I just weighed the stock front fiberglass genuine VW bumper. I weighed it
with no brackets on it and no license plate. It weighs somewhere about 14 or
15 pounds,
for what that's worth. I was surprised it weighed so little.

I have to say even though we know how useless the fiberglass bumpers are, I
was reminded when I picked the one I have up how flimsy and
light it is. In my opinion it is nothing more than trim.

At least the stock chrome bumpers have a nice "absorbant" rubber strip to
deal with poor parker's bumps. That fiberglass bumpers offer ???

Jeff
83.5 Westy
LA,CA

On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 3:19 PM, Oxroad <oxroad@gmail.com> wrote:

> How much do these GoWesty bumpers weigh? I get that pound for pound adding
> weight in a certain area obviously effects handling.
> The number of passengers, gear, and so on effect handling stopping
> distance. And the Westfalia is already loaded
> pretty good with the kitchen and drinking water and such.
>
> But I'd like to figure out the weight of the Go Westy bumpers and then
> percentage wise what that adds to each end of the vehicle.
> Seemingly the fiberglass would be the lightest. In fact I have one I'll
> weigh before the day is out to compare.
>
> I didn't find a weight for the GoWesty bumpers on their site.
>
> And while I thought about the liability I dunno how it effects things. I
> see a lot of SUVs in the wrecking yard with aftermarket and heavy brush
> guards.
> I can't speak with ANY authority but on the front impacts I've seen on SUVs
> in the wrecking yard it would APPEAR the brush guard offered
> more protection--some protection over nothing in that area. And then, once
> the brush guard gave way the vehicles crumple zones crumple.
>
> OK, how about this; Say my bus with stock fiberglass bumpers is hit by a
> bus with GoWesty bumpers; does that change the way MY crumple zones work?
> See what I'm getting at? If the GoWEsty bumper in on the other vehicle and
> hits me there seems little difference than if it was on my vehicle of the
> other
> as far as MY crumple zones.
>
> And I'm just putting out questions here. I don't have answers.
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff
> 83.5 Westy
> LA,CA
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 11:58 AM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
> scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>
>> re
>>
>> "And the rear bumper mounts are not that strong. The bolts do shear and
>> those
>> brackets do not put up that much of a fight."
>>
>> I'm thinking that the engineers attempted to come up with the best blend
>> of
>> severe impact energy absorption ...a legal requirement
>> .............reasonable cost, and keeping weight and mass reasonable.
>>
>> granted...the bumpers might only provide  very light impact protection .
>> I'd
>> say once things get beyond a minor say 5 to 10 mph impact...the bumpers
>> are
>> not even supposed to help very much, once impact gets medium severe and
>> above.
>>
>> I also noticed that in the front ..there is quite some good impact
>> protection and energy absorption build in.
>> That bumper like piece  behind the front chrome bumper....that's the
>> 'real'
>> bumper in any real crash.
>> And then there is that almost massive beam built into the front too.
>>
>> in the rear ....since they are engineering for crushability in a severe
>> impact...
>> and since there's no beam or anything across the back .....the engine and
>> trans are what help with distributing forces in a non-server way there.
>>
>> it just depends on what you want to protect.
>> Sure a battering ram will protect the body nicely ..
>> but might not be the best thing in a server where-lives-are-at stake
>> crash.
>>
>> I'd say it could even be a liability issue .........people who are not
>> automotive engineers offering equipment that modifies the original
>> crashworthiness .    Let's say once the first 15 years go by ..
>> the legal crushability requirements of the design no longer matter.  lol.
>>
>> and I'll say it again ..adding significant weight to the ends of any
>> vehicle
>> negatively affects the handling.
>> Now if someone would engineer a good looking, aerodynamic carbon
>> fiber/Kevlar bumper system .
>> that 'did it all'...improved aerodynamics, protected the vehicle in small
>> impacts and a large ones, and looked good .....yeah maybe that would be
>> nice.  Expensive though.
>>  But don't want to ruin anyone's fun ....so buy those big things and hang
>> 'em on there !
>>
>> lol
>> Scott
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 7:18 PM
>> Subject: Re: Bumpers
>>
>>
>>  Of course not having the folding trim piece fold up even during low speed
>>> impacts the body may be protected with those resulting forces
>>> transferring
>>> to your seat. So the van may be protected but you may have the whiplash.
>>> Actually this point is crap and a trailer hitch can have the same
>>> results.
>>>
>>> Strong bumpers, bull bars etc all look good and offer some protection but
>>> once an impact occurs beyond their limits, they will often do more damage
>>> than the original impact.
>>>
>>> And the rear bumper mounts are not that strong. The bolts do shear and
>>> those
>>> brackets do not put up that much of a fight.
>>>
>>> Dennis
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>>> Of
>>> Don Hundt
>>> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 7:22 PM
>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>> Subject: Re: Bumpers
>>>
>>> Scott,
>>> I think the main reason some  folks want bigger bumpers is that they look
>>> better than a flimsy bumper that bends in a stiff breeze. I fail to see
>>> how
>>> a larger bumper would make one less safe in the type of crash where a
>>> bumper
>>> would be involved. I'm not an automotive engineer, but I would suspect
>>> that
>>> VW didn't spec those bumpers as part of the crumple zone, but rather as a
>>> cost-saving measure. If the bumper mounts to the same point as stock, it
>>> seems to me the same energy would be transferred to the body of the van
>>> as
>>> with stock bumpers. They are both mounted solidly to the "frame" of the
>>> van,
>>> with no energy absorption between components. The only issue I can see is
>>> in
>>> the event of a glancing blow, where the stock bumpers would fold up, the
>>> larger bumper would hold, possibly transferring damage upstream to the
>>> mounting point. Either way, though, you will end up with body damage.
>>> Don
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
>>> Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 2:48 pm
>>> Subject: Re: Bumpers
>>>
>>>  what I question is why anyone would want bigger bumpers .
>>>>
>>>> if it's safety, making the van into a battery  ram won't help at
>>>> all in a
>>>> rollover, or side impact crash.
>>>>
>>>> adding weigh to the ends of vehicle is a disadvantage dynamically ..
>>>> 'polar moment of inertia' ..means a thing heavy at the ends
>>>> doesn't like to
>>>> change directions as easily.
>>>>
>>>> so nimbleness of handling will diminish some.
>>>>
>>>> and  I wonder about the built-in crushability that's engineered, very
>>>> intentionally , into the vehicle..
>>>> it might actually not be as safe with bigger heavier bumpers on
>>>> it, in terms
>>>> if impacts from the ends and nice controlled crushability there.
>>>>
>>>> I'm sure people realize the idea of crumble zones is to spread the
>>>> forcesout over those first milliseconds of hitting something
>>>> ..controlleddeformation for occupant protection.
>>>> Make it into a battering ram ..and you loose that, I'd think.
>>>>
>>>> Scott
>>>> www.turbovans.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Troy" <colorworks@GCI.NET>
>>>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 1:25 PM
>>>> Subject: Bumpers
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> > Was just looking at the new "big bumpers" from Van Cafe' and then
>>>> > comparing them to Go Westy's bumpers.  There's a several hundred
>>>> dollar> price difference.  Does anyone care to comment on the
>>>> relative advantages
>>>> > of one over the other?  Considering my location, the Van Cafe'
>>>> bumpers,> despite there higher price, may actually work out
>>>> cheaper because of
>>>> > shipping. Any disadvantages to the Go Westy bumpers? Sounds like
>>>> some> minor cutting of the van is required.
>>>> >
>>>> > Troy
>>>>
>>>>
>