2004 Chevy Astro AWD "Astrid"

[izaicinajums]

Where did you get you leaf springs from?

From SD Truck Springs, they seem to have the best price on them:

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index...d=7335&zenid=6f377af6bc914b57e3c77a95772de4f3

 

[Slicky72]

Yes they are well priced . I had mine locally made but they ended up only giving me 2.5 inches of lift, which was great because I didn't really want a huge lift like you achieved. Are you still running your lift shackles ?

 

[izaicinajums]

Yes they are well priced . I had mine locally made but they ended up only giving me 2.5 inches of lift, which was great because I didn't really want a huge lift like you achieved. Are you still running your lift shackles ?

Yes, but with lowest lift setting possible, so I have option rising van another 2" easily, I think. We might use that option to level van out, when all stuff for the trip is ready and we know exactly how much vehicle sags down because of weight.

 

[izaicinajums]

I am getting closer to the end of build (except for swamping out tons of parts at front end which I am not going to talk at all as it's part of "maintenance") and closer to departure date

Thing that no long term overlanding trip can live with out, of course is bed and we had to build one. There are good people on internet that have already shared examples, so we settled on similar design to this: http://www.dylan.hoen.ca/things_i_have_built/camperized_van/ with couple exceptions...

Building bed probably took couple hours in two evenings (my friend is good at these things so it was easy for me)

We have legal seating for 5 people and a bed platform at the back that can hold at least 4x 90L Rubber Maid Action Packers under it. Also middle row can be turned around and in theory we should be able to use it in rainy days to cook and do whatever inside the van with bed folded.

Next up was mattress install, we purchased queen size mattress and cut 2" off the side to fit it in the van. Pretty good living - we will have almost queen size bed :Wow1:

We certainly miscalculated how much space mattress will take and having no experience with foam and wanting something that will be firm, we ordered 4" foam (for future I will know that 3" is more than enough and 2" of firm and 1" of softer foam would probably be ideal solution) Result is that it doesn't compact as we thought it will, but that is not a huge problem for as (at least not right now).

So that's it for now - next up awning install - some time soon!

 

[Slicky72]

Looks good but I don't know if I could live out of that for more than a week . I think if I was going to use the van for long term travel I would be looking for a RTT or a pop top. It just looks to me like you are going to have to move too much stuff around . I hope it fits your needs though and look forward to some travel reports when you two hit the road.

 

[izaicinajums]

Looks good but I don't know if I could live out of that for more than a week . I think if I was going to use the van for long term travel I would be looking for a RTT or a pop top. It just looks to me like you are going to have to move too much stuff around . I hope it fits your needs though and look forward to some travel reports when you two hit the road.

I do agree that RTT is a great thing and if that would have been our choice for trip then we probably would have gone with Toyota 4runner. We will probably look at that configuration of 4runner + RTT when we return.

However when we looked at long term traveling, we wanted a vehicle that we can just stop and jump into the bed without having to go out and having to setup anything. Especially in cases when it's raining heavily outside. RTT also cuts your chances of stealth camping in city or other more public places by 99%, I would say/think... Also if it's very windy it might be possible to damage your RTT.

Where it comes down to moving things around - all or most of the stuff is under the bed platform and can be accessed from both sides - rear door or by lifting up end of bed (not very hard to do). In a way it's even better than RTT because in RTT if you are up there and want to get something you 100% have to get down to the car, if we plan right that will not be the case

There are advantages and disadvantages going with either configuration. At the end of day it comes down to personal preference and what works for you. Our preference was to have everything under the same roof

 

[izaicinajums]

Two major things before departure have been completed - new tires and Awning (mentioned before)

Here is how Awning is attached to stock rack (cost was about 10$):

Not sure if there is any reason for having two nuts, but that's how it is right now...

Here is Astrid with new tires and awning:

We still have door (pad) locks to install. Not sure if that is going to be done before we leave or not, as I am tired of doing maintenance and upgrades on van already...

 

[Slicky72]

Being it's a window van and not a cargo I would pass on the padlocks. If someone wants in they are just going to smash and grab . The awning looks sweet , I thinking of putting one on my van. Looking forward to following your blog when you set off.

 

[Stroverlander]

Awning does look great and thanks for showing how you mounted.

I agree with Slicky about the door locks on a van with that many windows. Unless you're going to install metal screens inside or security window film then I wouldn't bother. To me, the locks almost announce you're trying protect something expensive inside the van.

 

[izaicinajums]

You might be right on this! Pad locks would never prevent and in our case are not intended to prevent theft, idea was to make it harder for thief to get in the car if that's the idea. But it might work other way around as indicated and attract unwanted attention...

Will leave it as it is for now and see how it goes.

 

[ihatemybike]

How about a Ravelco circuit interruption device?

 

[izaicinajums]

How about a Ravelco circuit interruption device?

That sounds complicated, and possibly of it failing scares me. There is always the good old fuse box for preventing car being driven away

 

[ihatemybike]

Astro fuse boxes are a pain for everyday use though.

I have seen some interesting things done with hidden kill switches. Switches and buttons hidden under soft touch plastics, shift boots, and upholstery. Switches and buttons that serve there normal function, but also complete the starting circuit.

 

[izaicinajums]

The planing and building is over and we are on the way now

This is how Astrid looks when awning is extended (provides a nice cover from rain and sun), one thing I don't like to much is ARB twist and lock system... Sometimes it requires quite a lot efffor, other than that great product

 

[Stroverlander]

Congratulations and enjoy the journey, looking forward to following it here on ExPo.

That picnic table you bought assembles larger than I thought! :sombrero: