Quigley 4x4 Chevy Express build

[710m]

I'm usually more of a reader than a poster on forums, but here it goes.

We were considering renting an RV for a road trip from CO to CA this summer, but ended up buying a 4x4 van instead... The 4x4 is necessary because we love exploring Colorado and are used to going everywhere in our Pinzgauer. The Chevy won't be quite as capable off road, but has other merits (space, silence, AC, heat, solid roof, comfortable seats, radio, etc.).

I decided on the Chevy instead of the E350 because of the extra length (+8"), good drivetrain, and the extended wheelbase for comfort on the highway. When I started looking I found a couple Quigley 4x4 Chevy 15 passenger vans in Florida that looked good. Lo and behold, a few weeks later they showed up at a dealership in Colorado. A few days later we got to test drive two of them and bought the one without the wobble.

The plans are as follows.

1) Install CCV pop-top so that we'll be able to sleep 3 kids and two adults (already on order).
2) figure out a layout that works for us
3) fix wiring that was eaten be critters while the van was in storage (they managed eat through the wiring for the horn, the AC, the left blinker, the washer fluid pump, and maybe more that I haven't found yet.)
4) Install power mirrors so we can adjust them when switching drivers of different sizes

We'll see where all this goes...

 

[boardrider247]

Awesome. I would love to see some detailed pics of the front suspension if you have time.

 

[86cj]

Great find for sure, I can't wait to see what you do with it. Given the chance to pick a Van again a GM 3500 Quigley would be my choice, hats off...........

I hope these vans don't have the soy based wiring insulation that the MFG's are learning smells like food to rodents. Some car companies are looking at a grease like repellent.

If you are short sleeping across can work for some people, the higher the bed the longer it gets until you have inside glass to glass. The extra storage height under the bed is hard to beat, just don't put the bed all the way to the back doors they curve out from under the roof, you will get the bed wet and dirty on a constant basis. I have enough room to sit on the bed and put my shoes on before opening the back doors, inside the back doors is a great place to haul unexpected tall items too.

 

[710m]

boardrider247: I have 50 pictures, but apparently can't post the pointer to my Flickr account. pm me for a link. Here's one to give you a taste.



86cj: Thanks for the heads up on the bed in the way back. We were planning to have it back there but might have to reconsider.

 

[710m]

Got most of the chewed wiring taken care of. I now have a working horn, washer pump, 4x4 indicator, and a left blinker. Removing the washer fluid reservoir actually required disconnecting the master brake cylinder to get enough clearance for removal.

There are still four wires that are loose, but I'm not sure what they connect to. They end near the horn on the left side and extend about 8" from the rest of the loom, they are yellow, purple, red/black, and green/white. If anyone has a clue as to what they are that's be great.



Also removed the door trim panel and mirror trim to investigate the wiring harness and the possibility for adding power mirrors to replace the manual mirrors, but there was nothing obvious there. That improvement might have to be put on the backburner.

My son drew an excellent likeness of me working on the van today.

 

[4Fox]

Nice catch on that Quigley! I think I saw that one while searching for my van.

Looking forward to your build.

 

[710m]

Thanks, I noticed yesterday that the second one is now gone too. I bet the move like hot cakes in Colorado.

 

[710m]

tires

My van currently runs on stock 245/75R16 tires which need to be replaced for various reasons and I'm trying to figure out what to put on there. The van isn't lifted except for a turn of the T-bars (which doesn't really count in my book, except for on the road) and I want to put the biggest tires on there that will fit.

Here's what I'm starting with:



Option 1) 255/85R16 on stock rim. Availability isn't all that great and it'd be rather tall. I'm not sure how big the clearance issues would be.
Option 2) 285/75R16 on wider rim. Can choose any tire, but would probably be to big for the van without a lift.
Option 3) 265/75R16 on wider rim. can choose any tire and would probably fit without too much of an issues
option 4) 265/75R16 on stock rim. Although the spec of most tires calls for a 7" rim, 6.5" is probably find.

The first step I took was to eyeball the clearance of the 245's, and it looks like a 255/85 might actually fit. So I grabbed such a wheel from a donor truck and held it up to the van to check it out. It looks huge! :Wow1: but maybe its due to the perspective of holding the tire in front of the van. Would be cool if it would fit with minor trimming (I'm probably just delusional that this would actually fit).



and the donor truck:



But, like I said, a 285 would be preferred due to availability, which would require a wider rim from the stock 6.5" width. So I got a set of wheels from Craigslist and put them on the van. The offset was 0 which wasn't too far off from the stock 7mm (wrong!!) that I found on wheel-size.com so I figured I couldn't really go wrong with these. They came mounted with 265/75's, so I could try that size to boot.

