General vanagon suspension observations for a newbie.  Sorry if
this issue has been beat up previously...

First, I have the same bushing noise in the right side of my '84 that
was discussed a few digests back.  I found it to be temperature
sensitive for some reason and  only on the right side.  The noise is
very loud below 40F but in Texas summers is barely noticeable.  I've
been ignoring the noise.  Should I be concerned?  I haven't noticed and
bump steer, vibration, or sloppiness.

On the shock end of things, my van has 150K miles on the original shocks
and the car drives great.  I have never had a set of shocks last this
long.  I get in my brother's chevy van which has new shocks and I get
nauseous from the front/back rolling swelling to it.  The vanagon seems
like a very superior suspension design than to any other van I've driven 
in.  Yeah, the wasserboxer heads are a lemon, but I like driving the
vehicle.  Am I in the minority in this opinion?  How long have stock
shocks been lasting the rest of you readers?  I'm curious if its time to
start saving for some new shocks (~$200 last I checked before the dollar
bit the big one).

On tires.  When I bought the thing it had 80K miles and new Michelin
radials.  Three out of four split their bands.  Fortunatly I felt the
vibration before they blew up, but I'll never buy a Michelin again.  
Now I'm running Perelli P44 M+S without problems exept that they are a
bit noisy and I now get 300 miles per tank instead of 350.  My fuel bill
is 15% more but I sleep better at night.

Lee Thompson
Austin, TX
Reply-To: "Lee Thompson" <lthompson@fisher.com>