sometime back in ?1990? my wife and I took a test drive in a van (might have been a Ford E series?) on a dealer lot that had four captains chairs and a wall behind the second row chairs with what looked like a canopy hatch that opened inward. This allowed the "crew" to grab contents in the cargo area to some extent, then of course the balance of the rear cargo area was accessible by the rear barn doors. We almost pulled the trigger and I think we would have had many years of enjoyment out of a rig like that with our (then) young family of four. I still think the basic layout is valid.
: ) Thom
PS. "Richard" looks fantastic with the lift!! On a personal observational note ; ) ...I really like the looks of these moderate lifts (2" to 3") on the chevy vans. When I look at some of the extreme (6") lifts from BOR on the chevy's I think the fit is off. Richard's 2/2.5" lift is ideal IMO.
They sit way too low for me but then again everything sits too way low for me. It amazes me that no one makes (as you know) anything for these rigs, The front is a custom billet aluminum coil spacer (Not Boulder) the rear is simple blocks/ubolts. I spent a couple frustrating hours on the phone with KYB and Monroe figuring out longer/larger shocks which drove their tech guys nuts. They kept saying "no makes a lift for these vehicles" and I had to convince some very left brained people to think outside the box and just answer my questions about length, dimensions, load, etc. The rear shock is a bolt on, the fronts are bigger, had to be slightly modified but everything works fantastic. I would have liked room for 285s and another inch up front but am pretty happy for now until a front axle is under my feet. We leave tomorrow for Yellowstone, should fun. My wife and I used to travel so light, now with this rig, hybrid (also lifted lol) trailer, kids dogs we are like 12K rolling pounds of sandwich stuff and sleeping bags, silly but comfy...