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Van Cafe News
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SEPTEMBER SPECIALS
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Feels like I blinked and the summer is over. On the West Coast it didn't help that it seems like we rarely saw the sun, so it hardly felt like summer ever arrived. Elsewhere we know you may have had a relentlessly hot summer and be glad that it's over. Vanagon's don't know what season it is - they stand at the ready to head to the beach, head to the mountains, seek out spots warmer, seek out spots cooler. Nice to have the flexibility and versatility to load up the gear and the family and take the spontaneous day trip, weekend trip, summer trip. We all feel more at ease when the Vanagon is running well even if no trip is yet planned, just so in the back of our mind we know we have that freedom, independence, ability to escape.
Enough chatter - I know you are just here to find out what's on sale. Well, you can make a "back to school" themed sale work for most businesses, but it is a bit of a stretch for Vanagons. It is too late to summerize your car, too early to winterize your car, and no one autumnizes their car, so we might just have to go with the randomize special - throwing darts at the website and came up with the following wide array of products to put on sale:
STARTERS / ALTERNATORS
CAR COVERS / CARPET KITS / FLOOR MATS
WIPERS / CUPHOLDERS
RADIATORS / STAINLESS STEEL PIPE KITS
CLUTCH KITS / CLUTCH HYDRAULICS
COMPLETE CV JOINT & BOOT KIT
MUFFLERS / TUNE-UP KITS
BILSTEIN SHOCKS / STEERING RACKS
FOG LIGHTS / PROPEX HEATERS
WINDOW SEAL KIT / DOOR W-STRIP KIT
Hopefully you get through the month trouble free with the Vanagon but should you find yourself in need of parts and repairs, hopefully we picked some items that might ease the pain to you and your pocket book.
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freeBE frisbee ®
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But...we also get a kick out of giving things away - even if it has nothing to do with Vanagons. This month you get a FRISBEE ® with purchases over $100. And that is not just any old FRISBEE ®
....Our friend, customer, collaborator Craig Bailes who encouraged, harassed, enlightened us in the ways of the Nokian tire (besides being the best tire functionally for Vanagons it is also made using green practices). In turn we are supporting and drawing attention to a project, the Brothers BE, with which he is involved. The Brothers BE is a spiritual entrepreneurship spreading peace, love, joy and laughter for the eco-conscious consumer. They are committed to having ALL of their products made from recycled or organic materials. Even the server their website is on is green! Their first product, "The Ultimate BE" is a genuine Wham-O Ultimate 175gm FRISBEE ® made from recycled polyethylene plastic. Visit their website for a glimpse of a stylish, positive vibe sharing "BE" T-shirt made from a 60% hemp, 40% organic cotton super comfy soft blend. Other earth friendly products are in the works as well, so BE on the watchat http://thebrothersbe.com/
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So...time to turn off the t.v., lose the cell phone, shut off the laptop, the IPOD, the IPAD; hop in the van, don't forget the FRISBEE ®
, head to the beach, head to the park, forget your troubles, get some exercise, take a deep breath and harken back to a time when we remember how easily we all used to be entertained without electronic devices and life was just a hair simpler.
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15" & 16" STEEL WHEEL UPDATES
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Update 08-10 - Center Caps - I apologize, but this was out of our control. Company in Germany claimed they had quantity requested; gave us a bill; we paid. Nothing but run around and excuses since then and now the truth comes out and they don't have but a small percentage of what they claimed. We are looking into alternatives but just being straight - this will take some more time.
eUpdate 07-30 - All pre orders have been shipped or picked up. Still working on getting the center caps - the company we are getting them from is being quite difficult to deal with. Tthere are still quite a few 15's remaining More 16's are on order for those who missed the boat on this one. We will post more details in about one month - at the moment it looks like Nov / Dec time frame for delivery.
Update 06-24 Arrival of the wheels is imminent. The boat was supposed to arrive in SF on Monday 6-21 but this week we were told it changed to Friday 6-25. A bit odd - did the winds die down and slow its progress? did they take a diversion to the gulf because they heard that there was free fuel that could be scooped out of the water? or maybe they diverted down to Chile to take part is some scheme to break Van Der Sloot out of jail. Anyhow, it is landing. Then it has to clear customs and get delivered to us (hopefully next week).
Lug nuts and bolts are already here - here is the link
www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_1303_340/mefro_lug_hardware.html -- Disappointingly the cosmetic center caps are not here. We will get them at some point but we will spare you the excuses as to why these are still sitting in Germany. We will be making contact with all who participated in pre-orders shortly to make final arrangements on order contents and shipping. Thank you for your patience.
Update 05-21 (If you are not already aware of the steel wheels please read the segment that immediately follows this one).
Thank you for all of the orders that you have placed. I knew these were going to be popular but this is exceeding my expectations. I will periodically add some updates that are pertinent. Please know that no order will ship when the time comes without us making contact with you. We will insure that besides your wheels, should you want lug hardware, center caps, tires or any unrelated parts to accompany your shipment, we will make sure that it all ships together.
