Simple kind of van, a 2006 e150 build thread.

philos

Explorer
I need to build a carrier like this, already have most of it sitting in a corner.
I like how you just went around the bumper; I was planning on welding to the bumper bracket and cutting a pair of holes in my bumper, but this looks good to me.
Pics of the receivers to the hitch from underneath?


Sent via flux capacitor
 
got some stuff done, the hitch hauler is finished, and works well.

bought 60' of 1" box tubing 16ga, to start on the bed/cabinet structure for inside, and a bunch of tabs, hinges, angle brackets, but haven't unloaded it from the van yet.

also ordered some front end parts, tie rods, ball joints and new front springs for the van so i can get it all tightened up up front with new tires underneath.

i did make some headway on the new project that entered the shop. this one is gunna end up paying for th parts and stuff i need for the van.

enter Austin's 66 chevy c10.

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its getting an engine/trans swap from a late model chevy silverado, as well as a c4 corvette front clip and custom rear suspension arms and coil overs.

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so, out with the pretty wheezed out 283/700r4 combo, and now we start dropping the front K member and getting ready for the vette suspension.

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hopefully i can get some of the van done before the advrider death valley noobs rally.
 

philos

Explorer
Love that C10, had a 65 GMC stepside with the 305 V-6, also had a slammed 71 Jimmy.
Please keep posting more pics of them as you go?


Sent via flux capacitor
 
shocks came today.

LIGHTNING fast service by AJ-USA. never heard of em before. but my usual vendors at work were more than rock auto, and rock auto didnt have a full set available, so a quick google pulled these guys up.

ordered em at ~2pm on monday, in my hands by noon on tuesday.

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still waiting on my springs, ball joints, and tie rods/ends. shows they'll be here tomorrow. then i can take it in and have it done.....now, ya might say, but village idiot, you're a mechanic, why don't you just do em yourself? my answer to that is well, i hate doing balljoints. they're a pain in the neck, and i'll make more $ than it'll cost me to do, in the same time, plus it'll be done so i can do other things with my weekend. i also don't have a rack big enough, or available, to do the work. i have no problem doing the tie rods, springs, and shocks, but ill just let the front end shop do it, and pick it up done with a new set of tires and an alignment (won't fit on the alignment rack at work either)
 

philos

Explorer
Can't say I blame you; did my front end on a rental lift and it took me most of the day. AND I had my new ball joints already pressed into a spare set of knuckles.
 
all my parts showed up, appointment at the front end shop on friday.

-tie rod ends/tie rods, moog part numbers:
---ES800523
---ES800524
---DS1286
---ES800436

-ball joints:
---MOOG K80196 (2)
---MOOG K80195 (2)

-e250 springs (according to rockauto, they're the HD springs for a e250)
---MOOG CC81368

-Bilstein shocks front and rear
---33-187563
---33-176840

my goal is 1.5" lift, firmer ride up front, and new shocks in the rear.

its also going to get tires and an alignment, not sure if I'm going to put Cooper AT-3's or cooper HT-3's on the van, i had HT-3's on my 3/4 ton chevy truck, and they drive and ride SOOOO nice, will see how it looks once the suspension is done.
 
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Installed the rear pop out windows i got from member PHILOS.

thanks again shane, these things are great.

i DID cheat, and have my glass guy come in and do it while he was installing a windshield in a customer car.
 

