Boomer the Quadravan 4x4 Camper

[T.Low]

You'd better believe I do. They either try to look like they're not looking, or they give me the stink eye big time.

It's absolutely comical now because we try to call out which one it's going to be as we see a vanagon approaching, and I'm sure you know there are tons of them in Bellingham.

Luv your username. A couple years ago on my Gas Gas:

http://youtu.be/ptxxmYB61VY

http://youtu.be/Kg4xHoc8ltA


Last month:


http://youtu.be/tUuPMWI6f5A

The funny thing is, I'd like to have a buddy with a Syncro that likes to get out and about. My main exploring buddy has a E-350 SMB. We've done well over 20 good trips together, but it'd be cool to have more vans along.

You'd know better than me, but I think the Samba guys are pretty cool. Weird, in the real world I get the stink eye, but in the virtual world on the Samba I am almost totally excepted.

Bring you Syncro to the Central M&G at Wenas Lake this Saturday, noon to four.

 

[spencyg]

Preparations and Adventures. Chapter 9

There comes a time in every adventurers life when one puts aside common sense and persues daft ideas.

I had a daft idea. It had a name. That name was DRAM.

Dirt

Roads

Across

Maine

The goal was to go from one end of Maine (NH boarder, far Western Maine) to the sea all on dirt roads. Amazingly enough, this actually is possible if you are willing to accept about a 10% pavement provision to get between dirt sections. I spent a ton of time researching, talking to game wardens and a few guys at Delorme and finally came up with a route. The trip was to be performed in two legs. Leg one would go from the NH Boarder along Rt 16 and would take me to Millinocket. The 2nd route would go from Millinocket to Lubec. After I had a plan in place and everything loaded into my Topo software it was time to prepare Boomer.

First, It was time to get the winch hooked up.

5/16" Aircraft Cable, 150'. #2 Power Cable, Quick Disconnect Control Plugs, Ramsey Winch Controller, and a couple high amp solenoids.

The winch worked great. I didn't end up needing it, but this was only because I had it :afro:

I needed a method for carrying a spare tire, the hilift, misc spares and recovery gear, etc. I didn't have swing-outs on the rear bumper yet so I had to come up with something temporary but rugged enough to survive the trip.

I ended up with a reciever mount carrier which held the tire, hilift and a hydraulic jack. The whole thing was secured both by the receiver and with ratchet straps to keep it from clanging around.

I added a large Ammo Box to the rear ladder to carry additional goods. To this box I mounted a couple quick fist clamps to handle the axe and shovel.

After all was ready I picked a rainy wet weekend in the middle of November and did it.

200 miles of dirt, 18 miles of pavement. 2 days. Ended in Millinocket.

I have yet to run the second leg, but we're going to run the first leg again this summer and hopefully will run the last leg this fall. Boomer did great, the equipment did great, and it set the stage for all new adventures.

Chapter 10: Uh Oh.

 

[spencyg]

Zen and the Art of Diesel Maintenance. Chapter 10

So periodically I get distracted and lose focus. I blame it on my curiosity but my wife says I have adult onset ADD. I suggest to her that I've always been this way so then she says maybe it wasn't adult onset.

As I grow older this trait continues to wreak havoc on my life and my wallet, and as the old saying goes "The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys".

In Late 2010 I got an itch.

Scratching it led to this...

1987 Toyota Supra MK3.

This in itself was a bad mistake since the car was a POS money pit which ended up suspended from a grappel crane at the scrap yard.

But the real shame was how it broke Boomer.

I found this car in Uncle Henrys up in Northern Maine. For some reason which I wouldn't even try to explain, I had to have it. So I took Boomer down to Uhaul, rented a car trailer, and headed 4 hours north. Upon arrival the car was running and driving so I handed the guy some cash, loaded the car, and away I went.

1 hour later bombing down 95 South the cab filled with transmission oil smoke. Awesome. Luckily I was able to limp into Bangor to buy a transmission cooler (no, I didn't have a transmission cooler and I was towing 6000lbs down the Interstate...I'm an idiot), 8 qts of transmission fluid, and some rags. My folks live in the area so I headed over to their house and installed the cooler in the driveway. As I was headed out to finish the trip I noticed a disturbing amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust and after checking the overflow tank I realized there was badness afoot.

