Well said, Don. 

Chris.

Wysłane z iPhone'a

Dnia Dec 11, 2011 o godz. 12:38 Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> napisał(a):

> On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 8:16 AM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
> 
>> If the OP's friend's van had been lifted 1", then it makes perfect sense
>> to install a shock with a 1" longer stroke.
>> 
>> Otherwise the shock will be bottoming out more often.
>> 
>> Some folk cleave to stock set ups, some folk don't. There is no need to
>> smugly dismiss those who wish to modify their vans
> 
> 
> 
>>> 
>>> So Dennis, you are saying that we 2WD drivers should use the shocks
>> specified for our equipment, not for the Syncro, especially if we drive on
>> rough roads, right?  Exactly as I suspected.  I definitely do not know more
>> about our vehicles than the engineers who designed them did.  Thanks,
>> mcneely
>> 
> 
>  I have some difficulty understanding the wide-spread opinion, the
> belief,  often expressed like it's Gospel, that "Factory Knows
> Best"....every time.  Not actually true, though you will encounter this
> 'advice' often...  "Don't change from stock, you think you know more than
> the Engineers?"..
> 
>  The Engineers who design things aren't omnipotent Gods...they are people
> just like you and me.    Yes, it is their "day job" and they get paid to do
> it, but they also have company bean-counters who limit them to building and
> designing stuff that maximizes earnings for the company....They aren't
> allowed to build the 'best possible" thing, they are instructed to build
> the most 'cost-effective' stuff with tightly-targeted markets in mind, and
> in light of various government tariffs and trade policies.
> 
>  If you just happen to fit perfectly into the targeted buyer's
> 'profile'..then changing what you get from the factory is probably not
> advisable....but we don't very many of us fit, exactly.
> 
> The Marketeers, the salesmen, they would like us to 'just buy the right
> vehicle' and if our needs change, toss it and get a new one that better
> suits our needs.  The dealers would like us to have to bring every vehicle
> back to get any work done "by factory authorized service technicians" and
> they have pretty successfully convinced the Public that we "shouldn't do
> anything" without checking with them and paying them for 'their engineering
> skills'
> 
>  Not everyone who drives a certain vehicle fits that vehicle's 'Market
> Target' or whatever the financial guys call it...Our vanagons are such
> compromises in many many ways, to appeal to the widest possible
> market....back when they were built.  Now a days, we would probably be
> offered a much different "Vanagon" if they started building them again..
> 
>   There's no reason to believe that some fellow in a suit and tie with a
> degree in downtown Stuttgart would have any idea what driving around in the
> Western US outback is actually like, at least not any better than those of
> us who've done it for 20-30-40yrs in various vehicles...
> These things are only motor vehicles, built by people just like you and
> me....If you need it to do something other than what that mythical Target
> Market family might have needed...changing stuff from factory specs is not
> 'Verbooten', yet. (though they are lobbying very hard to make that the law)
>  Yes, some care and knowledge is required to modify vehicles in a safe and
> effective manner.  Un-thinking modifications can have unanticipated
> consequences...Care should be taken with any improvement to your
> vehicles..They are all compromises.
> 
>  The VW engineers sent out some pretty large 'compromises' in our
> Vanagons.  It's OK, in my playbook, to make any vehicle perform the way
> I...me... want it to rather than to blindly keep looking around for another
> vehicle that works perfectly for me..."from the factory"....
> 
>  I  go ahead and change stuff from the factory, I don't let the Factory
> dictate what I MUST drive..Sometimes I get it a little wrong, but usually
> my vehicle work a lot better than a 'totally stock factory original'....for
> me anyhow.
>  Don Hanson