've found it has a lot less
directional stability going up wet steep hills, probably because the
weight distribution leaves the front too light, and I've found it gets
stuck pretty easily in wet grass -- sorry, no very exciting stories,
just occasional cussing.

I'd rate its sticktion a bit less than our fwd Olds Cutlass, but a lot
better than a front-engined rear-wheel-drive...

Michael Elliott wrote:

> 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.
>
> Generally-speaking. Anecdotal is good. The more colorful the better.
>
> As in, "Vanagons get stuck more easily than any other 2wd vehicle ever
> made," or "I've taken my 2wd Vanagon places that my brother's 1963
> Plymouth Belvedere station wagon couldn't go."
>
> --
>
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> Carlsbad, CA
> KG6RCR