---- Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Dennis H. has warned about over-loading campers for years.    Common
> mistake for most vehicles.   Then drivers expect their
> shocks, brakes and steering to save them when they take corners too fast or
> cannot stop in time.   People expect way too much
> of physics....

More accurately speaking, they don't pay attention to physics, and are then surprised at the consequences.  I know have overloaded vehicles, mainly pickups when hauling something a short distance, particularly rock or building materials.  mcneely

>
> Steven J.
> 91 Westy
>
> On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 7:58 AM, David Bjorkman <ddbjorkman@verizon.net>wrote:
>
> >  I have to agree with Ken.  When I took my roadtrip this past June, with
> > a new inline 4 from FAS, I packed to the gills.  About 5000 lbs, and the
> > max is 5500.  I should have left most of those canned goods home and went
> > shopping more.  Weight absolutely makes a major difference in performance,
> > as does altitude.
> >
> > Dave B.
> >
> >
> > On 10/16/12, kenneth wilford (Van-Again)<kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET> wrote:
> >
> > We actually sold an 88 Westy that we had for several years, and then used
> > the money to buy a 34ft 95 Fleetwood Bounder motor home. This is because
> > we have four kids that are medium sized and we were going on a month long
> > trip. I knew that there was no way we could fit all of our stuff and six
> > people into a Westy camper and not try to kill each other over the course
> > of a month. We needed some elbow room and the Bounder gave us that. It
> > wasn't the biggest, baddest MH out there as at has no slide outs, and wasnt
> > the size of a tour bus. Actually Dennis Haynes recommended for me to get
> > the Class A motor home and I followed his advice. I used our Vanagon
> > camper for shorter trips that were just my wife and I. If I were doing
> > this trip in the future with just the two of us I think we would be fine in
> > a Westy. However because we had the extra people, we needed the extra room.
> >
> > As far as taking those mountains in a Westy is concerned, I can chime in
> > because I have done a similar trip to this one in a Westy with three
> > people. The biggest problem most westy owners have is treating their Westy
> > like a much larger RV. They want to take all of their toys along and also
> > max it out on people. I have customers coming in here that want me to
> > install center two person bench seats in their Westy so they can seat six.
> > They load every single cabinet up with stuff and then put stuff on the top
> > on racks, and then tow a trailer behind. This isn't a very good plan. If
> > you are going to take a nice trip in your van, less is more. You need to
> > evaluate exactly what you need and then try to take the bare minimum of
> > that. You want your Westy to be safe and part of that is being below the
> > Max Gross Vehicle Weight. Most Westy owners never look at that sticker,
> > they never think of it, but if they ever actually weighed their vans fully
> > loaded they would be pretty shocked. I have had them come in here loaded
> > down to the point that you can actually see the van sagging down under the
> > weight, packed full to the point were there is only enough room inside to
> > sit but not actually move around.
> >
> > So don't overload your Westy, I would say four people is the max I would
> > take on a trip longer than a few hours or one or two overnights, and you
> > will enjoy your van much more. Maxing it out is going to make it that much
> > slower, and wear out that much faster. You could even have problems
> > stopping going down the long downhills that always follow the long up
> > hills. Read the owners manual, believe what is says, follow it, and you
> > should have a better experience. Just my two cents.
> >
> > Ken Wilford
> > John 3:16
> > www.vanagain.com
> >
> >
> > >
> >

--
David McNeely