Tada! my first own scratch....

[sapto]

Lucky or sad? Anyway not neccesairy



Although I had a great day and had made my windows darker!

 

[WelshGas]

Ouch.

 

[Hotel California]

Don't want to make it worst but i don't call that a scratch anymore...looks like pretty well damadged...
Some kind of curbstone in a parkinglot ....?

 

[splitmike]

Most of that will polish out!

 

[Skylark2.0]

Ouch. More of a gouge than a scratch

 

[sapto]

Don't want to make it worst but i don't call that a scratch anymore...looks like pretty well damadged...
Some kind of curbstone in a parkinglot ....?

Oh yes it was: wanted to turn left to early. around the corner... already sent the pics to my local garage... I'll see what he thinks. Want to repair it before winter.

 

[AlanC]

I would fit some sill bars.

Coming over Wrynose Pass in the lakes in July, I misjudged a bend and bounced the van off a well embedded rock. Luckily I scraped the off side sill bar and bent it but didn't damage the van sill at all.

Replacing the bar is easier and cheaper than repairing a sill.

Alan

 

[sapto]

Good idea! I'm going to talk about this with my garage.

 

[AlanC]

It felt much worse than it was. The bar is just shy of touching the sill.

Once I had stopped safely to take a look, I was mightily relieved, although still p****d off that I had done it.

Misjudging the length of a van is not unusual. I similarly bashed the T4 and T5 work vans I had, so you would think I would have learned my lesson by now!

Alan

 

[sapto]

Update: went to a local garage - they've once done a good job with my skoda - and ask for a price range: he talked about 1500.- CHF to do a proper job. Now I'm talking with my insurance.

 

[MattBW]

Thanks for sharing, scary stuff, I dread the day I get my first scratch. This will keep me sharp and focused on not doing so. Hope they fix it quickly and as cheap as possible for you.

 

[sapto]

Thanks for sharing, scary stuff, I dread the day I get my first scratch. This will keep me sharp and focused on not doing so. Hope they fix it quickly and as cheap as possible for you.

Thanks Matt!

 

[Borris]

It felt much worse than it was. The bar is just shy of touching the sill.

Once I had stopped safely to take a look, I was mightily relieved, although still p****d off that I had done it.

Misjudging the length of a van is not unusual. I similarly bashed the T4 and T5 work vans I had, so you would think I would have learned my lesson by now!

AlanView attachment 9629

Hi Alan,
I am a soon to be, new Cali owner so don't know much about these side pipes or the gauge of metal used in them. They look to be mainly decorative so i would doubt if the gauge is as thick as the look tends to suggest. After all VW would need to consider the weight that they add to the vehicle and keep it to the minimum. So please forgive me if this suggestion is silly.
If, as your photo suggests, the pipe has been bent upwards vertically but not inwards or outwards and no damage has been done to the fixings or the van itself, I think, if it were my van, i would try gently bending the centre of the pipe down using a couple of large webbing ratchet straps. In order to do this, I would find a friendly garage and drive the vehicle up onto their vehicle hoist. Raise the vehicle to a good working height. Then i would thread each of the ratchet straps over the top of the pipe and feed them down underneath the metal runner of the vehicle hoist (the metal runner that you drive onto). Then connect up the straps so that they form a complete loop around the pipe and the metal hoist runner. The pipe would, if possible need to be directly over the centre line of the hoist runner in order to ensure that the pipe is pulled downwards and not to one side or another. I would place the straps about 300 mm apart in the centre of the pipe or the point of impact as appropriate and then apply the same gradual adjustment to the straps keeping a careful eye on the pipe and fixing points. Hopefully this adjustment will gradually return the pipe to its original shape/position.
I might well be talking utter rubbish but if it were my van i would be tempted to give it a go before parting with lots of cash. I would have thought that the chances of making things any worse are negligible.

 

[AlanC]

Hi Borris,

An interesting suggestion and one I had not considered. I do have a friendly garage who may well allow me to do this on their lift.

My only thought is that these sill bars are mounted at each end onto a bracket that is bolted to the sill via two cleverly designed bolts through existing blanked holes in the sill.

Given the thickness of the metal of the vans body, if I were to try and bend the bars back in situe I suspect the sill would give way and the bolts would pull through before very much bending happened.
I could use wooden blocks to support each end and this would prevent the brackets pulling out of the sill.

