My 2011' Airstream Avenue - Chevy Express Van - Locked & Lifted

Weldtec Designs

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I thought I would post up a few pics from my off road trek in the desert last weekend, these were mild off road trails but I was still able to flex the suspension a little and see how it rode on the bumpy stuff. I have posted these on some other sites, sorry for redundancy for those that have already seen them. Overall I was happy with the performance of my van when offroad and feel a lot more comfortable with the added clearance I got from the Weldtec lift spindles and coil spacers. I also got to test out my ARB air locker on a ledge and airing my tires back up after airing down, it worked great!

Great pics! keep the pics coming, look forward to seeing yours Devin.
 

GpnAZ

Observer
Camping pics

A couple weeks ago I went to meet a friend at Trona Pinnacles for some camping and photography. It's a pretty cool location with about 4 miles of washboard road to drive, so I was able to see how this van worked on washboard. I aired the back tires to 45 pounds and front tires to 40 pounds and that seemed to help quite a bit, I will probably drop another 10 pounds below that on the next air down to try that also. My highway pressures are 75 psi in the rear with 55 psi in the front. My generator decided not to start this trip so I will have to check that out before the next outing. The ARB compressor was acting up on me, cycling on and off, so I have that in the off road shop getting checked out. I drove right by Johnson Valley so got to see a lot of vehicles going to the King of Hammers event.
 

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GHI

Adventurer
The Airstream looks great with those added couple of inches. I can really appreciate what you did as I basically have a similar vehicle, a 2011 Pleasureway on the Chevy platform.

I was going through some of your pictures and noticed you towed a Jeep behind a TC. I just picked up a 2018 JKUR and had this brilliant idea to tow it behind the van this summer. The van is small for us, but it works. What doesn't work is setting up camp and not being able to explore. Do you mind sharing what set up you used to tow your Jeep?
 

GpnAZ

Observer
The Airstream looks great with those added couple of inches. I can really appreciate what you did as I basically have a similar vehicle, a 2011 Pleasureway on the Chevy platform.

I was going through some of your pictures and noticed you towed a Jeep behind a TC. I just picked up a 2018 JKUR and had this brilliant idea to tow it behind the van this summer. The van is small for us, but it works. What doesn't work is setting up camp and not being able to explore. Do you mind sharing what set up you used to tow your Jeep?

i use a Blue Ox tow bar, put the transfer case in neutral and auto transmission in park and leave key off on my 2017' JKU. I also use a Brake Buddy, which I would not go without, especially towing behind the van. I haven't towed my JKU behind the van yet but will probably try it in the near future. We will normally use the truck camper when taking the Jeep somewhere 4 wheeling and normally do not take the Jeep if we're just camping or sightseeing. You might want to make sure you have a good transmission cooler before towing especially if you have any decent grades to climb.
 

Altered4x4

New member
Love the pictures. I am also liking the look of those Alcoa Classic 8s. I am at the beginning stages of my 3500 Express Van project and your build has given me some great ideas.
 

Weeds

Adventurer
We just purchased this same vehicle and would like to see any updates, things we should look for etc. We have a solar panel on the roof but do not know if it is connected to the system. Any suggestions?
 

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