Black oil in the overflow tank, and coolant in the oil. Bad to worse.

I limped home at 45MPH, parked the car, parked Boomer and forgot about it until Spring.

Around the middle of May it was time to figure out what exactly was wrong. I had hoped maybe Boomer magically fixed itself over the winter as bad engine problems often do, but tragically it hadn't. It was clear that Boomer was down for the count and that something drastic needed to happen. It seemed like the head gaskets on both the driver and passenger side were shot, as was the oil cooler. I tried desparately to find a way of fixing all this with the engine remaining in the engine bay but the amount of effort necessary to avoid engine removal seemed unreasonable.

So.

Now, let me tell you something. I am a good wrench. I don't say this because I'm an arrogant prick (I am one, but I didn't say it because of that), but because I've been doing this for a long time and have had a very good hit rate whilst doing so. This engine extraction was the most unplesent mechanic project I have EVER undertaken. Approximately 40 hours went into prepping Boomer to even get the engine out. Then engine removal took 7 hours with 2 of us working. The engine weighs 1000lbs and is approx. 2" smaller in all dimensions than the engine bay it is crammed into. It was a remarkable feat...one which I honestly wasn't sure was possible until the engine actually popped out.

So with it on the cart the real work started.

The engine got all cleaned up. New ARP 190ksi head studs, felpro gaskets, head valve cleanup with new seals, updated rocker arms, new water pump, new oil pump, rebuilt oil cooler, new glow plugs, new injectors, turned up IP. The engine was built with the intention of putting a small turbo in, so I upgraded where I felt appropriate, hoping this would be the only time I ever get this deep into Boomer's engine.

While I had the engine bay opened up I did a bunch of rust work, installed a new front pump seal in the transmission, replaced hoses and lines as necessary. I also built 2 new battery boxes since the original ones were toast.

The engine reinstallation was as much work as installation except this time there was 3 of us and my newly acquired forklift which made it possible. Another 40 hours of wrenching to connect everything back up and Boomer was far better than new. The start of engine removal began the middle of July 2011 and Boomer was back on the road the middle of July 2012.

2012 turned us into a family of 4 and we've already spent a bunch of time adventuring in Boomer. It is awesome for family adventures and we are really excited about 2013 and beyond.


During this past summer I installed 2 new house batteries because the old ones had been compromised during a period of discharge during the engine rebuild. I also added 100W of solar charging with a remote panel and a 250W charge controller. I'm going to add a second 100W panel this spring to keep up with daily demand when at camp for more than 24 hours.

 

[flightcancled]

Looks sweet!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Shocker]

That is great! Tell us more about that rear bumper mod.

 

[Shocker]

Nevermind, read it all over on the other forum. Very cool!

 

[spencyg]

The legendary swing-outs. Chapter 11

Talk of mythical swing out tire carriers has been floating about in Boomer threads for years and years. They were originally planned to be part of the rear bumper build and during that fabrication process all of the structural support was integrated into the framework. Well, 2014 is the year people. Finally.



The light cans had to be integrated because the assembly will be blocking the stock lights. I'm considering whether I should leave the stock lights as they are or weld the openings closed.



The sub plates on the frame will be weld points for diagonal stanchions that will wrap around the body to tie the top of the swingout stanchions to the frame. The wheel/tire combo is around 100lbs on one side, and then a chuck box and propane tank will be on the other side. The stanchion tube is 1.75" 0.250" wall DOM, and the diagonals will probably end up being just Sch40 1.5" pipe (because that's how I roll).







I tried some hammer forming sheetmetal fab for the first time and it was pretty great. I made some blanking plates for the taillights per some recommendations here. They will be screwed/sealed in but not welded. I'm pretty happy with them.





I also fabbed up the lower frame supports for the swing outs.



So I got those arms mounted and the compressor reinstalled.





They came out pretty good. I'm a little curious whether I've accounted for enough clearance between the arms and the body (~1.75"). I guess this is one of those scenarios where the clearance will "make itself" if necessary. The only scenario where this might happen is in the event of twisted up axles....the way we use Boomer this happens quite seldom.

Then on to the window seals. Hilarious part about this is I thought I could do this job without removing any door hardware....

Hilarious.



A little rust which I brushed and treated with my magic solution....



I'd never been in the doors before....interesting to find the insides coated and in excellent shape.



And more removal...





