I saw some winch drums on the front and rear wheels of a rig in baja...Guy
said that they always got him out...some way you connect fronts to
rears...?  Sold in Australia, I think.  2 wd vanagons are really poor for
traction, but the popular remedies cost a bunch.. I thought I'd look for
something like those Aussie thingies....
.Only bad thing my van does...get stuck, and I drove 2 wd pickups for 20
odd wyoming winters ...all better by a lot than my Vanagon.. traction wise.

On Jan 2, 2018 2:56 PM, "Alistair Bell" <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> Got stuck on the flat in similar snow. Very hard crust and about a foot or
> more of soft loose cold snow below. Locker and mod aggressive vc didn’t get
> me further forward. Got backed out finally.
>
> Maybe chains on the front would have helped but the crust acted like
> chocks.
>
> Alistair
>
> > On Jan 2, 2018, at 10:53 AM, Mark McCulley <mark.mcculley@GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> >
> > I also have Nokian WRG's 215/60/16 and got quite a bit of experience with
> > them on snow and ice this past 2 weeks in Montana. They were really good
> on
> > hard ice and moderately deep snow (4" or so). However in deeper wet snow
> (>
> > 6") I encountered some problems. There were several times when enough
> snow
> > was pushed in front of the tires that the van could not climb over and
> got
> > stuck. I had to dig out in front of the tires to get moving again.
> Locking
> > diff and granny low did not help. I did not try airing down the tires.
> Got
> > stuck going uphill as well as downhill (driveway). The weather situation
> > was 10" or so of powder, that developed a wind-slab crust, then got wet
> and
> > consolidated when temperature went above freezing for a while. Glad I
> had a
> > shovel!
> >
> > https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO-IyI4DPWtobAfb2gBFtf8gQecpfyysg
> 9gydlG
> > https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNOl3uAVHihRA5Lov8irvNYL6
> iOYapH7_-lY2PD
> >
> > -Mark
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 1, 2018 at 9:39 PM, Stephen Edwards <chibicyclist@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Thank you Dennis and David.
> >>
> >> What are the other options exactly? I didn’t know there was more than
> one!
> >>
> >> As to the tires, I have new 15” wheels from Van-Cafe with Nokian WRG’s,
> >> which right now are doing quite well in the Chicago snow (we’re getting
> hit
> >> with sub zero temps, and I mean sub zero Fahrenheit - brrrrrr). I don’t
> >> really want to go any knobbier if I can help it.
> >>
> >> Steve.
> >>
> >>> David Boan wrote:
> >>
> >>> I had my transaxle rebuilt a few years ago at German Transaxle, and did
> >> the "super-differential" upgrade.  I dont tow anything, but notice
> improved
> >> traction when climbing on steep forest service roads, and on snow and
> ice.
> >> I dont have any hard numbers, just my impression.
> >>
> >>
> >>> On Jan 1, 2018, at 11:07 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> If willing to go for that kind of coin you may want to look at one of
> >> the other limited slip differential options. That would offer something
> >> more useful than just locking the rear at low speeds and extreme
> >> conditions. I would also ask what you are using for tires? Without
> traction
> >> sufficient for the task you could just end up with 2 tires spinning
> sinking
> >> you into the sand even faster. The Syncro lockers are robust but they do
> >> take a little tricking to get them locked when needed. Engage at low
> speed
> >> while swerving gently side to side to get the fingers to line up and
> slide
> >> in before you get stuck. Some side to side is sometimes needed to get
> them
> >> to unlock.
> >>>
> >>> Dennis
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf
> >> Of Stephen Edwards
> >>> Sent: Monday, January 1, 2018 11:38 PM
> >>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >>> Subject: Locking differential
> >>>
> >>> Vanagon list:
> >>>
> >>> What’s the verdict on lockers? I have an 88 GL with a Subie installed
> >> and occasionally need to pull a boat out of the water. The place where
> I go
> >> has a sandy beach and the rear wheels get stuck every time. I need a
> >> rebuilt tranny anyway, but I’m told that adding a locking diff will add
> >> $1500 to the cost. Is it worth it? And aside from the cost - are there
> any
> >> other downsides to having one?
> >>>
> >>> Steve, in Chicago.
> >>
>