Soon to be VX owner, looking for troubles?

[JHarris1385]

Astral is just the color that is liked or accepted by the mass majority. Marketing wise it makes the most sense to produce more of a more likeable color...

[handeeman]

My 2 cents: I would truly like to own at least 7 colors, you know one for each day of the week. Or for whatever mood I'm in. Such as Proton when I'm feeling outstanding, Ironman speaks for it's self, Ebony when I'm feeling bad (as in bad_ss),Dragon when I feel like a Martial Artist, Foxfire when I feel like a little wine (and dancin), Kaiser for when I'm feeling in charge (as in "Der Kaiser has spoken") and Astral when I'm being an Astral.

[Grif]

I double post this if the mods don't mind.

I just found out my rear seats wont lock into riding place due to a broken assembly on the rear passenger seat, and the wont lock into the "folded" position due to a broken nylon locking strap. Advice please? Replace both rear seats? Replace just that passenger side rear seat which contains both the seat lock and strap? Or is it possilble to replace just the locking mechanism on the passenger rear seat and its nylon strap?

My guess is I need at least a replacement passenger rear side seat. with working lock and strap. Suggestions and sources of parts please?

The locking flange on the floor appears to be OK.

[Riff Raff]

GRIF--- You forgot the last and very best option regarding your rear seat delima.

REMOVE your back seat and deposit it in the nearest commercial-sized dumpster!!!

Most of us VX owner's here have already removed our back seat and have merely saved it in storage in case we ever sell the VX someday. You will have tons of more cargo room with it removed. Unless you have kids to haul around, YANK IT OUT.

[Grif]

GRIF--- You forgot the last and very best option regarding your rear seat delima.

REMOVE your back seat and deposit it in the nearest commercial-sized dumpster!!!

Most of us VX owner's here have already removed our back seat and have merely saved it in storage in case we ever sell the VX someday. You will have tons of more cargo room with it removed. Unless you have kids to haul around, YANK IT OUT.

LOL... thanks Riff, but I require the versatility that the VX was designed for.

Yes at times I need lots of cargo space, but at times I also need seats to haul people safely.

[tom4bren]

Grif,

You'll be able to save yourself some dinero by doing some of the repairs yourself. The How2 section has some nice writeups on performing some of your required maintenance: bearing repack, tranny fluid change, timing belt, ...

I've been creating pdf's of most of them for my own personal archiving so if you need something you can't find, ask.

One other thing ya might wanna do is search out any members that live near you. Most of us are willing to turn a wrench to help out our family members.

I'm NOT going to recommend that you go to a smaller tire size (I'd never hear the end of it - search on 'offset from hell' sometime to see what I'm talkin 'bout - or look in my gallery).

Now go down to your local supermarket with big plate glass windows and drive past it a few times & check out how good you look in your new ride (there's a thread on that too - pretty funny).

Welcome to the addiction.

BTW, don't forget to keep a close eye on your oil - check it at EVERY fueling. Also get on your hands and knees in front of your new P&J (Pride & Joy) and check your CV boots to make sure they're not cracked or torn. If they are, lemme know & I'll help you to find the threads you'll need to start reading. That's one repair you can't procrastinate on.

[Grif]

Ok, took the VX to my most trusted shop. They found a literally a bent rear end, the right, they had a heck of a time pulling the right rear axle and found some grinding on the gears also indicative of a bent rear end. The entire housing and was bent upwards.

Long story short, replaced the entire rear end assembly, R front lower ball joint, R Front CV, and did an alignment so it no longer pulls to the right nearly as much.

The shop had assumed the nasty "skipping or jumping or hopping" noise was due to the mismatch to the rear axles not aligned up perfectly, and indeed they showed me the gears on the right rear axle, (which had also been leaking if you have followed this thread) and they had been ground down quite a bit which is consistent with at least SOME noise.

However after all that was done, and I am confident in their rear end work, I still get a "jumping, hopping or severe rattle" sound from the front end esp under acceleration at low speed. At higher speed, its not noticeable at all, but from a stop, and I stomp on the accel, the "rumble" is very disturbing. It literally sounds like gears are grinding a few teeth before I get it up to speed, or that my front wheels are "hopping" but I doubt very much that the its the wheels.

I've read all the threads I have found about weird front end noises, but frankly, if I went underneath, I would have no idea what to look at even with your all's pics, descriptions, and remedies.

I trust my mechanics, and they got me a good deal on replacing the rear end, but I'm afraid they are still missing somthing serious up front. I paid 1300 for a used rear end assembly, and it was supposed to be the entire rear, axels, and diff. But if they shoved the old right rear axel back into a new housing I will be majorly pissed off.

I think I need a guru.

Anyone in Southern Alabama/Northwest Florida need a case of beer and an instant friend on the Gulf Coast Beaches in exchange for a valued educated opinion?

[circmand]

Astral is just the color that is liked or accepted by the mass majority. Marketing wise it makes the most sense to produce more of a more likeable color...

1. White

2. Silver

3. Black

4. Red

5. Gray

6. Blue

7. Beige/Brown

8. Yellow/Gold

9. Green

10. Other