On 9/27/2009 11:47 AM Thomas Buese wrote:

> 26 miles of washboard trying the slow 5-12 mph & sometimes the 30-35
> mph, float over the washboard, literally melted the tops of the shocks,
>  blew the seals as Bob watched from behind.

It was in emulation of cowboy-hat wearin' buckaroos in pickup trucks
scooting along those roads at higher speeds than I that made me push the
van to high enough speed to see if things smooth out.

Your experience makes sense to me. When going fast (35 - 45 mph) over the
washboard the inside of the van may feel relatively calm, but underneath
lots of parts are still going up and down real fast -- assuming that the
tires are still following the washboard profile of the road at that speed.

The shock absorbers must be doing a lot of in and out travel, continuously
and rapidly when floating the body over washboard. Friction at the seals
where the smaller diameter portion of the shock goes into the larger
diameter bit could cause them to get mighty warm. A little KY perhaps?

How about CV joints? One end is connected to the wheelbone which is
reciprocating up and down in synch with the washboard, but the other end
is tried to the transaxle-bone, which is not going up and down when at
float speed. Are we accelerating the wear on these guys?

I know that the steering wheel feels nice and steady when floating, but
the wheels it connects to are whizzing up and down, so something in the
linkage must be soaking up the motion. Anything there being worn out quickly?

Only because it's just a seat-of-the-pants guess that the far heavier
wugga-wugga-wugga-wugga vibrations and jostling transmitted to the van
when driving slower is more likely to cause all kind of damage shaking
things loose (in the engine compartment, under the van, the Westy
cabinetry) than what damage might occur to the suspension and tire bits
when one is going faster and floating the vehicle above the suspension.
But what do I know?

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Bend, OR
KG6RCR