There is still and gouge in each though, where I hit the rocks, so these would still be there even if the bars were substantially straight.

I am not panicking about sorting the sill bars out just yet. We have a Spanish holiday to come and so I will wait until after that to deal with them.

Alan

 

[Borris]

Hi Borris,

An interesting suggestion and one I had not considered. I do have a friendly garage who may well allow me to do this on their lift.

My only thought is that these sill bars are mounted at each end onto a bracket that is bolted to the sill via two cleverly designed bolts through existing blanked holes in the sill.

Given the thickness of the metal of the vans body, if I were to try and bend the bars back in situe I suspect the sill would give way and the bolts would pull through before very much bending happened.
I could use wooden blocks to support each end and this would prevent the brackets pulling out of the sill.

There is still and gouge in each though, where I hit the rocks, so these would still be there even if the bars were substantially straight.

I am not panicking about sorting the sill bars out just yet. We have a Spanish holiday to come and so I will wait until after that to deal with them.

Alan

Hi Alan,
Sorry to hear about the gouge. I didn't notice it in your picture but since you have mentioned it i can now see it. That is a shame.
Your idea about using wooden blocks sounds good. They would probably need to support the bracket as well as the pipe at each end in order to avoid creating a turning moment at the brackets when exerting the downward pull on the pipe.
Still if the pipe is damaged you will probably want to change it anyway.
My wife and I have recently agreed to buy a 180 SE DSG 4motion demonstrator which, all being well, we should be able to collect at the end of the month. Ours has also had these VW stainless pipes fitted by the dealer so i am interested in the protection that they offer. Your post has shown that whilst very annoying, at least you are not looking at very upsetting and very costly to fix body damage. So they have done their job well.
Best wishes and have a good holiday in Spain.
Paul

 

[SimonB]

Sorry to hear about your sill damage Sapto. I drive a long wheel based van at work and it is not unusual to see a dink in the sill of one of the fleet where someone had taken a corner a bit tight and scraped a high kerb.
Has anyone heard anything about this make? http://www.direct4x4.co.uk/volkwage...gle_shopping&gclid=CI29qrSx4McCFQQUwwodyq0KLA The firm are based in Derby.
They are black powder coated but as my Cali is black they would blend in quite well and not look too conspicuous. Bit concerned about the lowering of ground clearance and someone's post where they said that the jacking points could not be used.

 

[sapto]

Sorry to hear about your sill damage Sapto. I drive a long wheel based van at work and it is not unusual to see a dink in the sill of one of the fleet where someone had taken a corner a bit tight and scraped a high kerb.
Has anyone heard anything about this make? http://www.direct4x4.co.uk/volkwage...gle_shopping&gclid=CI29qrSx4McCFQQUwwodyq0KLA The firm are based in Derby.
They are black powder coated but as my Cali is black they would blend in quite well and not look too conspicuous. Bit concerned about the lowering of ground clearance and someone's post where they said that the jacking points could not be used.

Thank you SimonB! I called my insurance and they said: No problem just let it fix and you only have to pay your part (what's around CHF 1000.-) and the rest is covered. Doesen't sound like a great deal however I'm 'happy' because it could have gone worse.

And your solution with this bars in black does look great! Thinking of them. I found some for about CHF 700.- so I guess I try to find a way to get yours or ask my garage what tjey offer.

Happy Saturday to everyone!
sapto

 

[WelshGas]

As already mentioned - Non-VW side bars often have different fittings to the VW bars and often stop you using the normal VW jacking points so beware and check before you part with any money,

The VW bars are very solidly constructed and fitted and do offer quite good protection. There is virtually no difference in ground clearance when fitted.
3rd party Side Bars often involve cutting slots in the plastic under tray and are more decorative than functional. So just check everything out before buying.

 

[SimonB]

Many thanks for the warning. Do VW sell them in black or a similar dark colour? What I'm looking for is the protection they seem to offer, but without being too conspicuous.
I see from your listing you have a solar panel charging system, does this do away with the need for a hook up? Are you able to describe it at all, I've been looking into it myself but it seems to be a bit of a minefield for a novice like me.

 

[WelshGas]

I don't think VW do them in any other colour. Could get them powder Coated or ? Wrapped maybe.

My solar panel is from here. Roger Donahugh who makes these kits also posts on the Forum. You could do it cheaper but these are quality kits.

http://solarcampersolutions.co.uk/index.php/vw-t5-california-drill-free-kit