New here. Build plans, advise needed.

pfreeman

Observer
Ok. Pics.
View attachment 278148
View attachment 278149
Sorry about these pics. I will fix shortly. (FIXED)
Now my newer questions.
I had a minor vibration this weekend in our first trip. I took it to have a road force balance done. They said I'm getting some uneven tire wear up front. The guys who installed my action suspension leveling job also said the were not really thrilled with the camber. I'm not sure what degree bushings got installed but did my install guy not get the camber links right? The bushings came from Action. I wonder if some spring settling may have changed things some. Larry at action van also informed me that the factory recommendation of 80 psi was insane high. Going to drop that shortly.

EDIT: I did go and drop my tire pressure and the ride sure is different. I also noticed that I think the guys at 4wheelparts really really really cranked down on the lugs. So much so that the only way I was going to get them off was with an impact wrench, and certainly not by hand. Anyway, I think when firestone put them back on they did not go insane tight. Maybe that will help some, but in a quick highway test on concrete, it feels better already.

Looks great! What size tires did you go with?
 

RickM

Observer
pfreeman. I went with 285 75 17's... I think. I wanted to stay with 16" rims but the alloy was hitting the brake caliper.

Farmer Fredrico.
I basically put some after market slides under the bases. They were actually set to be wider than the Ujoint bases, so I had to bend the leverage bar and narrow things down some. It was not an easy project, and I actually want to do some things better already.
 

RickM

Observer
350outrage

I talked to the guys in CA also. Actually today. I like what they are doing, but I am already committed to Larry at Action. His are also nice and are almost hub centric. They make a quality product, but you have to install it right. Based on what happened with 4wheelparts on my tires I was just gun shy to over tighten them. I now have a torque wrench and it is all going to go nicely. I also wound up checking the settings on my other truck too, which is also running spacers. It fortunately is ok.
 

RickM

Observer
Volcom-

Ya, thanks for the heads up on this. Mine have one really small rip in them, but otherwise I am really extremely happy with how this worked out. The only thing I am remotely concerned with, is the bracing I did to secure the seats to my cab cross members. I built some metal tabs to drill through, but they are not really welded to the cross member. We have a guy coming out to weld some fencing at our property. I think I might have him pop some welds on these braces soon. Not sure he is going to be super excited about welding near the fuel cell though.
 

RickM

Observer
I am starting to think I will be living and dying by a torque wrench.

With all the carbon fiber technology in bikes now, you cannot function around a bike without a torque wrench. I am starting to think I have over tightened everything for years.

RickM
 

RickM

Observer
So this weekend, my van proved its worth over and over again. That said, my son spilled a completely full large coke on the seat, floor, and everywhere imaginable on my van, and somehow flipped his ketchup all over. Anyway, I am running my awesome siena seats in back, but want to think about a nice replacement up front. Obviously an armrest is critical to this, and maybe even two would be cool. I really don't want to go full sienna again even though that might be the best option. Anyone installed any other leather seats in a van for the driver and passenger. Any recommendations. I looked at things like Mastercraft but they were a little to performance related.
 

RickM

Observer
So I built this cool elevated bike rack for the back. Now I can put bags underneath them. My only wonder is how to mount a crossbar that can be removed easily to keep open rear cabin space. I saw these cross bars that mount against the truck bed walls. Not sure though if that is ideal for a van. Any ideas?
 

philos

Explorer
Not sure if you've solved your seating dilemma, I've got front seats from an F150 for my passenger seats. I'm currently installing the cloth non-reclining Sienna seats for the Drivers/front passenger positions.
I had seats from a Volvo S60 in the front of my Landcruiser and they were pretty nice. Super heavy though if that matters.


Sent via flux capacitor
 

RickM

Observer
So updates. The van made it to and fro a really wet mtb race this weekend. It did great. I was really happy with how it handled us and the equipment. I am going to make one minor change to the way my bike rack is setup though. Stay tuned.

Also I have really decided that if I can find some land rover Disco 2 seats in grey, those may go in the front of my van. They have an armrest and all. Anyone done that yet?
 

RickM

Observer
So the van is doing really well. Been racing a lot out of it and it's great.

One challenge though. I went cost effective with the defender roof basket, rack. Well, it's rusting like crazy. They have agreed to warranty it, but I'm wondering if the bolt together 9.5 foot basket would have been a better idea considering that I will be mounting Yakima stuff to this. Has anyone else used one of these?

Finally I di want to put in some sort of rubber flooring in the back. Anyone have any cheap alternatives they like?
 

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