riNR AWD Chev Combi-Van

riNR

Observer
Lots of work to get to here. See pics...

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riNR

Observer
damn! nice interior! welcome to the AWD club :)

Thanks! Today I worked on creating the shell for the crew cab set up. I'm going to use the rear bench out of an older F150.

Does anyone know the largest tire that fits under a 2-3 leveling kit lift?
 

TeleSteve

Adventurer
265/70/17 or equivelent in other wheel sizes is the best fit. You could squeeze a little bigger but trimming and or a real narrow tire is needed. Wheel offset is critical if you are trying to go bigger.
 

Ride1st

New member
265/70/17 or equivelent in other wheel sizes is the best fit. You could squeeze a little bigger but trimming and or a real narrow tire is needed. Wheel offset is critical if you are trying to go bigger.

I just bought a 3500 with a Quigley 4 wheel drive and 3" lift. It has the stock 245/75-16 and I was hoping to go to a 265/70-17. There shouldn't be any clearance issues should there? The stock rims have +28 offset and the rims I'm looking at are +10.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

riNR

Observer
Long weekends are great for getting stuff done on the van. On Saturday I worked most of the day on the rear bench seat area. Last night I worked from 9:00 pm - 2:00 am on installing the front torsion keys. I envy you non-rust belt guys. The torsion keys were rusted on solid so I drilled holes in the side until they bottomed out on the torsion bar, then made the holes gradually bigger in diameter, then I drove a chisel through the holes to crack / spread the key open, and then ran my chipping gun onto the ends to blow them out. I also installed new shocks front and rear. I ended up with 2 1/2" lift in the front with the bolt all the way in. This morning at 6:30 am I installed the 3" rear lift blocks. I don't know if I'm loving the higher rear stance. I might try it for a bit and if I don't like it I'll put 2" blocks in instead. I took it for a test drive and rides a lot better. I took the van through some deep snow and this thing just chugs along great. Some pictures side by side to my old 3/4 ton van.IMG_8912.jpgIMG_8928.jpgIMG_8927.jpgIMG_8926.jpgIMG_8923.jpgIMG_8924.jpg
 
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straker101

Observer
I finally broke down and purchased a 2010 Chevrolet AWD van with 170,000 km to eventually replace my 2005 GMC 2500 Extended van with 390,000 km on it.
This van has the barn doors on both sides with pop out glass all around and all the electrical gizmos. I have a fair bit I want to do to this van but it still has to function as a work van for my general contracting business.
First order is to install a lift. Does anyone have a direct link or part number to the actual torsion key / leveling kit they used?
As it sits now....bone stock.View attachment 382801

I went with the Traxda torsion key replacement kit as well, but after a few months swapped out the rear 1" blocks with a 2" skyjacker block kit (BUK2061). Just did that this weekend. If you're still wondering about tires, I went with 265/70r17s (Duratracks) on 17x9 -12 offset wheels. Had to do some very minor trimming in the front because of the more aggressive offset.
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riNR

Observer
Nice looking van! All that shiny paint....I bought mine with just the right amount of crappy, so I wouldn't be crying when it get a little character added to it. The paint on mine looks like it's been run through a car wash about a million times.

I like that tire / rim combo on yours. Thanks for the details.

Does the rear tire rack rattle at all, or do you find it's a pain to open all the time. My van is used for work so those doors are getting used a lot, so I'm torn on whether I want the rack or not.

I haven't pulled the front floor mat out yet, but does anyone know what is under it on the floor, just behind the dog house / console and in between the seats. Whatever it is, seems like a dumb spot for it. My other van doesn't have this.
 

TeleSteve

Adventurer
The hump behind the doghouse is a plastic box that holds the air bag controller. Yes, it is a bad location and not something easy to relocate.
 

Teamoatmealpie

Observer
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Ditto on the Aluminess tire carrier - zero problem to open and close it- even if you had to do it lots times every day. No rattles either - very good quality product. I have 275/70/17's so it's a decent size/weight- tire carrier handles it no problem.
 
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riNR

Observer
The hump behind the doghouse is a plastic box that holds the air bag controller. Yes, it is a bad location and not something easy to relocate.

Eeesh! I guess I'll be making a metal cover for that. It seems prone to damage the way it is now.
 

riNR

Observer
I did a bit of modification to my roof rack on my old van and moved it over to the new one. I ran some new wires through the tubing and added a 32" light bar to the front of my rack. I will be adding another smaller light bar on the bumper later on. I ran all new wires from the front of the cab / dash to the rear and got everything I could hooked up for now. I'm just waiting on the switches I ordered now. unfortunately the ladder I had on the other van will not work on the new one with the doors being on both sides. Untitled.jpgIMG_8957_LI.jpg
 

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