Ben, I have traveled Baja in small groups of Vanagons and Syncros many
times. Several times these trips resulted in bent 14" alloys wheels.
Sometimes the damage was noticed later and sometimes the sound of the
rim dent dragging on a caliper was immediate. The tires did not show
damage, just the rims. These were not rock crawling, gully jumping
trips, just folks trying to get somewhere on a dirt Baja road. I know
lots of other Vanagon owners who actually use their vehicles and some of
these have been through several 14" wheel replacements. I sold that set
of 4 I bought from you after I wore out the Michelin LTX tires, to
someone who needed 2 replacements right away and wanted a couple spares
for the next time they bent a wheel.

I never claimed my experiences were an engineering benchmark. I don't
think Dan bending an Audi wheel qualifies either. The cognoscenti know
Baja Dan can bend anything, even the whole side of a Syncro Westy.

Mark

BenT Syncro wrote:

> ..........
> One person's experience is hardly qualifies as an engineering benchmark. He
> may not have even taken the same road and/or encountered the same obstacles.
> It simply not reliable considering the sample.
>
>
> BenT
>