On 5/31/06, Bostig Eng. <syncrolist@bostig.com> wrote:
>
> I disagree, and it has nothing to do with me putting ford engines into
> syncros either!  But since it isn't the engineering that caused the ford
> 4x4 van to come apart, you can't realistically praise VW engineers for the
> syncros not doing so. Ford doesn't make any factory 4x4 vans, they are
> retrofits by quigley and century if memory serves in the aftermarket, and
> then sold back through ford dealer channels as Ford 4x4s... so keep that
> in
> mind...

Oh certainly! Note I made no particular comments about Ford itself.  The
meat of my observation was aimed at the  apparent  fact that paying $95K for
a hand-assembled, custom made 4x4 rig is no guarantee it's not going to go
to pieces. I have no doubt the Ford van itself is perfectly sound, but
judging by my brother's trials and tribulations with his lifted Nissan
pickup, an uncomfortably large portion of custom aftermarket "engineering"
consists of two guys welding up a prototype and driving around with the part
on their vehicle for a while to see if it holds up. Century and Quigley
customs are probably a bit less "seat of the pants"  in the design &
engineering departments than the wiener dudes my brother had hop up his
truck, but they're certainly not AM General or Textron. I seriously doubt
they have anything on Steyr/Puch!

not to mention that things coming loose has very little to do with
> engineering in the real world... you can't engineer a failsafe method for
> making installers use threadlocker etc and a torque wrench.

I'll grant you that it looks like the guy fixing the front end is searching
for replacement fasteners for ones that probably rattled loose, but given
the way the spare tire carrier off the rear is sagging, and its apparent
absence in subsequent photos, I'd have to call that one for the "bad
engineering" column for "bent due to insufficient engineering"..

  I think there
> is far more to scratch heads about when it comes to VAG engineering than
> outright praise. Firesuit on.

No argument there.  I would definitely limit my praise specifically to the
4WD Syncro, and even then with a blind eye to certain unfortunate
decisions...

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"