my thought was it's about not adding more weight to that side of the
Westy ..
which I don't think is a very valid argument.

one thing I see that is a 'weight/location' issue is the jack stored on
that shelf up there when you open the rearhatch.
Weight added up high or at the ends of the vehicle is less-desireable in
terms of handing dynamics..
though it would be very hard to tell the difference about where you
stash the stock jack of course.

About needing cooling for the ecu under the backs eat.
sure , if you stuff down sleeping bags all around in in the
summer....thatwouldn't be good.
But, there are no notes or warnings in the Owners Manual ...
I seriously doubt it will hurt to have a bag of tire chains there, or
spare tools,or dishes for camping around the ecu there.
It's quite rare for them to fail in my experience.

weight wise, espeically in an auto trans vanagon in winter, for traction ..
you want as much weight 'back there' as you can get, as there is more
weight on the front axle than on the rear, and they are
traction-challenged, the auto more so, do to less fine control of power
input.
The auto trans itself is nice and heavy though.

scott
turbovans

On 12/31/2012 9:18 AM, Loren Busch wrote:
>   RE: What do you put where in a Westy?
> Lisa, I don't think there is really an answer to your question, you will
> work it out yourself.  Using/living in a Westy is   evolutionary  , not
> revolutionary.  Everyone tends to develop an arrangement and style that
> fits their expectations and needs.  But you are going to have a new and
> wonderful adventure in the process.
> BTW, your mechanic was probably concerned about the chains to the far left
> of the under seat storage because ('86 and later) the ECU is right there
> and needs ventilation.
>