Any UJOR vans in Colorado?

[bkbroiler00]

Hello. I'm wondering if there are any folks in CO (Denver/Ft. Collins area preferably) that have a UJOR conversion and would be willing to let me come check it out. I have no doubt about the quality of craftsmanship. I'm more interested in how the converted van rides and handles, both off road and more importantly, on road. If you would, please reply to this thread, or send me a PM if you'd be willing to arrange a meet up. Cheers! :beer:

 

[bkbroiler00]

Not exclusive to CO owners...

I also wouldn't mind hearing feedback from any and all UJOR owners on the drivability, ride quality, handling, turning radius, etc. I've seen the UJOR runway video (and the other UJOR videos). They're good, but nothing is greater than customer feedback. Thanks :smiley_drive:

 

[mgmetalworks]

I don't have a UJOR van myself but I've driven two different UJOR vans and the road manners are pretty amazing for what it is... i.e. a big heavy vehicle with large tires. The ride is comfortable, handling is excellent. Both of the vans I've driven were 6" lift with 35" tires.

 

[jjohnny350]

Im over in Utah, but come on over and check it out. Ive had my van for about 10 years, and 4 of those with the UJOR system. I love it, it is like mg said, a large heavy, heavy duty vehicle. Its a pretty firm ride, mine doesnt have the progressive springs which I will definitely do next time. I think that I would go for the better shocks as well to give it some more adjustability with different valving. Mines a 350 and unloaded its a bit firm, and I like a firm ride. When its loaded down its much better as I think it gets into its proper weight range, then its pretty good. It does handle pretty well, not really any body roll. I noticed a tiny bit more when I put the roof rack on. Still pretty stiff side to side. Hope this helps. I am going to sell mine and build another one and Im going to use the UJOR system again.

 

[ujoint]

We have quite a few in the Denver area, shoot me an email and I can set you up with some guys.

You can also ck out testimonial page, I just copy & paste when posting these.

http://www.ujointoffroad.com/testimonials.html

 

[scoutkid]

I have a van in Golden CO - Vantom!

He's got a 6" running 315's. You can read through my build thread. Chris has come up with all sorts of goodies to increase performance/installation/drivability since I installed my kit but I really have NO complaints! It rides along just like my F250!

 

[John and Mandi]

This is our experience and opinion.

We bought our van (01 E350 7.3) as a Quigley then had Chris convert it to his 4" suspension. We considered getting Agile offroad's RIP but ultimately went with the full replacement for easier acquisition of parts and it's simply one of the best. Our van drives entirely different then when we purchased it in San Francisco then drove it home to Florida. Freeway speeds with the Quigley made her a bit squirrelly, breaking 75 on the speedometer started a shim... more likely death wobble. At home I crawled around under it and found our torque arms were cracked. I had a local shop do some repairs, an alignment and they added a nicer steering stabilizer... no change. We started emailing Chris which resulted in us deciding to swap to his system. Driving her back to Florida from NC was a wonderful experience. We've since gone back for some additional work and drove through the winter storm early last week. No snow driving experience at all, she performed wonderfully and we felt completely confident. We absolutely love driving our van after Ujoint did their thing. We have the 4" kit which makes our turning a little wider than the 6", we'll be shipping across the Darien Gap and wanted to ensure it'll fit into a container, we do love 35s though. We previously owned a 2012 Ram 3500 Crew Cab short bed 4x4 and our turning radius now is only barely wider than the truck. U-turning over three lanes is easy, two lanes not really possible without taking the shoulder or sidewalk. The brand new truck couldn't do two lanes either, it was on stock 29s while the van is on Toyo AT II 33s. Our ride is tighter but we're still building out the interior. Once complete we'll upgrade the springs to dial it all in.

Bottom line, we drive her on the freeway one handed just like every other car. When it was a Quigley we had white knuckles, literally (hand cramps and all). We've yet to add some real miles off-road, that will change once we begin the Pan-Am.

Definitely ride in one, going to lunch in V5 immediately put Mandi at ease over the expense.


-John

 

[e350vegas]

Love Mine....

I believe mine is the one in the handling video. We upgraded the front end....but she is great on and off the road. I have taken her on a few 5 hr road trips and she handles great. I was just telling my wife that she handles, rides, turns and does everything better than our old Excursion. I am in Vegas if you ever want to come check her out.

 

[ujoint]

Definitely ride in one, going to lunch in V5 immediately put Mandi at ease over the expense.


-John

Thanks for posting, I love taking Quigley owners for a ride! V5 was great and now its gone, I have no demo rig! Time to get V7 done.

 

[bkbroiler00]

Thanks for posting, I love taking Quigley owners for a ride! V5 was great and now its gone, I have no demo rig! Time to get V7 done.

Thanks for the replies. I'm hoping I can ride in one soon!

Also - John & Mandi, I dig the color scheme choices you've made. I've poked around on your website/build thread. Truly nice work!

 

[John and Mandi]

Thanks bkbroiler!

It's a fairly large project but one that is extremely satisfying. We figure the van will be our home for several years so we better make it the way we like it. We've taken the best, in our opinion, from the two primary van cultures and mashed them together. If we could we'd change the tenting to purple too, maybe when we're done with the trip. We also would like to switch to the 6" kit and 35s.

No matter what, give Chris a call if you haven't already. You can stage your van out over time or 4x4 it at once, either way it'll be one sick monster when you are done.

Chris - anytime! Just have to call it how we see it. There is no comparison on which system works. We can't imagine driving almost 40K miles the way she was before you guys swapped in your suspension.

-John

 

[mk216v]

Hopefully you find a UJOR van to ride/drive. Mine rides/drives like a dream, always forget it's a pretty big van with 6"/35s--does not drive like that whatsoever, is so fluid and smooth, just cruises. A real pleasure to drive. I would do a UJOR van over and over and over again, no hesitation.

 

[bkbroiler00]

yeah, i definitely need to ride in one. hoping to get some support from CO owners. i'll pay with at least a six pack of good stuff :beer:

i'm also going to need to decide b/t 4" & 6" lift. leaning heavy towards 4" & 33s. seems easier to maneuver and drive in general. maybe not though. gotta get behind the wheel of a couple and be my own judge.

vans rule!

 

[mk216v]

yeah, i definitely need to ride in one. hoping to get some support from CO owners. i'll pay with at least a six pack of good stuff :beer:

i'm also going to need to decide b/t 4" & 6" lift. leaning heavy towards 4" & 33s. seems easier to maneuver and drive in general. maybe not though. gotta get behind the wheel of a couple and be my own judge.

vans rule!

Chris can explain more as to the limitations of 4"/33's--info was originally in one of his FYI threads. Seems 6/35 is the best overall kit for certain reasons. Chris??

 

[ujoint]

Yes, the 6" on 35's is better for a few reasons. We can run a longer pitman arm on the 6, won't clear on the 4. The longer arm tightens up the turning radius. More wheel travel is your friend on & off road, the 6 has more, and we can run a trac bar on the 6. Too tight on the 4. And last but not least, every man eventually wants bigger tires! I've had a few guys start with 4 and then go to 6. Landyacht captain is here on ExPo and he did exactly that.