love my caddy!

[745 turbogreasel]

GVW is the same as a regular rabbit, you are pretty much there with 2 big guys in the cab.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

The engine in the pic (w clutch, no starter, no alt no ac comp) felt a lot heavier than 225 lbs when I had to walk it from the engine bay  (where it was dropped on the ground) to the hoist. I may set the hoist up again to steady the engine so I can run it on the ground. If I do that I'll try to weigh it.

Did a mpg check before price at the pump goes up. 398 miles 9 gal which is 44.2 mpg. Not too shabby considering 180 of those miles were carrying the engine and hoist.

[hillfolk'r]

Yea not bad at all..hey get used to it!!
its great throwin in 10$ and actually getting somewhere:)

[R.O.R-2.0]

I have bought a couple but haven't been able to get them home yet to work on due to other projects.  Never driven one.

Just curious what happens to the rear end with that much weight?  I thought I read they have a max load of like 1000 pounds or so.  At that point would they  be squatting on the stoppers?

I want to be able to pick up a few engines like that at a time as well but don't want to make it squat.  Was planning on leaving it at stock ride height/tires.

Also want to be able to take gear and a couple dirtbikes but that shouldn't be an issue.

The caddy was not that squat down with what I was carrying. The hoist I estimate to be somewhere between 200 to 300 lbs.  How much is the 1.6 engine with a turbo? Around 450 lbs? I also had a tool box of around 75 lbs and other parts I took back with me about another 100 lbs for a total of around 800 lbs. I would have liked to put the engine further forward but was not able to with the hoist so  the front end did feel a bit on the light side which affected handling. I was not able to maintain speed going up some hills, dropped down to 40 to 45 mph at the top of the hill (from approaching it at 65). Time for governor mod?

engine hoist is under 150#s

engine is around 250#s

i imagine you had 5-600 lbs in the bed, not 1000+ like you thought..

if you had 1000#s in the bed, it would barely move..

beware guys, you can BEND a caddy right in the middle..

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I have bought a couple but haven't been able to get them home yet to work on due to other projects.  Never driven one.

Just curious what happens to the rear end with that much weight?  I thought I read they have a max load of like 1000 pounds or so.  At that point would they  be squatting on the stoppers?

I want to be able to pick up a few engines like that at a time as well but don't want to make it squat.  Was planning on leaving it at stock ride height/tires.

Also want to be able to take gear and a couple dirtbikes but that shouldn't be an issue.

The caddy was not that squat down with what I was carrying. The hoist I estimate to be somewhere between 200 to 300 lbs.  How much is the 1.6 engine with a turbo? Around 450 lbs? I also had a tool box of around 75 lbs and other parts I took back with me about another 100 lbs for a total of around 800 lbs. I would have liked to put the engine further forward but was not able to with the hoist so  the front end did feel a bit on the light side which affected handling. I was not able to maintain speed going up some hills, dropped down to 40 to 45 mph at the top of the hill (from approaching it at 65). Time for governor mod?

engine hoist is under 150#s

engine is around 250#s

i imagine you had 5-600 lbs in the bed, not 1000+ like you thought..

if you had 1000#s in the bed, it would barely move..

beware guys, you can BEND a caddy right in the middle..

 

I have bought a couple but haven't been able to get them home yet to work on due to other projects.  Never driven one.

Just curious what happens to the rear end with that much weight?  I thought I read they have a max load of like 1000 pounds or so.  At that point would they  be squatting on the stoppers?

I want to be able to pick up a few engines like that at a time as well but don't want to make it squat.  Was planning on leaving it at stock ride height/tires.

Also want to be able to take gear and a couple dirtbikes but that shouldn't be an issue.

The caddy was not that squat down with what I was carrying. The hoist I estimate to be somewhere between 200 to 300 lbs.  How much is the 1.6 engine with a turbo? Around 450 lbs? I also had a tool box of around 75 lbs and other parts I took back with me about another 100 lbs for a total of around 800 lbs. I would have liked to put the engine further forward but was not able to with the hoist so  the front end did feel a bit on the light side which affected handling. I was not able to maintain speed going up some hills, dropped down to 40 to 45 mph at the top of the hill (from approaching it at 65). Time for governor mod?

engine hoist is under 150#s

engine is around 250#s

i imagine you had 5-600 lbs in the bed, not 1000+ like you thought..

if you had 1000#s in the bed, it would barely move..

beware guys, you can BEND a caddy right in the middle..

 I never said 1000 pounds. Got any pics of the Caddy bed bending? How many pounds does it take to do that?

Picked up another load of parts frim the 91 Eco with 60k miles. subframes, struts, axles, ac cond,  radiator, climate evap/ blower, engine bottom steel cover, brake booster  ac comp and lines, pwr steering rack, lines, pump, f
reservoir assembly and 2 Mercedes fenders( thanks JBG3). Bed was full but much lighter than the last load ( Engine and hoist) and I can feel the difference while driving.

My engine hoist feels heavier than 150. I will weigh the pieces and add'em up.

 Funny my accelerator pedal fell to the floor while I was driving to pick up the parts. turned out a plastic bushing on the accelerator linkage broke and came apart. I was able to hook it back on but it would fall to the floor again if tension is released on the pedal. Didn't have duct tape or zip ties which would have held it together. Borrowed some from JBG3 and made it home w/o dropping to the floor again. Now I have to go buy or make a bushing.

