Check your muffler strap.  If that is loose or gone your muffler will bang quite loudly.Anthony

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On Monday, August 29, 2022, 13:41, David Boan <dboan@OUTLOOK.COM> wrote:

Hello VanTypes

I just got back from a trip the Steens Mountains (Oregon) in our '85 Westy =
and had a minor event with the van on the return. I will briefly describe t=
he problem, and then my question to the group is does it make sense that wh=
at I did fixed the problem, or is it still lurking ...

I have been driving on a lot of forest service roads which tend to have a l=
ot of washboard and holes, which means the van is exposed to a lot of vibra=
tion.  This weekend while driving on a 2 lane state highway a large truck w=
ent by and as the van rocked there was a very loud bang from the back. We t=
hought something had come off the truck and gone under the van and hit. I s=
topped but could not see anything. We drove another 2 hours without inciden=
t, and everything running fine, till I pulled into my driveway. I have to g=
o over a curb into the drive and as the left rear wheel hit the curb we got=
 the same very loud bang.

This morning I pulled the wheek and inspected everything. I rocked the van =
by hand but could not produce any noise. I removed the left wheel and shock=
, checked the CVs and axles, and looked everywhere. There was no sign of an=
ything moving that shouldn't move. The only thing I found was that the top =
bolt of the left rear shock was not as tight as Bentley requires. I torqued=
 everything and went for a test drive and (so far) no noise.  That included=
 driving over the curb to my drive faster than we had before, and no noise.

I am not sure that a shock bolt not fully tight would produce such a loud n=
oise, but given that it only happens when the van was rocking it would seem=
 to be related to the shock or springs.

Should I relax and consider this fixed, or am I overlooking something and n=
eed to go dig deeper?

Thanks!

Dave B
Boise