Berts-AWD Express

[macexpress]

After seeing the campervans in the PNW on a trip with the wife there this summer I started looking more at the idea for a family vehicle/weekend warrior. After reading thru a bunch of the build threads on here the van fever had officially set in! We searched for the right van for a couple months, man they are hard to find!!
Right before Christmas I found a 2013 passenger awd ex government van in Oklahoma City for $12000 that sounded like a good fit for our needs. 2 weeks later I got my brother in law in to catch a ride down and drive it back for me, now the fun begins

 

[macexpress]

Here are a couple pictures of the van from the dealer site

 

[macexpress]

This is the start of the bumper getting fabbed up for the van. It just needs the ends and a bull bar added.
I live close to the Henry rifle factory and they do sandblasting and powder coating so I took a set of factory 17" Sierra wheels to them Friday to have powder coated dark gray, I'm hoping to get those and a 2" lift put on Saturday

 

[drsmonkey]

I like where you are going with that bumper. Who is building it? Any plans for a matching rear?

 

[macexpress]

Here's the bumper finished, painted and mounted up. I liked the way it turned out. Not to bulky but it gave the van a little meaner look. Jungman build built it for me, $800 unpainted. I just rattle canned it for now. I don't have any plans of a rear matching bumper yet....

 

[macexpress]

While the grill was out installing the bumper I put a black billet grill overlay on. This just bolts over top the original grill. I blacked out the bowtie also

 

[macexpress]

The front all back together

 

[45Kevin]

Love the bumper. Do you have a pattern for the pieces needed. I got pals with the gear to cut pieces from CAD files.

Is there room for a winch behind it?
Did you loose any approach angle?
Does it have any under carriage protection built into it?

Keep them pictures coming.

 

[macexpress]

I also installed a 2" lift to fit some bigger tires under the van. New keys up front and 2"blocks in the back. The install was pretty simple, made the job allot easier having the torsion key tool to do the keys in the front!

 

[macexpress]

I don't have a pattern for the bumper, he just took the van for a week and built the bumper right on it and took it back of to paint. It does have room for a winch behind it but I don't have any plans for one
As far as approach angle it actually improved, the stock bumper hangs so low.
We didn't put any undercarriage protection into the bumper, that is something I'd like to add though.

Jungmannbuild.com built it for me

 

[macexpress]

I also installed some new Bilstein shocks on the rear when I did the lift to firm up the ride a little more

 

[macexpress]

So here's what the van looks like now with the lift, bumper, and powder coated wheels.

 

[86cj]

I really like the bumper could be my favorite so far, nice looking van.........

I am curious which rear shocks you used, most 5100's that fit the rear of a GM van are valved for a completely different vehicle or way to long for a 2-3" lift. I looked at part number 24-185615 but Bilstein said it was 5 1/2" longer than my stock shocks and would get beat up under compression, it also was valved to light and could cause porpoising and other issues on a heavy van. There are a few companies that have Bilstein's custom valved and sell them for lifted vans though.........

I smashed my front shocks closed and broke the spacer washer when I tried 2" front shock spacers, others have smashed the rear shocks closed and broke the rear shock extension using shocks that are to long, we have been there done that. So far I don't know of anybody who lowered a GM van bumpstops front or rear, which should be done on most lifts with bigger tires and longer shocks. There are several people using the stock rear springs and blocks with good results, but over time the spring will be fatigued by bending further into negative arc looking for the now lower bumpstop pad. When the rear bumpstop is touching the lower pad prior the the lift (with small load) it acts like a mini traction bar for the soft springs and does a good job on eliminating wheel hop, with a lift you give that up. That is what pushed me into a rear spring swap, wheel hop issues break things, when I saw the bottom leaf of the suburban spring it reminded me of a super stock drag car spring, it is like a mini traction bar complete with snubber..:ylsmoke:

 

[macexpress]

Those are the Bilsteins that I used, I had seen that others had used that shock and went off that. So far the ride seems good but that doesn't mean they won't bottom out and blow out on me. I don't plan on doing a full interior build out so I will be lighter than some but then again 3 kids and all their camping stuff adds up quick

 

[macexpress]

I added a strip on the hood for rock protection. The idea came from Accrete's build but I didn't want to do the whole hood so this was my twist on it