Then something magic happened, followed by new wipers and channels.





I managed to get both doors finished by around 10:30pm. Then into the shop for a little bracket fab for the swingout stanchions. More pictures of that to come later.

I brought the van into work this morning and the reduction of wind noise with the new window seals is remarkable. Now I can hear all the other ugly noises Boomer makes whilst lumbering down the road. Lovely.

OK...back to swing-outs.

I needed to sort out my tail light situation since the new swing outs were going to block the stock lighting. I opted to have all the light circuits go to the rear bumper through a pair of 4 conductor quick disconnects. The stock brake and running light circuits were fine to just power through to the new lights, but the reverse lights are going to be higher output units and I was concerned about the capacity of the harness to handle the load. The new reverse light circuit incorporates a relay switched by the stock harness but powering through a 10A breaker drawing off the house battery bank.





The stock bulb holders were sealed up and wrapped in foam to prevent any bonking around. Everything was then pushed back into the recess and the blank out plates were applied with some silicone.







After that was done I could finally start attaching bits to the bumper. In an effort to get the stanchions aligned to my liking it was time to break out the come-alone.



The stanchions now lean in just a bit. This was done to force the swing-outs to naturally swing to their closed state when the van is on level ground.



Just right.

OK...this post is getting too long.

Popcorn break.

:lurk:

 

[spencyg]

Diagonal support members fabricated and installed. This distributes some of the load of the swing-out mass down to the frame. Triangulation Watson. Triangulation.







Stanchions and diagonals are all painted up and mounted for good. I need to get a camera....phone pictures really aren't cutting it anymore.





I then soldered up the pigtails for the taillight quick disconnects. I opted for some SJOW 4 conductor outdoor rated cable for wiring but then added stainless steel braided armor to the OD.









I am waiting for another pair of gland seals to pass the cable into the light can....the ones that arrived from McMaster weren't big enough because I didn't account for the shielding diameter. Idiot.



Once those gland seals come in I'll be able to finish up the wiring for the tail lights. I ordered DOM tubing yesterday for the front end linkages as well as the swing out female sockets. The pins I have came with mating sleeves but they are pretty thin wall (~0.125"). The new sockets I'm going to machine up will be closer to 0.3" wall and I'm going to install zerk fittings to allow easy greasing.

Some new H4 headlights showed up so I got to work installing those. What a difference in light output! The old 6064's just don't have the reflector technology that the newer units adopt....they are the same wattage but easily 20% more output.







While I had the front end apart I ran the wire for the transmission temp sensor back into the cab and also cleaned up all the winch connections. The solenoid was clicking but I wasn't getting any response from the winch. Corrosion had set in on the terminals so some wire brushing followed by Dielectric Grease on every contact point got things back in order.

Due to some inclement weather, it was time to do a little inside work for a bit. I had a couple add-on gauges zip-tied to the steering column and it was time to clean things up. I have 3 gauges of concern. *A transmission temp gauge (due to a bad situation a number of years back whilst towing....), a pyrometer (obligatory in a diesel application), and eventually a boost gauge. I have the transmission and pyro gauges hooked up, and the boost will come eventually.

Anyway....the stock a-pillar trim was never designed to accept gauges and of course, nobody makes aftermarket gauge pods for a 1986 Ford Econoline.

I found some sweet aftermarket universal pods from Autometer (#2204) which fit 2-1/6" gauges exclusively.



They are steel construction and built to last.

The pods could have been bolted directly to the plastic a-pillar plastic trim but it wouldn't have lasted long and would have looked cobbled together. I opted for something more robust and long term.

I started in with some 16ga steel sheet and came up with a small mount which cleanly transitions between the plastic trim and the steel gauge pods. The mount is still fastened directly to the plastic but with the load spread over a large area I'm not worried about it.





Some paint, wire, gauges....





While I was at it, I installed (for a second time) a tiny tach for the diesel. Boomer wasn't installed with a tachometer from the factory and adding it back in now would have been a mess. These tiny tach things are pretty cool...the work via piezo acoustic feedback from one of the injector lines. It hears a pulse in the line from the pump firing the circuit and calls that 1 RPM. Cheap, easy, effective. The first one I had was a earlier generation and had a non-replaceable internal battery which gave up the ghost. This newer one isn't afflicted with the same issues.



