givemethewillys
Jonathan Chouinard
This thread just keeps getting better. Awesome photography!
Post build ..uh.. build thread.
- Thread starter ericvs
- Start date
ericvs
Active member
Wow:Wow1:great pics Ericvs! Its been years since I have been down that way. Absolutly beautiful! And your surfer pals are not too shaby either...
Thanks Chilli! Yeah excellent part of the planet for sure. Also, yeah my pals are pretty sweet! haha.
Thank you. Yes, I have many plans :sombrero:. I would def like something in front of the rear wheels. Not sure I am going to do anything behind the rear wheels, however. While it would be good use of space, the drivers side has the propane tank so I can't really do a box there. The other issue is on the drivers side front, the fuel fill hose & vent line is right in that area. The box would have to be fitted around that area. I could def use that space for storage though, most of my tools and recovery stuff ends up in the back seat. Not ideal :/
great! Thanks! The gf is much, much better at setting up photos than I am. I have def been tapping into her skills to make this thread better
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ericvs
Active member
4x4 van conversion trip
A friend of mine has a very sweet CCV pop top GMC van that is going to Kamloops to get a Clysdale 4x4 conversion on it. What a perfect opportunity to go biking in Kamloops. Short stay, but amazing vistas.
First night in Hope, camping in town right by the river. Good stuff. Stayed at the Coquihalla Campground.
In Kamloops, looking up the valley over Pauls lake heading up to Mt. Harper
This was the best spots for lunch, so we stopped here, cooked up some lunch and rode from there to the top.
Pretty sure we will be coming back to this spot when we pick up the van! Amazing views!
A friend of mine has a very sweet CCV pop top GMC van that is going to Kamloops to get a Clysdale 4x4 conversion on it. What a perfect opportunity to go biking in Kamloops. Short stay, but amazing vistas.
First night in Hope, camping in town right by the river. Good stuff. Stayed at the Coquihalla Campground.
In Kamloops, looking up the valley over Pauls lake heading up to Mt. Harper
This was the best spots for lunch, so we stopped here, cooked up some lunch and rode from there to the top.
Pretty sure we will be coming back to this spot when we pick up the van! Amazing views!
Northwest_Cummins
New member
Spotted you on my way into work this morning pulling off i90. The truck looks even better in person!
ericvs
Active member
Nice! Thanks. It definitely isn't inconspicuous, haha.
I also like that your first post was this. Good stuff.
chilliwak
Expedition Leader
A friend of mine has a very sweet CCV pop top GMC van that is going to Kamloops to get a Clysdale 4x4 conversion on it. What a perfect opportunity to go biking in Kamloops. Short stay, but amazing vistas.
First night in Hope, camping in town right by the river. Good stuff. Stayed at the Coquihalla Campground.
In Kamloops, looking up the valley over Pauls lake heading up to Mt. Harper
This was the best spots for lunch, so we stopped here, cooked up some lunch and rode from there to the top.
Pretty sure we will be coming back to this spot when we pick up the van! Amazing views!
Sweet looking pics Ericvs! I know that country and have lots of friends there. I am looking forward to seeing more pics from you! Cheers, Chilli..:wings:
huntsonora
Explorer
Sometimes I click on this thread just to look at all the pictures again. Amazing build! Would love to do something like this with my 2nd gen
givemethewillys
Jonathan Chouinard
Haha, you mean I'm not the only one?
ericvs
Active member
I know I don't update enough with pictures, but I am glad the previous posts are still providing inspiration. Another friend has caught the bug and just picked up his 4x4 sprinter. spread the love! Here we are thanksgiving weekend out at South Beach on San Juan Island, Wa. A bit rainy, a bunch windy and lots of good times.
ericvs
Active member
Throwback to a summer trip.
Another post, just in time for ThrowBackThursday! This summer, we did another lap of the lower WABDR route. Stevenson to Packwood, this time we had some different vehicles along the ride with us. A friends Toyota and the gfs new (to her) Yamaha Dual sport, we also had a doggo along for the ride, it was a party!
Early Sunday morning pre-coffee in Stevenson:
The two 4 wheeled rigs, just about ready to roll out.
The one 2 wheeled rig. It was so easy for her to zip ahead of the trucks, she probably did 2x extra miles just ripping back and forth waiting for us. haha. Also, rainbow pants ******.
This is Lou the dog, ready for action (funny story, my friend said Lou kept farting horribly the entire trip. he had to keep rolling down his windows and letting all the dust in. hahaha)
Oh, was it dusty? Yeah it was (we stopped twice and blasted the Yotas air filter with compressed air):
this was one of our stops to blast some dust. Also, nice to get out of the rig and walk around for a bit
But like all the other times we have done this route, it is always a blast
This is one of the campground that you can get to from FSR23, so we had to stop here
so we could take a tip in the lake (here is the lady showing off her body armour, oh and some type of scenic view...)
All sorts of fun stuff on this drive
Mountains
insects
some tight squeezes
Slow going (mostly), but it took us about 9 hours to do almost 110 miles off road. Very fun day, can't wait for next summer!
Another post, just in time for ThrowBackThursday! This summer, we did another lap of the lower WABDR route. Stevenson to Packwood, this time we had some different vehicles along the ride with us. A friends Toyota and the gfs new (to her) Yamaha Dual sport, we also had a doggo along for the ride, it was a party!
Early Sunday morning pre-coffee in Stevenson:
The two 4 wheeled rigs, just about ready to roll out.
