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Back in the summer you might remember that I was shooting a campaign for Rev'It! Well, these things take a while to finally come out so I couldn't share anything but the video dropped today and the van and the restored Avion trailer make a cameo appearance. It's fun to see what is my family...

I stole the mount location from Aluminess so we know it has some history as a point of strength. Cat's have so many purposes besides the obvious of juggling. Once we got to Colorado we cast about for some things to do. One of the things on my list was to take the kids to the Great Sand...

My upper mount looks like it's a hinge but it's not. It's simply a latch. When you pull the pin and then undo the lower catch you give the tire a little tug and it slides off the delrin catch plate and then the gas strut pushes it open (faster than I'd like) and then it hits it's stop at about...

Hmm, that would be helpful wouldn't it? It's my name: gregorhalenda and I added it to my signature. We left Portland just before Christmas. I've discovered that while my preference is to start trips super early in the morning it does't work with kids and a night owl wife. We leave late in the...

Alright then. We'll keep the thread from going sideways and keep updating. I considered welding the latch that came with the clamp but decided to make a new one as the gap was a bit too far. I had to really shape the catch to get a positive close and I remade the delrin plate to include a...

Yes, exactly. While I could make it he sells the kit which comes with the bearings and spindle and saves a lot of time. G

Yes, drill taps are pretty awesome. Not for things like solid material (obviously) but for thinner material they do an amazing job. The Derin I bought at our local plastic supplier - Tap Plastics. Most cities will have a similar sort of place. Delrin is pretty pricey. The single square foot of...

Since the thread became dominated by the discussion of death wobble I haven't had much enthusiasm for updating it. Dealing with it for so long really sapped my enjoyment of the van. I want to be clear that Chris was super helpful and supportive but his parts didn't solve my issue. The double...

Yes, the new track bar mount that MG designed ties into the cross brace and adds strength to it. As far as I know only Taylor and I are running them and it's helped but not solved the issue. I want to move away from the axle to the frame. There's no cross brace at the radius arm mount so that...

And now a post that will hopefully distract from the likely endless speculation of my last post! I'm finally getting around to making a rear tire carrier. The only option out there is the Aluminess one and while that may work I wanted from the beginning to make something different. I use the...

Things I learned from hifi and motorcycle racing: garbage in garbage out. Just as giant speakers only make poor sound louder you need to work as far upstream as you can. I've replaced the steering box, I've replaced all the joints with Moog and gone heavier where there's an option - there are...

And here's part two... Since it had been several days and I'd not heard from Chris on either email or phone I sort of assumed that I'd been dropped like a hot potato by builder number two. That wasn't the case - Chris did reach out to me several weeks later but at that point I had turned the...

Updates? A ton. Progress, meh. And it's for those exact reasons I've been reticent to post an update. Nonetheless let's dive in. The big issue I've had since day one is an acute death wobble. For a year I've been replacing parts to the point that every part of my front end has been...

Thanks! I've learned a lot since then for sure. And I'm a better welder for sure. I think that the bumpers ability to hold that force is entirely up to your build. The center section of the bumper is 1/4" and, not being an engineer, I tend to think in terms of how much weld is holding things...

I have a Miller Dynasty 200DX and I subscribe to 6061.com - I love his videos. I feel that to make a big jump in my aluminum welding will require two things: some in person instruction and hood time. The rack will give me some hood time. As for the in person instruction I'd like to find someone...

No, only because the trailer was my fathers who passed away a couple of years ago. I've been restoring it for the last couple years and am getting pretty close to having it very complete. It also serves as a guess house when we have friends visit which works well. But mostly I keep it because it...

It's good to know it wasn't an aberration when I got a 21mpg tank. 1999 E350 EB high top 7.3 PSD: 2 wheel drive 3:73's and stock tires: 16-21mpg 4x4 with 6" lift and 3.73's with 35's: 14-16mpg 4x4 with 6" lift and 4:30's and...

Yeah, I'll try that next time. That is some insanely tenacious stuff. I've never experienced anything so strong in my life. I feel pretty confident that it will outlast the van and perhaps cockroaches as well. Gregor

Thanks. I was talking to my friend Taylor the other day about how, the more I use the van, the more I like the idea of converting it to a camper. I bought the van to tow the trailer and while we are still having struggles on that front it's doing the job. It struggles on the steep climbs or...

I'm holding off doing "final" shots until I get the rear tire carrier built. I'll try to grab a shot of it as it sits when it's back from the shop. Thanks! I came real close to buying Mig welder to do these bumpers but decided I should just keep getting better at Tig and learn to do multiple...