Albert - Class B Grampa Van Build

[Oldcarnut]

That is a very nice job you did there. Pictures, write up and work all very well done. Your van looks very good as well and you should ditch the steps for better airflow down the sides.

 

[java]

Awesome!! From another ski bum :ylsmoke:


My old van had those same clearance issues on the front. When turning and going down a steep hill on the brakes it still rubbed.... But the plastic self clearances just right.

 

[kevman]

After a busy July we finally got out on our first trip. A 2,500km round trip for a week of Mountain Biking in the Chilcotins.

They definitely put the "mountain" in mountain bike around there...


But first something needed to be done about the lack of stereo. We picked up a Sony XAV AX100 head unit for it's Android Auto (mine) and Apply Carplay (hers) compatibility. I didn't take a lot of install photos but would still be happy to answer any questions. Since I had the dash apart moving the Scan Gauge to a more practical location seemed like the thing to do. As did replacing the cigarette lighter with a USB port for the stereo and installing a back up camera. I'd like to pretend I don't need a back up camera but the truth is they really help when you have a bunch of bikes on the back that you might not be able to see from the mirrors. The backup camera mount was made by bending a Simpson Strong Tie 4x4 post support I had laying around and spray painting it black. Work smarter not harder?


And here are some obligatory van pictures.


As to be expected a few things will need addressing:

• 200kms of washboard made it apparent that there is a small clunk in the steering. From what I can tell it's "upstream" of the pitman arm. From there it gets vague and hard to track down. Steering column u-joints perhaps? Inside the steering box? Is there something in the dash that's known to cause a small clunk? It doesn't cause a lack of vehicle control and it's not noticeable at highway speeds but on rough roads you definitely feel something moving.
• The fridge sucks. Absorption fridges suck. I knew this could be a problem before the trip. We've rented RV's before in the winter and have had nothing but problems with these miserable things. At some point in the first two nights we must have slept 1/2° off level and plugged up the unit. It's fixable by cycling the unit upside down to free the plug but this is hardly a practical solution. We will be replacing the fridge with a DC unit ASAP. Any recommendations? My initial research has pointed me towards a Nova Kool fridge.
• We're heavy. Hit the scales again on the way out of town with a full tank of gas and water and came in at 3,720kg (20 kg over GVWR). Removing the bathroom will help but we also only had two bikes with us and haven't insulated yet. It's already a high priority item but something should be done sooner than later to beef up the suspension.

Finally, fuel economy was decent again. Averaging about 18L/100km or 13mpg.
16.8L/100km Calgary -> Kamloops (decent highway, some mountain passes, ~100km/hr)
19L/100km Kamloops -> Kamloops (windy highway through the mountains, lots of gravel, some fireroad, slow)
18L/100km Kamloops -> Calgary (same mountain passes but this time trending uphill for ~2,000')

 

[kevman]

Oh yeah, did I mention BC is on fire? (In case all of the smoke haze in my photos didn't give it away)

 

[Jsweezy]

Beautiful van!

 

[Bikersmurf]

After being out of the country for the last week and enjoying some summer snowboarding at Mt. Hood I picked up the van from the out of province yesterday. The technicians were happy with the quality of the van but as expected I failed due to cracked sidewalls on the tires. No big deal, I've already ordered some new tires and they're on their way. Due to my OCD nature and not having service history I had a full engine service (plugs, etc.) and all fluids changed while I was in there. It came in a little over budget but I now know nothing should require servicing for a while.

I stuck with my plan to run 265/76r16's and ordered BFG AT KO2's mounted on 16x8 American Racing AR172 Baja's. I'm going to cross my fingers and hope they don't rub as is but I'm ready to do a little trimming and/or suspension modification as required. I'll be sure to post some pictures when they show up and I get them installed.

When measuring the coils I assume you're referring to the distance from the lower coil isolator to the highest point of the inner coil in the upper bucket? If so, I'm currently at ~12.25". I got my rig to the scale yesterday and with just myself and a full tank of water I'm at 1,540kg (~3,400lbs) front axle, 1,930kg (~4,250lbs) rear and 3,480kg (~7,650 lbs) combined. Pretty close to my sticker rating in the front of 1,610kg... Based on my math from the Moog springrates the CC880 should give me an approximate lift of 3/4" and the CC880s should lift it 1 3/4". Still haven't decided which direction I want to go but it's nice to have the actual weights when making the decision.

To be honest, I'm surprised my front end with the much lighter 5.4L is heavier than yours with the 7.3L. Sure there is some fiberglass up there but not that much.

Finally, and this isn't super exciting but everyone loves pictures so here's where I put the scangauge. I want to put an overhead console in with proper reading lights and storage which will eventually house the scangauge so this is just temporary. No drilling and the <5 minute install made it a simple choice for now.
View attachment 411340

Based on those numbers I'd go with 880s. Let them settle a couple weeks and beef up the rear suspension to match. With the 880s the softer top coils almost touch and then it firms up a bit. Overall you'd be at the same height as mine +/-. 500 lbs or so makes little difference. I'd not want to go softer given your weight.

I've been in a few different vehicles lately and got new perspective on how well mine rides. I drove a 2014 Caravan and it beat me up... I thought it was terrible until I drove a 2016 Mustang convertible... it rode even worse. I'm looking forward to the plush ride of my E350 with Bilstein front shocks.

 

[Gtdad]

Hi Kevman. Im also a canuck , Nvan BC and mountain biker. Nice to see another here. Love seeing the 265's on your van. Im right now on the fence with tires etc. I did new springs etc last year moog 880s up front and had me leafs renewed plus added one helper leaf and a 1 inch block in the rear. It gave me 2.25 inch front end lift with a slight ¾ higher lift in the rear. Is working great on my 5.4 van albeit a little firm. Im currently on nokian rotiva plus all weather 245's on 16x8 on my e250 traverse but there are at 60% at the moment. I just picked up a great craiglist deal on some eagle alloys 137 series rims 16x8 -4 offset like new for 200$ from a sports car dealer. The had no idea what they fit and wanted them gone
Anyhow I'm thinking keep my nokian's as a summer tire and get bfg at k02 in 235 85 16 for this winter on the new rims . They with will be a smidge larger than 265 ( a couple mm) but narrower and I think the -4 offset will help with clearance a bit.
Did you do the spring upgrade yet?

 

[kevman]

Haven't done the springs upgrade yet. Life got busy. I'm hoping to get to it in the fall but according to my "one project at a time" rule I have to finish a pesky bathroom renovation first.

Very happy with the tires this far. No rubbing and look great. I also continue to be impressed with the fuel mileage. We got 16.7l/100km (14mpg) on the way to Silverstar a few weeks ago. Still averaging around 18l/100km but considering every trip consists of mountain passes and strong head winds through the foothills this is as good as one can realistically expect.