The one 2 wheeled rig. It was so easy for her to zip ahead of the trucks, she probably did 2x extra miles just ripping back and forth waiting for us. haha. Also, rainbow pants ******.
This is Lou the dog, ready for action (funny story, my friend said Lou kept farting horribly the entire trip. he had to keep rolling down his windows and letting all the dust in. hahaha)
Oh, was it dusty? Yeah it was (we stopped twice and blasted the Yotas air filter with compressed air):
this was one of our stops to blast some dust. Also, nice to get out of the rig and walk around for a bit
But like all the other times we have done this route, it is always a blast
This is one of the campground that you can get to from FSR23, so we had to stop here
so we could take a tip in the lake (here is the lady showing off her body armour, oh and some type of scenic view...)
All sorts of fun stuff on this drive
Mountains
insects
some tight squeezes
Slow going (mostly), but it took us about 9 hours to do almost 110 miles off road. Very fun day, can't wait for next summer!
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ericvs
Active member
Small lighting change/upgrade
One thing that was bugging me about the exterior camper lighting that I have is that it wasn't as functional in all the ways that I had envisioned.
Here are all the lights when they are on. I have two at the back, two on the sides at the front of the camper and two underneath the flatbed facing down. In the cab I have a switch and I can turn on either all the lights or just the lower lights.
The upper lights are great and illuminate everything up high (almost too much haha) but they are good. The lower ones, under the flatbed were perfect for illuminating the area near the back door or the cab and in front of the tire, but my issue was when I am backing up at night.
I had PM'd with another member on here about this issue but I don't know if I was able to articulate why I wasn't super happy with it. Here is my thinking, as with most trucks with limited rear visibility, all my reversing is done with mirrors. I really like to be able to see where the tire is in my small blind spot mirrors for reversing because you can put the tire exactly where you want and very close to things (curbs, parking lot lines, edges of things etc), but with the way the lights were setup there was always a huge shadow right where I most wanted to see. Among other things, here are some examples of what I mean. On my daily drive, I end up parking right next to a curb in the work parking lot. I want to be right tight with it so the person who parks next to me has enough space so we can get in and out of our vehicles easily. If I can see the curb in my mirror, I can put the truck right next to it without rubbing all over it. The other part of my drive I have to back up right along the edge of the driveway at home so we can access the garage. I don't like driving on the grass cause it turns it to mud in the wet winter, so if I can see the edge of the driveway and my tire in the mirror, I can put it right along the line. Those are two small examples that I encounter every day and since I have lower lights, why not have them work how I want them to. Also, nice at camp if you are backing in, you can put the truck right beside something or see if you are about to run something over. Anyway, here is the reason in photographic form.
This next photo is a bit weird (I forgot to get a good before picture), but you can see the big shadow that is cast by the tire. This shadow is the exact area that I want to see when reversing at night.
**Front of the truck is towards the top of the picture
for my upgrade, I wasn't sure exactly what would work, so I picked up 4x small (cheap) LED 'rock lights' and mounted them on the lower lip of the flatbed facing down. They are on the same control as the original lower lights, so I can turn them on independent of the upper four.
You can see the entire area is now lit up so I can see the tire in my mirror. The lights also ended up illuminating a much larger area that I had anticipated, so that was a nice plus. It even lights up behind the camper. Double plus!
One thing that was bugging me about the exterior camper lighting that I have is that it wasn't as functional in all the ways that I had envisioned.
Here are all the lights when they are on. I have two at the back, two on the sides at the front of the camper and two underneath the flatbed facing down. In the cab I have a switch and I can turn on either all the lights or just the lower lights.
The upper lights are great and illuminate everything up high (almost too much haha) but they are good. The lower ones, under the flatbed were perfect for illuminating the area near the back door or the cab and in front of the tire, but my issue was when I am backing up at night.
I had PM'd with another member on here about this issue but I don't know if I was able to articulate why I wasn't super happy with it. Here is my thinking, as with most trucks with limited rear visibility, all my reversing is done with mirrors. I really like to be able to see where the tire is in my small blind spot mirrors for reversing because you can put the tire exactly where you want and very close to things (curbs, parking lot lines, edges of things etc), but with the way the lights were setup there was always a huge shadow right where I most wanted to see. Among other things, here are some examples of what I mean. On my daily drive, I end up parking right next to a curb in the work parking lot. I want to be right tight with it so the person who parks next to me has enough space so we can get in and out of our vehicles easily. If I can see the curb in my mirror, I can put the truck right next to it without rubbing all over it. The other part of my drive I have to back up right along the edge of the driveway at home so we can access the garage. I don't like driving on the grass cause it turns it to mud in the wet winter, so if I can see the edge of the driveway and my tire in the mirror, I can put it right along the line. Those are two small examples that I encounter every day and since I have lower lights, why not have them work how I want them to. Also, nice at camp if you are backing in, you can put the truck right beside something or see if you are about to run something over. Anyway, here is the reason in photographic form.
This next photo is a bit weird (I forgot to get a good before picture), but you can see the big shadow that is cast by the tire. This shadow is the exact area that I want to see when reversing at night.
**Front of the truck is towards the top of the picture
for my upgrade, I wasn't sure exactly what would work, so I picked up 4x small (cheap) LED 'rock lights' and mounted them on the lower lip of the flatbed facing down. They are on the same control as the original lower lights, so I can turn them on independent of the upper four.
You can see the entire area is now lit up so I can see the tire in my mirror. The lights also ended up illuminating a much larger area that I had anticipated, so that was a nice plus. It even lights up behind the camper. Double plus!