A Custom UJOR-Sportsmobile Build

[catmandu]

DIY Bumper Kits

I smell a vendor opportunity here. They make DIY steel bumper kits and it looks like you just created the first DIY aluminum bumper kit. Once you get the cross bars dialed in you add those specs to the kit and you are done. I know Chris likes his tube bumpers but this could be one more product on his site. Instead of cash he can give you a per-bumper credit on parts for your next Van build. No one with your skills builds just one van.

 

[notmiller]

Ha ha, I considered that in the veeeery beginning. But this bumper has taken a lot of time massaging to get right. The other issue is DIY and thick aluminum welding don't mix well. I have a Miller 180 TIG, which is fairly big, and 3/16" aluminum is the max it'll weld. Most of the plates weld together fine with it, but where I welded to the recovery points and other places where it's thicker I had to take the parts to a welding shop I use for work which has the big-boy welders. Even after baking parts in an oven at 500F for an hour didn't help much. The bigger machines require 3-phase and/or >50amp plug, which most DIYers don't have, myself included. I would guess Chris uses a 250-300amp TIG for his bumpers since he uses a lot of 3/8 and 1/2in. But good thought because I was definitely considering it until all the pain and frustration started up!!

 

[catmandu]

While I am not a lawyer I think there is some way I could argue that because you failed to refute "No one with your skills builds just one van" that you are allowing the affirmative assumption to stand and therefore admit to thinking about the next van build. Don't worry, we will not disclose this to your spouse, non-van friends, or family.

As for the DIY bumper - all the time you have into it as well as the need for higher end equipment is the ultimate reason nicely fabbed bumpers, racks, etc... built out of steel or aluminum carry sticker shock to those of us saving for the next stage of our vans life. In the end, the prices really are reasonable and no one is getting wealthy fabbing this stuff. I do like how you shaved four inches off the front bumper though. One of the reasons I like Ujoints bumper, compact fit against the front of the van.

 

[notmiller]

Done! :wings::wings: One key thing I wanted with the brushguards, which explains their height/shape, is for them to be a kind of distance gauge and tell me where my corners and front end are when maneuvering. With such a giant van, I find that a lot of times I need to get as close to a wall or some other obstacle as I can while I'm making my Austin Powers u-turn.

 

[bknudtsen]

Good work!

 

[Overland Hadley]

That is one of the best looking bumpers! Nice work with the brush-guards.

 

[Ironhead]

Oh man.....now I want to start over with mine. Great mods, you've done a very nice job.

 

[catmandu]

Great bumper.

 

[pratty85]

That is one impressive bumper! I really like the brush gaurd!

 

[upsidedown]

Can you offer the templates for that bumper so I could lay them out and fab it from 3/16 steel? AutoCAD or printed out on paper?

 

[notmiller]

Thanks for all the kind words guys! I've always had the vision for those brushguards, I'm just glad I could bend them up without going through too much tubing! I can definitely provide the DXF file to anyone who wants it. Some trimming and finesse may be in order where the top plates blend into the body. It was difficult to measure the exact curvature of the front end. PM me if you're interested.

 

[rebar]

Very cool Van you've got there.. Great travel pics..

I read through the thread but missed what you had to modify to clear the steering arm.

I'm looking at installing a used dodge BJ D60 axle in my 95 E350, but there's allot of gray unknown area..

 

[notmiller]

Very cool Van you've got there.. Great travel pics..

I read through the thread but missed what you had to modify to clear the steering arm.

I'm looking at installing a used dodge BJ D60 axle in my 95 E350, but there's allot of gray unknown area..

I put a 1/2in (I think) shim between the steering arm and the knuckle to raise it up enough to clear the Deavers. It still hits at extreme droop, so I may shim it another ~1/4in or make a custom steering arm and eliminate all the shimming.

 

[idamanzz]

Again. You have done a great job with your van!
I'm wondering if the issues you experienced with steering / spring interference would have been lessened with the UJOR 6" lift option
Thanks

 

[notmiller]

Again. You have done a great job with your van!
I'm wondering if the issues you experienced with steering / spring interference would have been lessened with the UJOR 6" lift option
Thanks

Thanks! I'm not sure the problems would be lessened with the 6" lift. Most of the clearance issues occur at the extremes of articulation. At ride height, there's no issues, but a 6" pack would have a little more arch and therefore sit a tad bit closer to the drag link but probably not too noticeable. I think the main problem is the thickness of the Deaver leaf packs. The ball joint on the pitman arm would still hit a 6" pack in max compression (assuming it compresses to the same limit as the 4" pack). The drag link rubs against the pack on the passenger side at full droop. Since this is caused by the relative position of the steering arm to the leaf pack (which is fixed), the lift wouldn't really affect this except maybe the leaves arching even more under full droop which would make it worse. The real solution is to have a steering arm that jogs up a little to give more clearance in all conditions. I may pursue this, but I've been taking some time off from building in order to work on our neglected house. I did strongly consider the 6" kit early on, but in the end I prefer the "minimalist" approach when it comes to setting up 4wd suspensions, meaning get the most amount of travel out of the least amount of lift. We're very happy with the Ujoint 4" kit coupled with the Deavers despite some of the clearance issues that had to be worked out. My dad drove it up into the central valley to SMB earlier this week when we had severe winds and he kept talking about how it handled like a champ even when it started to rain. He even said my mom wouldn't have had any trouble driving it, which is saying a lot!

On another note, the whole reason it was being driven to SMB was because my parents took it out two weekends ago to go camping and during the drive out to the desert, the coolant line running to the diesel furnace/hot water heater decided to come loose and proceeded to dump gallons of engine coolant all over the interior floor. Besides having to get towed back home, there's now water (coolant) damage at the base of half of the built-in cabinetry. Unfortunately, the stuff doesn't evaporate either. Luckily everything is still under warranty but this is definitely a quality issue with the SMB build. Seems like whoever installed the furnace probably didn't tighten the hose clamp. They really should be using spring clamps instead of worm-drive clamps to avoid these mistakes.