Our container had a slight delay getting on the boat. As opposed to end of May, we are looking toward the end of June - there are always some variables on imports that are out of our control. I hope this will still work with everyone's personal needs. By mid-June I will post information on
1 - lug nuts and lug bolts - (handled with the help of Christopher Schimke of T3 Technique).
2 - center caps - coming from Busschmiede of Germany
3 - Additional shipping info - I need to consolidate which areas have multiple orders and are good candidates for shared , more affordable shipping by freight truck (which in turn may encourage others to order from those areas and reduce the per person cost even further)
4 - Dial in tire order - Many people have put down deposits on wheels and have said they were considering tires but had not decided on size / tread. I will be placing my tire order toward the end of May and need to incorporate those requests in that order. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions or request advice.
Credit where credit is due. Our most successful ventures are often born from the ideas and encouragement of our customers. This is no more evident than with the steel wheel deal. Although many people had inquired about both 15" and 16" steel wheels and suggested that I get them, there is one particular customer, whose unparalleled depth of knowledge of all things vanagon I value and respect, whose research efforts helped me acquire the wheels, determine the mix between 15's and 16's, and source the center caps and as such warrants particular acknowledgement. Thank you Mr. Syncrodoka (his handle on thesamba to the uninitiated).
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15" AND 16" STEEL WHEELS!
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You asked for them - We went and got them. Regular price is $99 each for 15" and $109 each for 16". As a general rule we don't like to promote something that we don't already have in our building, but we make an exception here for two reasons. First - the Volks Cave has finite space and we are going to be tripping over these wheels when they arrive. Having some pre-sold so that they immediately ship helps relieve some pressure of shoe horning them all into the building. Secondly - some customers may choose to combine the wheels with Nokian tires and this gives us some lead time to determine the popular sizes and match their delivery time with the wheels. The offer is good until the wheels arrive or until all are spoken for.
HOW TO ORDER - You can place your order at the following link for 15" wheels and here for 16" wheels. Once your order is placed, we charge a $40 non-refundable deposit - the balance is charged when we are ready to ship.
WHEEL HARDWARE - We recommend using special lug nuts (or for 2wds it is both lug nuts and lug bolts) with correct ball seat profile - If you choose to use the wheel hardware that we provide, the fee is $40 for the whole vehicle. These wheels take ball seat lugs although the radius of the ball does not match stock Vanagon lug hardware but more closely matches Mercedes lugs (although most Mercedes lugs are 12mm as opposed to 14mm). You may choose to source these yourselves but for convenience we chose to bring them in. Also we will have an option for center caps too - although not-essential, they are a nice cosmetic touch.
NOKIAN TIRES - All of our 15" Nokian tires listed on the site (WRC's and Hakka C's) will work fine with the 15" steel wheels. Nokian tires are also really perfect for the 16" application and offer a great variety of height options with both their fair weather Hakka C and more aggressive WRC, all appropriate for use with 6" wide wheels. Check here for tire and wheel packages for 15" steels and for 16" steels.
SHIPPING - Shipping charges are generally in the $40 to $60 range for Western States and up to $110 for East Coast for a set of 4 wheels shipped by UPS. Wheel and tire packages are generally double those prices. With the lead time until we ship and the price incentive to ship larger orders when shipping by freight truck, the opportunity is here in some instances to combine some orders to save on shipping. Example - I have a number of customers from the Seattle area who have expressed interest in these wheels and Jack at Wolfsburg Motorwerks has offered to take delivery of them should I choose to combine them on a pallet. This may also work in other areas where there is a large concentration of Vanagons.
For now hopefully this gives a good overview of how it will all work. If interested, please feel free to ask questions or to place your order to secure yourself a set. We will work out the final details between now and when they arrive and we will update you with any new pertinent information with a link from the home page.
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COOKIE WARS!
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Well, it looks like we started something here. For a brief respite from toiling in the dungeons at the Cafe, we were playing around with an animation site that allowed us to make a mock customer transaction video. It seemed to inspire and unleash some creative and humorous responses from others in the Vanagon community. Feel free to submit yours and we will add it to the list. If the weather was warmer you could be out in the garage working on the Van, but it is not, so best to sit at the computer and have a few laughs.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5764009/
And then, Angus Gordon from Bainbridge Island, created Super Hero Vanagon Man with helpful advice
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CO-CONSPIRATORS WANTED!
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When I tell people that the crux of our business is based on supplying parts for VW Vanagons - vehicles that have not been in production for close to 20 years - the reaction is often one of skepticism. You may have gotten a similar reaction when trying to justify to a neighbor, coworker, or more likely a spouse the money invested in your prized Vanagon for an engine conversion along with various accessories and upgrades. Truth is, we are both a little nuts, but life would be boring if we were always rational. I have to admit that I feel very fortunate to be able to cover the shop overhead and the employee wages in a place like Santa Cruz (not to mention supporting my lavish lifestyle) all while working at a job that I very much enjoy. But, it is our sense that life in the Vanagon world has just started to get a bit more challenging.
