Question of the day

On my list of things to do today, I had written down “drive a vintage vehicle”. My choices at the moment are the Travelwagon or a 1948 Willys Jeep- today I reached for the Travelwagon. There is a roadside scale that I drove across that told me the van weighs 3250 lbs with me and a ⅓ tank of gas. The front axle had 1800 lbs on it and the rear had 1450. A little quick arithmetic told me the van has a 55/45 weight distribution.

My van still has the cast iron weight over the fuel tank which is ~200 lbs of dead weight. Doing some more arithmetic, if I subtract the weight of the cast iron lump I arrive at a 60/40 distribution. Would this upset how the van drives much if the weight was removed?

Also where do the jack and handle store within the van? Lug wrench?

Jack Storage under the drivers seat... Here's a thread with pics...

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t49955-jack-storage?highlight=jack

Chevy did the same thing on the 64 Vans
Seems like I heard it was to keep rear down (& rear brakes doing some good)when panic braking???

You might want to do some reading about that weight and it's intended purpose before removing!

Is it really that imperative?

The weight does not affect driving too much except that you have less weight over the rear wheels, which might make a difference in acceleration when off pavement or on a wet surface.

Where it makes a big difference is in braking. Either the rear end will raise up, possibly off the ground, or if the brakes are not even in the front, the rear end could swing around to the side.

I once removed the weight, but added a heavy, steel angle rear bumper. The weight of the bumper compensated for the loss of the dead weight and gave me serious protection from the rear.

donivan65 wrote:https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t14931-x-tra-weight-over-the-gas-tank?highlight=gas+tank+weight

Thanks for posting this thread, it was just what I was hoping to learn about other's experiences with retaining/removing the weight.

I thought that my van having a camper top on the roof that weighs likely the same as the iron weight, it's removal could just cancel out and I could lessen the load a bit. I've tried to lighten the weight on the front as much as possible and shift it to the back to balance things out. The battery may find its way back there someday.

I've seen the early films about the Econolines (trucks) lifting the rear wheels during hard braking- like in GM's promotional work featuring their Corvan ads. I also read that the E truck was manipulated by GM in these films to exaggerate the movement.  

In the end the weight may just stay, I don't want to be at a loss for traction, get stuck, panic stop, etc.

DON'T REMOVE THE WEIGHT! IT IS THERE FOR A REASON. IT HELPS STABILIZE WEIGHT BALANCE IN A SUDDEN STOP. WITOUT IT YOUR FRONT BUMPER WILL INTRODUCE ITSELF TO THE PAVEMENT.