Astro mechanic

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Topic author
mr.James
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 6:02 pm

Astro mechanic

Post by mr.James »

Back in the 90's I worked with some engineers from GM that were working on the problem of premature tire wear (7k miles and the tire core hanging out at the edges) within our fleet. The vans came with general tires that had a rounded look to them brand new. The solution I suggested was to place some bf Goodrich's on them as the tread rested flat to the ground. That seemed to solve most of the problem. The rest was tweaks to the front end that eventually landed up with the van declared unfixable from a economic point of view.

Also mirror switches were a problem as the lever broke off because people looked at it and thought it was a flip switch to adjust the side mirrors.

WE7X
ASV Supporter
ASV Supporter
Posts: 125
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 6:11 pm

Re: Astro mechanic

Post by WE7X »

I agree the electric mirror control switches are pretty strange, and the mounting design is just plain fragile. They are most often found broken, or the mounts in the door panels are broken, so the switch falls down inside the door trim panel.....like mine.
I am probably going to have to fabricate some sort of a bracket that is mounted through the trim panel with screws, unless I can find a used panel that is intact. It could be an interesting design project for a 3D printer; some sort of a plastic 'cradle' that mounts through the trim panel, maybe with a couple of small trim screws and trim washers. That might not look too bad,and could be quite bullet proof if done properly.

Rod J
Issaquah, WA
WE7X aka Rod Johnson
Forest Green Metallic '98 LS AWD
Issaquah, WA

Topic author
mr.James
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 6:02 pm

Re: Astro mechanic

Post by mr.James »

As I recall, the bezels that held the switch in were replaceable....
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