Well, this morning I put on those wheels and the tires are rubbing everywhere! That's odd, given that I'm going up only one size. Long story short the factory offset is 28mm on the Chevy Express (from www.gmupfitters.com documentation), so the zero offset wheels just had those tires way out there flapping in the wind. The fact that I didn't catch this right away is just a sign of my ignorance in these matters. .

I was going to post some picture of the spots that were rubbing, but now that I figured out that the offset is more than an inch less than factory, it isn't too hard to imagine the tires hitting everything as they get swung around while turning.

So, what to do? I have now learned that googling this to death doesn't really get me closer to an answer. I just need to find a way to try out the 255/85's on a stock rim to see how bad it is. I'd be nice if I can just cross that off the list or go with it. If that doesn't work I can find a way to try a 285 on stock rim just for size and go with that option if it fits. I'll just have to get an 8" rim with the right offset. If that doesn't work, it'll be 265's on the stock rim... I'm sure that that'll fit .

tldr;

I want to know the largest tire that'll fit on a chevy Express 3500
Stock offset for my van is 28mm (btw, not everything on the internet is correct)
265/75R16 on a wheel with 0 offset does not fit, it hits everything on the back of the tire (body mount and fender) as it swing around.

 

[DudeAbides]

Good luck, I was thinking of buying one of those. Lifting more than just by torsion key looks to be difficult. Another forum has detailed pics of the front suspension, looks like it may be possible to modify a front lift subframe from a Chevy truck to make it work but it's uncharted territory.

 

[4Fox]

This is what a bunch of other people are running. Thanks to 86CJ for posting this in the GM Full size AWD van info thread.

Time for Wheel & Tire fitment info?

Wheels and tires have come up in other post's and I asked a couple members what Size, Backspacing, and Offset fit their van and did not rub, so I decided to post up!

Stock alloy wheels and tires:.......o/d = 30.6".. 245-70-17's on 17x7.5 with 5.5" B/S and +31mm O/S.....16" wheel was stock in early years w/235-75-16

My GMC 1500 AWD is running:....o/d = 31.7".. 265-70-17's on 17x7.5 with 5.5" B/S and +31 mm O/S ..(stock wheels)........... 265-70-17 tire did not rub with no lift

Accrete is running:.....................o/d = 31.7"...265-70-17's on 17x9's with 4.5" B/S and -12mm O/S.....Slider door clears fine with wheel face moved out 2.5" vs stock

Overland_Drifter is running:.........o/d = 32.2"..275-70-17's on 17x 9's with 5" B/S and +0mm O/S

Hobbs67 is running:.....................o/d = 32.8"..285-70-17's on 17x7.5" with 5.5" B/S (stock wheels).. getting minor rubbing on sway bar and did some trimming behind front tire

Note: A little less backspace or B/S is usually needed to keep from rubbing the sway bar or suspension when lifted or with bigger tires. Less B/S makes the offset or O/S further from stock and wider wheels make it even worse, the closer to stock +31 you keep the offset or O/S the happier the wheel bearings will be, like most things a little is better and alot can be bad later............

Note: 265-70-17 has been the GM 1/2 ton 17" OEM tire size and 265-65-18 has been a factory 18" upgrade, for older 1/2 tons with 16" wheels 265-75-16, all three sizes are common have about same o/d around 31.5",..... making them easier to find and good choices for a van on the road...


Feel Free to post up!!!!

Thanks for starting this thread boardrider247!!!................

 

[710m]

Yeah, lifting this thing would get tricky with it being a mixture of a Chevy van and a Silverado 2500HD. The only lift I've seen that's worthwhile would be a cobbled together 4" spindle lift, but for the time being I'll just let that be. The thing is so darn long anyways, that ground clearance isn't the only issue.

 

[710m]

Thanks for that info/link Steve. That helps a lot. Do you know if the front end of the AWD (1500) is the same as the 3500 vans? From looking at teh stock tires, it looks like the body mount behind the front tires is the closest obstruction.

 

[ColoradoChris]

I just put 235/85 R16 BF Goodrich All-Terrain ATs on my stock chrome wheels on my 2003 Express 1500 AWD. No lift (yet). No rubbing or fit issues at all.

 

[710m]

Ah, good idea on the 235's. Best of both worlds and should fit well. I'll probably go with the Kumho AT51. The are snow rated and seem like a good value.

 

[4Fox]

Hmm tall and skinny(inch narrower than 265s)... I might have to go that route also!