A Custom UJOR-Sportsmobile Build
- Thread starter notmiller
- Start date
notmiller
Observer
For sure. I still have a hard time paying someone else to do something I can do myself. Consequently, I'm super nit-picky about quality and attention to detail when I'm paying for it. They're also fixing a number of little things that bugged me. I asked them to call me when they've got everything torn apart because I want go up and inspect the damage and make sure they replace everything that got saturated. They already told me I shouldn't worry about any of the coolant having gotten under the sub-floor, which I refuse to believe since it was leaking out the underside of the van from a number of different points. We'll see....
This being said, though, overall their build quality was very good and probably better than I could've done. They've pretty much worked out the bugs in their designs, for the most part, so I still believe the money was well spent. It's just the little things that bother me. That, and 7 gallons of coolant getting dumped all over the floor puts a little dapper on my day.
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Bringing this back up to the top for a progress report. Nice van! I too (was) a Toyota 4x4 owner - I had an '86 with an SAS, x-fer case gears, etc. I'm in the deciding stage of an SMB build and like the RB-50 layout. Any more interior pics you can share? Looks like you went with the cherrywood trim as well...nice!
Quick question about SMB: I've contacted them about a build on a used van and was told that they must inspect the van before giving the build plans the OK. This sounded odd to me. Did you have a similar experience? I figured an E-350, whether gas or diesel, would be adequate.
Quick question about SMB: I've contacted them about a build on a used van and was told that they must inspect the van before giving the build plans the OK. This sounded odd to me. Did you have a similar experience? I figured an E-350, whether gas or diesel, would be adequate.
notmiller
Observer
Update!
Wow, sorry guys! I got sidetracked for awhile and then wasn't receiving email updates on the thread, so I had no idea people were still posting. I've been busy with work and house stuff, typical. We've gotten the van out a bit, but not as much as I'd like. Everything has been working well. I still haven't put bumpstops in front or rear, but it has not been a problem so far. That's next on my list, though, as I'm not super comfortable without them. We did manage to get her stuck in the sand already. This dredged up bad memories because, if you'll recall, the whole reason we fell in love with Sportsmobiles was because we borrowed a relative's 2wd version but managed to get it buried in the sand in a remote location and had to use a satellite comm to get rescued by the sheriff at 2am. I don't know if it's just me, but these massive vans love to sink right to the bottom at the first chance they get. This time I managed to get stuck on a sand berm and it took maybe 2 hours to get unstuck. I have found shifting the Atlas to be tricky, most likely because it's mated to an automatic. It's impossible to shift into 4wd at a stop, so you have to learn to be conservative and shift into 4x BEFORE you get stuck.
Another upgrade my dad and brother did over Christmas was installing cruise control. They found a CC steering wheel and harness in the junkyard, had it reupholstered, and spent a day figuring out the wiring. It works like a charm now and is a nice luxury.
We went out to Salton Sea a few weeks ago flat towing my '94 Toyota rockcrawler. I figure we got about 9-10mpg towing the 4,000lbs. I had a multitude of things go wrong with the Toy including my clutch slave go out 12 miles up a trail. That made for an interesting crawl back to camp after a few bump starts. There were a couple times where I had to power through some rocky areas where I needed to make a 3 point turn but couldn't because if I stopped in the rocks I wouldn't be able to bump start it again. So I got some huge new scars. I've gotten to the point where I think I'm ready to build a ground-up rock buggy, so you may see a new thread from me in the near future!
Black Rock Type 8 Series 997 steel wheel, 17x8, 8x170mm, 4.5" BS
I will try to snap some more pics of the interior. As far as the van inspection, they do it for a few reasons, I believe. One, they want to make sure it's not a junker because they don't want to warranty their build on something that's on its last legs to begin with. Two, they are looking for specific build packages that they may need to deal with. For example, ours had factory installed rear heat and A/C which takes up space in the back and it has rigid refrigerant lines running underneath the van that they have to build around. If you're doing a 4x4 package, they want the 4.11 rear end from the factory, I think.
The doghouse insulation made a BIG difference. It's very nice. You still hear the diesel, but it's much quieter now. As for the rest of the extra insulation, it's hard to tell if it makes a big difference over what SMB installs normally since I don't have another one to compare to.
Wow, sorry guys! I got sidetracked for awhile and then wasn't receiving email updates on the thread, so I had no idea people were still posting. I've been busy with work and house stuff, typical. We've gotten the van out a bit, but not as much as I'd like. Everything has been working well. I still haven't put bumpstops in front or rear, but it has not been a problem so far. That's next on my list, though, as I'm not super comfortable without them. We did manage to get her stuck in the sand already. This dredged up bad memories because, if you'll recall, the whole reason we fell in love with Sportsmobiles was because we borrowed a relative's 2wd version but managed to get it buried in the sand in a remote location and had to use a satellite comm to get rescued by the sheriff at 2am. I don't know if it's just me, but these massive vans love to sink right to the bottom at the first chance they get. This time I managed to get stuck on a sand berm and it took maybe 2 hours to get unstuck. I have found shifting the Atlas to be tricky, most likely because it's mated to an automatic. It's impossible to shift into 4wd at a stop, so you have to learn to be conservative and shift into 4x BEFORE you get stuck.
Another upgrade my dad and brother did over Christmas was installing cruise control. They found a CC steering wheel and harness in the junkyard, had it reupholstered, and spent a day figuring out the wiring. It works like a charm now and is a nice luxury.
We went out to Salton Sea a few weeks ago flat towing my '94 Toyota rockcrawler. I figure we got about 9-10mpg towing the 4,000lbs. I had a multitude of things go wrong with the Toy including my clutch slave go out 12 miles up a trail. That made for an interesting crawl back to camp after a few bump starts. There were a couple times where I had to power through some rocky areas where I needed to make a 3 point turn but couldn't because if I stopped in the rocks I wouldn't be able to bump start it again. So I got some huge new scars. I've gotten to the point where I think I'm ready to build a ground-up rock buggy, so you may see a new thread from me in the near future!
Black Rock Type 8 Series 997 steel wheel, 17x8, 8x170mm, 4.5" BS
I will try to snap some more pics of the interior. As far as the van inspection, they do it for a few reasons, I believe. One, they want to make sure it's not a junker because they don't want to warranty their build on something that's on its last legs to begin with. Two, they are looking for specific build packages that they may need to deal with. For example, ours had factory installed rear heat and A/C which takes up space in the back and it has rigid refrigerant lines running underneath the van that they have to build around. If you're doing a 4x4 package, they want the 4.11 rear end from the factory, I think.
The doghouse insulation made a BIG difference. It's very nice. You still hear the diesel, but it's much quieter now. As for the rest of the extra insulation, it's hard to tell if it makes a big difference over what SMB installs normally since I don't have another one to compare to.