It wasn't all good. My 2 year old somehow (like I'm oblivious to how this happened or something...?) filled the CD player with pocket change. It quickly shorted out something inside the radio and killed it. Luckily I was able to find a NOS unit on ebay for cheap and it will swap right in. Kids.



Swing-Out Frames A'Comin. True.

 

[spencyg]

The first step to the carrier swing frames was to machine some bushings. The material was extremely thick wall (0.375") DOM tubing which I had to machine to get the bore right. I also added some recesses within the bore for grease and will be adding Zerks after paint.



Unfortunately the fabrication process was pretty intensive and I didn't snap pics along the way. I did spend more than a couple hours beating my head against the wall with a hinge binding issue. Turns out when I used the come-along to cant the stanchions inward it threw off the center lines of the hinge points. Man was that frustrating!!! Once I turned my brain back on the problem and solution were obvious. It did involve cutting off the lower mount ear and rewelding (along with building some alignment tooling on the fly) but in the end everything worked out.







I still have a little more welding to do on the tire carrier frame and the actual wheel mounting plate hasn't arrived from Ballistic Fab yet. The hydraulic jack will sit on the plate as shown in the first picture and will be retained w/ a pair of quick fist clamps. I was going to mount a high-lift on the other side of the rectangular post but realized that a high-lift for my rig is useless....so it will stay behind.

The receiver at the top of the main tube is going to provide mounting options for bike racks down the road. Additionally I think I'm going to build a small hand winch lift for getting the spare tire up and down which will plug into the socket as well. *

Friday evening allowed me some time to get the lights installed and working. Everything looks great and the only little bug I need to work out is flash rate on the directionals. The replacement bulbs are incandescent so I guess I assume that they would be ok. I'm sure it will just be the addition of a resistor or something but I'm still annoyed.

Yesterday I was able to nearly finish the tire carrier swing-out and got started on the box swingout.

First I started with fabricating the latch assembly.








I'm pleased with how it came out. The "mouth" of the latch plate locks around the pin in the receiver. The whole thing is pretty robust. The only other thing I'm going to add to the latch assembly is a block below the handle which can accept a pad lock. This would keep the handle from being opened and would allow me some additional security.

After that I started mounting the bottle jack, axe and shovel. Quick Fists are awesome.





The last bit of fab on the tire swing-out was a travel limiter. The only problem was that the piece needed to be in the same spot as the zerk fitting to grease the lower hinge socket and pin. I ended up porting the grease fitting from the new travel limiting "finger" and capping the open ports with set screws. It works fine and will protect that lower zerk.



Quick shot of the lights as mounted....



And as the twilight began to take over I set in the last weld bead on the carrier box frame. I've got some free time this week so I'm hoping to get both swing-outs fully fabricated and painted over the next 6 days or so.



SG

 

[spencyg]

A little more progress last night.





The box is only mounted on the back plate right now with some 1/2" bolts. I'm going to build a small tray tonight with diagonal bracing that goes to the upper portion of the swing frame to help distribute the load of the box a little better. The box and arm currently weigh probably 50 lbs or so an the swing-out hinges don't care at all.

SG

 

[spencyg]

I knew I was going to catch hell for that damn Toro.

Yes, it will be tucked up in the frame. One can never have too tidy a camp site.



SG

 

[spencyg]

I managed to scab on a few more pieces last night. Half way through the evening I ran out of MIG wire.....rookie mistake. I spent the rest of the evening before dark cutting tube and fitting it up.

The section to the right is going to be the mount for the propane bottle. On the left is a ladder section which will eventually mate with a fixed ladder integrated into a roof basket.





The propane bottle will be held to that right hand frame section with a pair of brackets intended to be used on a propane fueled fork truck.



I'm actually impressed with the build quality of the parts that came in the mail. They are pretty darn rugged. My only complaint is that there isn't an integrated option for a lock of some sort.


The box needed a little more support other than the 4 bolts holding it to the frame. I opted for a small lower framework tied to the rear frame with a couple diagonal sections.



I'm hoping to finish up the ladder and propane bracket assembly tonight and get started on the box-top basket.

SG

 

[Mwilliamshs]

spencyg, this is AWESOME stuff. Thanks for posting!

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Dude, I looove your build.

 

[philos]

Dang. That's some awesomesauce right there. So many cool ideas to steal!