I have a friend - a non-list member - who recently bought an '89 Vanagon 
that was equipped with alloy wheels.  As I recall from my Vanagon shopping 
days ('91 Westy) the alloy wheels, though gorgeous, had some pretty 
daunting care requirement/recommendations, such as weekly washing, 
avoiding certain detergents, etc, that were apparently related to 
corrosion problems.  Having put the fear in 'em (that is having shared 
this possibly unfounded information), I decided I'd better consult the 
experts - you folks!

So fellow vanagon listserv members, what's the real skinny on alloys?  How 
do you care for them?  How are they holding up?  Any special tips or 
advice?  

BTW, I did try (before busying this list more than it already is - Gad's
how the volume has gone up over the last year or so)  to search the
archives at gopher://halfdan.med.umn.edu:70/11/Miscellaneous/Vanagon/ but
when I tried to access the "96 List Archives" I received the error
message:  "-2 *UMNDES based auth requirederver Requires Authenication". 
Any idea what's going on here??

-Wes

Wes Neuenschwander
Seattle, WA
wesn@eskimo.com