Ready availability of almost all essential parts has been a given, up to this point. Most out of stock items have tended to be non-essential accessories that we import and which periodically suffer from gaps between orders. But, recently we have witnessed a rather significant number of common and important Vanagon part numbers having been deleted from VW's database. As the herd of Vanagons has thinned over the years, aftermarket companies may not step in to fill this void. Some of us vendors will take the initiative to fabricate some of these items, but we are also aware that many resourceful Vanagon owners and shops have done and will continue to do this too.
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Frankly, we are not in the fabrication business. As much as we would like to successfully design and produce parts, many of our efforts have been full of disappointments, delays and missteps. The most successful instances, however, have been collaborations with Vanagon owners or Vanagon shops who have already taken the initiative to design and produce a given product. It is best that we stick with what we know and do best - run the website and the repair shop - and when it comes to developing new products, then it is time to turn to you and work with partners to develop them.
We welcome your contact and input on products that you may have developed to improve on some functional or cosmetic part of the Vanagon, or to supply a part that is no longer available. Gas tank cross over pipes, 2.1 thermostat housings, radius arm bushing sleeves, throttle switches are a few of the items that are in the process of disappearing. We have no desire to ask for any exclusive arrangement. You did the ground work - you have every right to sell to whomever you choose, but our goal is to always offer as many necessary and useful parts as possible on our site for our customer's convenience. Please let us know what you have been working on. More than ever, we are in this thing together. Collectively, we need you to keep us in business, and you need us to keep your van running. You would be hard pressed to find a community of vehicle owners as dedicated, talented, and cooperative as you find amongst Vanagon owners. We look forward to your input.
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NOKIAN TIRES ARE HERE
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NOT Nokia - Nokian - we aren't talking cell phones here, but the Scandinavian tire manufacturer gaining popularity and widespread acclaim for their quality, affordable, environmentally-friendly tires.
QUALITY - In the case of a Vanagon, this discussion starts with a tire that is rated correctly for the vehicle. Vanagons are supposed to travel on Load Range C tires - light duty truck tires with reinforced sidewalls - certain minimum weight ratings and appropriate tire inflation ranges. We all take risks in life, but why take one here unnecessarily when correct tires are available. There is a lot of information on the internet and lengthy discussions on various forums from Vanagon owners exhaustive research and experience. Although a few years old now, one of the most thoroughly researched articles on tires was written by Larry Chase on his roadhause website - Here is a link to the article - http://www.roadhaus.com/tires/guideline.html Although some of those tires discussed have since gone out of production, the facts about the Vanagon and tire specs have not changed. Now, specific to the Nokian tires, the ones that we are stocking will all be the load range C ones. Nokian places emphasis on exceptional grip under all driving conditions, efficient low rolling resistance, even wear, and a quiet tire.
COST - Cost is a factor, but not at the sacrifice of safety or quality. We have always been fans of the Michelin Agilis tire and although we still are fans of that tire, we are starting to cringe at the price as it has steadily crept up over the past few years to where they are now $156 each for the 205/65/15. The Nokian tire in the same size is $124 each - a savings of $128 on a set of 4. We are trying to offer a safe and appropriate tire, affordably.
We offer the following models and prices:
185R14C Hakka C for $109 each
205/65/15 Hakka C for $124 each
205/65/15 WRC for $124 each
Set of 4 Rhein alloys with either 205/65/15 for $1186
Accuracy for shipping prices is not great with the website shipping calculator so we encourage you to email with your zip code for accurate shipping quotes. Shipping to a business address will save you some money and we require that someone be there to sign for delivery. Products are listed for your year and model under the "wheel and driveshaft" category and under "tires" and "rims".
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT - You pick your tires because they are safe and affordable but it is comforting to know that the company making your tires employs green practices. Nokian Tires is the first tire manufacturer in the world to begin making tires without the use of harmful oils - they use earth friendly oils and they have earned the birch leaf insignia that guarantees the complete absence of toxic chemicals.
We like to give credit, where credit is due. Consistent with the Co-Conspirator article about listening to and collaborating with our customers, our decision to become a Nokian dealer began by the valuable research and prompting of one of our customers, Craig Bailes, who wanted a set of Nokian tires to go with the Rhein rims he was purchasing. Between his urgings, positive posts we had read on forums, and accounts from a few other customers, we felt a consensus had started to emerge that this is a good tire, a good tire manufacturer, and we wanted to be a part of making them more available to our customers.
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VANAGON RUNNING ISSUES - SOME SUGGESTIONS
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We just want to highlight the fact that we have a number of resources on the site to help you maintain your van. You can view a variety of articles, tech tips, and various links under our "Resources" section listed on the top of the home page. We tend to get many people referencing the "running issues" article so we thought that we would highlight it here. Whether you are experiencing rough running issues or poor fuel economy, we hope that the article will offer you a step by step method to troubleshoot the problem and identify the culprit. Here is a link to the article Vanagon Running Problems
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