COULD THIS BE THE GOLD?
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I am a student of hauling heavy loads in passenger vans. Before I even knew what this thread was about I watched the video. The FIRST thing that JUMPED OUT was the suspensions of those vans were ‘flat springed’ … meaning the leaf springs that act as backup to the shocks was damn near maxed out. Then I watched for ‘wobble’ when the vans turned.
I am not supporting the “Gold on board” premise … but I can tell you with 100% certainty every single one of those vans were loaded down with something heavy as fuck … look how deep the tires were inside the rear wheel well. Dude, I was just waiting for a tire to burst or an axle to snap.
Its ppl like you with this level of knowledge and expertise in an area such as this that keeps me coming back to GAW. Greatly appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us. THX!
Except for the fact that leaf springs (or coil springs) don’t act as a “backup” to the shock absorbers. The shocks prevent the sprung (and unsprung) weight from oscillating. They work together. There are big rubber buttons called bump stops that limit the suspension travel. Now, if the vans were down on the bump stops, they were indeed heavily loaded. I would be very leery about putting a 3000 lb load in the average grocery getter. Odds are the load would distort the chassis and body of the vehicle, possibly causing it to collapse. Tire loading is another problem. The tires would also be severely distorted. The max load for a passenger vehicle is well under 2000 lbs.
These are Mercedes Metris vans. They dont use springs. They use Airmatic suspension systems. I was using the term ‘leaf’ in the generic context. You are 100% correct in the general sense.
The max cargo capacity for the Metris is 3000lbs. If, they are actually hauling gold (big if) they would likely have made modifications to support the added weight.
Yes…you could see the way they took they turn. Heavy s@&$ loaded inside.
It not to say they took ALl of the gold out by mini van…just enough to make it visible to those in the know…had to tip off the black hats too…
Still waiting to figure out the Israel for last part of things…
The gold they were hauling out was kept in a tunnel which ran to Jerusalem.
It looked like they turned unusually wide to keep body roll down.
As my brother would say, "It was like driving a bag of water".
I was thinking the very same thing.
I don't have any specific knowledge about such things, but as I watched the video, before I read your post, I was thinking, "I wonder if someone could calculate how heavy those vans appear to be." Wild
Thanks for the technical input!