[hillfolk'r]

I once made a run to the battery shop for my old job to pick up 40 optima batteries
yea,40....they weigh about 40 pounds anyways,so thats only 800 pounds.it took it with stride

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I once made a run to the battery shop for my old job to pick up 40 optima batteries
yea,40....they weigh about 40 pounds anyways,so thats only 800 pounds.it took it with stride

Do you still have ur truck? I have the Jetta GL emblem btw

Just finished putting the heator core in - don't have to freeze my nuts off anymore lol. Old core's made of brass. Surprised it pinholed. I'll post pics later.

Also pimped my glow plugs manually, done by modifying OE glow relay and no additional relay required. No butchering of OE wiring either. Has a built in buzzer which sounds when glowing. cluster LED indicates actual glow time. Really sweet setup. I have a few spares which I may modify and sell here. Very easy- unplug your relay and plug mine in and mount the manual switch somewhere and you're done. Anyone interested?

[tshoe7]

Do you still have ur truck? I have the Jetta GL emblem btw

Just finished putting the heator core in - don't have to freeze my nuts off anymore lol. Old core's made of brass. Surprised it pinholed. I'll post pics later.

Also pimped my glow plugs manually, done by modifying OE glow relay and no additional relay required. No butchering of OE wiring either. Has a built in buzzer which sounds when glowing. cluster LED indicates actual glow time. Really sweet setup. I have a few spares which I may modify and sell here. Very easy- unplug your relay and plug mine in and mount the manual switch somewhere and you're done. Anyone interested?
[/quote]

I might be interested, you should start a thread for this with the price and what not

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Do you still have ur truck? I have the Jetta GL emblem btw

Just finished putting the heator core in - don't have to freeze my nuts off anymore lol. Old core's made of brass. Surprised it pinholed. I'll post pics later.

Also pimped my glow plugs manually, done by modifying OE glow relay and no additional relay required. No butchering of OE wiring either. Has a built in buzzer which sounds when glowing. cluster LED indicates actual glow time. Really sweet setup. I have a few spares which I may modify and sell here. Very easy- unplug your relay and plug mine in and mount the manual switch somewhere and you're done. Anyone interested?

I might be interested, you should start a thread for this with the price and what not
[/quote]

I will modify a glow plug relay, take some pics and post it up in the for sale section sometime next week.

Here are some pics of the heater core

[hillfolk'r]

I dont have the truck anymore sadly..well i think part of its around.rabbittree cut it in half and kept the bed to turn into a trailer for his caddy.its been out of commission since probably 03...
good deal on the emblems,gotta get them from ya somehow...
lol i was probably down that way last night,i drove sooty down to north salem cause im a dumass and left my fluke meter at a jobsite.
did the trick about pushing the pedals down help to get the heater core out?

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

did the trick about pushing the pedals down help to get the heater core out?

The pedals were in the way and had to be pressed down. I removed the 4 screws in the rain tray that holds the entire box which I was able to swing out and that gave a lot of room for the heater core to slide out. Could it have been done without removing those 4 screws? It was a *** getting them (screws) back in.

[GypsyR]

I've hauled 16 bags of 60 pound concrete mix in mine. Did OK but I was very aware of the weight back there the whole time. And adding a front sway bar went up a notch on my to-do list.
Speaking of which, I'm very glad to see that aluminum heater core. I'm going to have to replace mine sometime. My experience with heater cores is that the small finned aluminum ones put out noticeably more heat than the old style brass ones. I had change the core in my wife's old Explorer twice. First for a leak. Second because the brass replacement barely heated and I had to find her an OEM type aluminum replacement. I will be making sure the one I get will be a Meyle as pictured. When I run out of excuses for postponing that job.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Also pimped my glow plugs manually, done by modifying OE glow relay and no additional relay required. No butchering of OE wiring either. Has a built in buzzer which sounds when glowing. cluster LED indicates actual glow time. Really sweet setup. I have a few spares which I may modify and sell here. Very easy- unplug your relay and plug mine in and mount the manual switch somewhere and you're done. Anyone interested?

I might be interested, you should start a thread for this with the price and what not
[/quote]

As requested:
http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=32285.0

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I've hauled 16 bags of 60 pound concrete mix in mine. Did OK but I was very aware of the weight back there the whole time. And adding a front sway bar went up a notch on my to-do list.
Speaking of which, I'm very glad to see that aluminum heater core. I'm going to have to replace mine sometime. My experience with heater cores is that the small finned aluminum ones put out noticeably more heat than the old style brass ones. I had change the core in my wife's old Explorer twice. First for a leak. Second because the brass replacement barely heated and I had to find her an OEM type aluminum replacement. I will be making sure the one I get will be a Meyle as pictured. When I run out of excuses for postponing that job.

The aluminum heater core is putting out a lot of heat. The only concern I have in the long run is that as the tightly spaced fins plug up with debris, heat output will decrease. Maybe I'll look into installing a cabin air filter under the rain tray to prolong the heater core from plugging up and get better air quality at the same time.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

The Caddy is doing well with the work I've been putting into it. One thing I do notice is that it has much less power compared to my 92 Ecodiesel. I really wish it has power steering. I cannot make quick turns at a standstill which I consider unsafe.

Will the power steering from a 91 Ecodiesel fit the 81 Caddy (I have the complete assembly including reservoir from a 91 EcoD)? I love the simplicity of the Caddy with just one accessory belt and do not really want to change that. Since I only need power steering assist during standstill maneuvers, I was thinking of driving the power steering pump only when below 2 to 5 MPH with an electric motor (stepper motor for better torque). What do you think? How much power do I need to drive the power steering pump?