Starting a Ujoint Offroad 4x4 conversion
Hi everybody - I'm just starting a conversion using the Chris' brackets (ujointclothing). I figured that I would document what the conversion entails so that others could convert their vans (even though I'm planning to take 3-4 months to get it done. A lot of the problems I encounter will probably be considered very basic since I'm a newb when it comes to car work, but I've done loads of other projects so I'm feeling okay. Last week I got my Dana 60 axle. It cost $700 plus $250 shipping from Utah to California. I'm waiting on my nvg271 transfer case that I got for $250 plus $100 shipping from Rhode Island. So far I've been really impressed with Chris' kit. There's some really weird bends in the vans frame and from a quick look it seems the brackets take this into account. I started stripping the axle today. I've got the easy stuff off (rotors, calipers and steering) taken off today.
A few things that I still need to solve so I thought that I would post them:
1) Where would you connect the Track Bar on a van. On the trucks I've seen they are connected to the engine, but I don't see where they can attach on the van.
2) Any ideas on how to attach the sway bar. I know that I won't be able to use the holes that the van's sway bar attaches since the bracket will cover half of the holes. Do I need to go custom?
3) Are there any prefabbed shock loops that will work on a van? I read about Eric Badgers (I believe thats his name) problems with the Sportsmobile shock mount and I would like to avoid this.
Hi everybody - I'm just starting a conversion using the Chris' brackets (ujointclothing). I figured that I would document what the conversion entails so that others could convert their vans (even though I'm planning to take 3-4 months to get it done. A lot of the problems I encounter will probably be considered very basic since I'm a newb when it comes to car work, but I've done loads of other projects so I'm feeling okay. Last week I got my Dana 60 axle. It cost $700 plus $250 shipping from Utah to California. I'm waiting on my nvg271 transfer case that I got for $250 plus $100 shipping from Rhode Island. So far I've been really impressed with Chris' kit. There's some really weird bends in the vans frame and from a quick look it seems the brackets take this into account. I started stripping the axle today. I've got the easy stuff off (rotors, calipers and steering) taken off today.
A few things that I still need to solve so I thought that I would post them:
1) Where would you connect the Track Bar on a van. On the trucks I've seen they are connected to the engine, but I don't see where they can attach on the van.
2) Any ideas on how to attach the sway bar. I know that I won't be able to use the holes that the van's sway bar attaches since the bracket will cover half of the holes. Do I need to go custom?
3) Are there any prefabbed shock loops that will work on a van? I read about Eric Badgers (I believe thats his name) problems with the Sportsmobile shock mount and I would like to avoid this.
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