Raul

Adventurer
Looks like you are going to end with a set up similar to mine. I change the rear springs also for some 4-1 HD. I have Cooper AT3 (265/65/17) and I love them.
 
so, i found out today, that i have a bent rim, and it leaks.

i can't find a set of the bad chicken stock 16" 5 star alcoa alloy wheels, and i don't care for 6 spoke wheels, and a wheel like is on the van now (i hate em) is $70 from a local guy.

so i pondered for about 2 hours, and "settled" on these (really my first choice, but i thought about alloys and which ones, but they're all too complicated looking for me)

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i ordered em in a 16x8, 5x5.5" with a 4" backspace. specs show em comparable to factory wheels at a 2100lb load rating.

i don't think ill have em in time for fridays front end work, so tires will have to wait til monday.

free shipping and no tax puts 4 wheels to my door for <$260
 
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coolfeet

Mark Keeler
got the bed rug today, lightning fast via amazon, and a great price too.

http://www.amazon.com/Bedrug-VRF92-VanRug-Cargo-Van/dp/B000BN3TF4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451439905&sr=8-1&keywords=vrf92

didnt take it out of the box yet, but i did open it up, completely surprised how LIGHT it is, seems like a great product, and for about 1/3 the cost of what i was going to do (foam layer, plywood, vinyl floor).

thanks for the tip on that shane.:sombrero:
I bought the same cargo mat 3 years ago. It's easy to keep clean with a broom.
thanks for the links shane.

I've got detailers coming to the shop tomorrow (they come every tuesday to wash the cars) and I'm going to turn him loose on the rubber mat. if that doesn't work, ill look for something else.


Sent from my Z30 using Tapatalk
 
got the van back today from the suspension/tire shop.

of the above mentioned parts, rock auto shipped me one wrong tie rod end. additionally, my radius arm bushings were toast, and they put in a spacer at the radius arm to give it more caster.

the springs/tires netted me a full 2" lift up front, nothing in the rear but it sits just about level. wheels/tires stick out a touch more than I'd have hoped, but i think it'll be ok.

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tires are a 265/70-16 cooper discoverer AT-3, wheels are from summit, a vision type something or other, 16x8 with a 4" backspace. shoulda probably gone with a 4.5" backspace but i didnt want it to rub inside, or coulda gone with a 7" wide wheel, but i don't like the way 265's balloon out on 7" wheels.

overall, I'm pretty stoked, the ride is great, the front isn't over harsh, and the new shocks in the rear really firmed things up. I'm going to have to paint my center caps gunmetal to match the bumpers, probably get around to it tomorrow.

now that I've dealt with the mechanicals of the van and made the ride better, i can start to focus on the interior again. starting with my bench/bed.
 
ok, so here we go with the bed build. had this pretty well all in my head, wrangled a co-worker into giving me a hand (not much wrangling, we did a frame off restoration/rebuild of a 1966 aristocrat lo-liner 1.5 years ago, took 3 months of nights, and weekends, didnt charge him a dime, and only one meal, he owes.)

started with a pile of metal, 60' of 1x1" 16ga square tubing.

figured out my cut list.

went to town. now, we know how we all get, oh shoot, i shoulda taken a picture etc etc. but lets just say we made a bunch of sparks and dust with the chop saw.

first thing we build was the ends, first one, then two.

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then added the rear upper cross tube, and the front lower tube, tacked it all together and tossed it in the van for a test fit.

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i made it 7'x27" i chose 7' because I'm 6'3" and i like to sleep with my arms over my head. also because the fuel filler door said i either needed to make it 6'2, or 7'. and no ones wife ever complained the bed was too big.

then we made the slider frame, to fit inside the main frame, should have taken more pics, but i didnt, and i can't go back and make them appear, so heres how far we got tonight.

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the bed should slide open to be just about 52" wide and maintain the 7' tall. the base is 13" from the high ribs on the floor to the top.

more to come in the next few days, but i ran out of metal.

thanks for watching.
 
bed redux.

after "sleeping on it" for a few nights i decided i wanted to shorten the bed to 6'6" rather than 7'. had to wait for some time to free up, but started tackling it on monday.

shortened it to 78" but still kept the 27" width. got the main bed part built on monday night and shortened the sliding portion tonight, as well as finished the legs for the slider. didnt take much pics, but heres the finished frame structure.

bed slid closed

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bed slid open, measures 78"x52"

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now i need to get some plywood and rip it down for the sliding slats, and get everything drilled and mocked up before paint etc.
 

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