4x4 Van Build: 1997 Airstream B190

[hurstjd]

Hello,

Thought I would share my build with you.

Tomorrow, I fly from St. Louis, Missouri, to Phoenix to pick up our new (to us) 1997 Airstream B190. It has the V10 in it with 56,000 miles.

I have only seen pictures. It looks super clean. I am hoping for the best when I pick it up.

Now to the fun part. We are driving straight from Phoenix to Salt Lake City. We will drop off the van at Advanced 4x4 on Monday morning.

This is what we are doing:

4x4 conversion: Includes 4x4 kit (axle, hubs, 4 inch lift, etc.)
Rancho shocks all the way around
New U-Joints
New brakes all the way around
Front and Back stabilizers
Aluminess front bumper
Aluminess ladder
Warn M9500 winch
PIAA 510 driving lights

It will take them about 4 days to do the work.

I'm also attaching some before shots for you. I hope to take some shots in the middle of the build.

Will keep you posted.

 

[Jb1rd]

I so wish I could do that with mine, but at the moment I am waiting on a firm closing date on our house and its driving me crazy. Can't wait to see how it turns out!!!

 

[dcguillory]

I love those B190's. Seating for 9?

 

[Mwilliamshs]

Seating for 9?

you don't really think that's a 7 person couch do you?

 

[dcguillory]

That was a joke, I have 7 children so no B190's for me though I love them. That's where I got the inspiration for my van

 

[Mwilliamshs]

That was a joke, I have 7 children

Assumed twas a joke. Mine too. 7?! Ur either a generous adopter or uhm, relentless

 

[dcguillory]

Slow learner . . . .

 

[keystone]

Congratulations! Will be watching your build. Good luck!!

 

[draaronr]

i like the functionality of these but damn its a look only a mother can love. does anyone have any pics of these fixed up?

 

[Jb1rd]

Check out Keystones rig, he posted right below you!! Ujoint did a nice conversion too.

i like the functionality of these but damn its a look only a mother can love. does anyone have any pics of these fixed up?

 

[hurstjd]

Picked up the van yesterday. It looks to be in great shape. Pretty much all of the issues I have seen so far are cosmetic. The van drove great. It does sway a little bit. I'm hoping the work that Advanced is going to do this week will help. I know that they will be installing all new shocks all the way around and front/rear sway bars.

I'm hoping to post some pix this week of the build in process.

Stay tuned . . .

 

[medicfernando]

Really sweet rig! Advanced did the conversion on my 2003 SMB. They did a great job, it works awesome, handles great and the turning radius is outstanding. 4 days seems awfully fast though. Mine took about 2 weeks. Good luck with the build. If you want to go try it on some mild off road near SLC after it is done PM me. Cheers, Fernando

 

[hurstjd]

Hey Fernando!

Thanks for the message. I agree 4 days is fast. Randy and I spoke about the short time frame. So they started the build early. They built the axle in advance and did some other preparation. I dropped it off at 8 a.m. this morning and they were taking it inside to start working on it immediately. So, hopefully all will be ready by Thursday afternoon as I have to start driving back to Missouri on Friday. Thanks for the offer of off-roading but unfortunately I'm on a tight schedule.

 

[Jb1rd]

The SUSPENSE!!!!!

You are killing me!!!! Can't wait to see another B190 done up correctly.

 

[hurstjd]

OK guys. Sorry for the delay. Been having a blast in Salt Lake. Anyway, Advanced finished the build in 4 days! It was close. They didn't do the final inspection until 4 p.m. on Thursday. I picked up the van Thursday night. We left yesterday morning to return to Missouri. We have just entered Kansas. The van is driving great! It is driving much better than when it was stock even with the 4 inch lift. The drive from Arizona to SLC was downright scary at times. Having the new shocks, anti-sway bars and new leaf springs have made a huge difference. Hardly any sway. The turning radius is incredible. They also put on oversized brakes so stopping is much better. Overall, the whole thing feels much tighter and safer. The 4 inch lift is not that noticeable. It feels kind of cool to look down at all the cars. The van itself has been perfect. Engine is smooth and all the gauges are normal.

The Aluminess front bumper and the Warn winch look downright awesome! I have friends and family in SLC. When I showed up and told them what we were doing you could tell that they all thought we were a little weird and were wasting our money. Then when I picked it up on Thursday, everybody thought it was totally cool and that the van looked bad-***.

We have a bunch of little stuff to fix, but overall the van is in great shape.

Right now it still has the stock tires and wheels so it looks a little skinny. Those will come later. The tires are in great shape so I might as well wait until they wear out.

Attached are some photos of the build and the final product for your viewing pleasure. I will post some more photos as soon as I have time.

Cheers.