Dan Weeks wrote:
Yeah. My best hauler was a 2 liter aircooled gas vanagon equipped with a diesel vanagon transmission with 5.83 final drive (as opposed to the 4.57 stock ratio). First was a granny low. I hauled a two-ton payload in that--a ton in the van, a ton on a utility trailer. No problem! And man, was it quiet with all that weight in there!
Like a lot of vehicles, I think the Vanagon's carrying capacity is mostly limited by its brakes, which are kind of underwhelming in their stopping power. Engine-wise they're underpowered, but so are semi trucks if you look purely at horsepower-to-weight ratio. You don't need a lot of power to pull a load once you have it rolling, especially on the flat, and low gearing can compensate for a lot if you don't mind a low top speed.
