Starting my van build (Van name to follow :)

[hitek79]

I'm picking up my van in about a month from now and will be doing a build out over the next 4 months or so. I'm trying to prioritize what needs to be done first though, so I'm looking for some opinions.

It's a 2011 Chevy Express 15 passenger van. For the time being I'll be keeping it as a 2wd. This is the short list of what all I'll be doing to it.

Stereo/alarm - This will be a work van as well so I'll throw in some speakers, an amp, bluetooth and satellite radio

3 inch lift from Boulder Off Road

Wheels/tires. Undecided on size right now. Any suggestions for cool looking black wheels is appreciated as well. 16 inch 8 lugs.

Some sort of rear locker.

I won't be doing any crazy offroading, but I probably will pick up a winch and some recovery gear just in case I make a mistake.

Building out a bed area

Some exterior lights

Pop top from CCV

Thanks for any help, and I'll post lots of pictures along the way!

 

[southpier]

it doesn't need a name or gender (even weirder). take lots of pictures!

 

[MrBeast]

A recommendation I will make do you is that you should put a 2" receiver hitch front and rear as well as wiring for a winch, this way you can get the hitch mount for your winch and move it front to rear as you need it.

 

[Deleted member 1276]

Yeah buddy! Look forward to seeing it!

 

[hitek79]

A recommendation I will make do you is that you should put a 2" receiver hitch front and rear as well as wiring for a winch, this way you can get the hitch mount for your winch and move it front to rear as you need it.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. I'll be running my bike rack up front so I have full access to the back at all times.

Yeah buddy! Look forward to seeing it!

I'll definitely be hitting you up once I start working on it!

 

[pratty85]

A recommendation I will make do you is that you should put a 2" receiver hitch front and rear as well as wiring for a winch, this way you can get the hitch mount for your winch and move it front to rear as you need it.

Just an FYI: Make sure you are winching in a straight line with that receiver winch setup or you could break your winch platform. I have seen it happen...no bueno

 

[hitek79]

Wheels!

Good info, thanks!

I'm thinking of going with these wheels, any opinions on Moto Metals?

 

[Itsavanman]

eek! on the wheels, I see rims like that on lifted 4x4's with beautiful black paint jobs and no desert pin striping. but that's just my opinion.. yours may vary lol.. as for the winch yeah.. very good idea, if your planning to leave the asphalt with only 2wd a winch (or come-a-long) is a very good idea... I would stick to steel rims of a small diameter, but that's really just a personal preference... I say if you like those rims, then pull the trigger, your going to have equal yay's and nays i think...

 

[hitek79]

I plan on doing a 16" wheel. Probably going to go with a 285/75/16 tire. I'm going for a look that's a bit nicer than just a steel wheel because this will be a work truck as well.

 

[hitek79]

Ok, so I finally got the van home, threw on some wheels and tires, and I'm starting on the interior. I'm installing a Bedslide in the back, so I'm pulling all the floor out of there, then building a bed area above it. I'm going to hold off on the lift and pop top until summer, but I'll continue the interior for the time being. I picked up a house battery today, and will be fab-ing a storage box for it, and making the bed this week.

 

[Photog]

Things to consider with the Chevy platform:

Do your front tires rub the body mount? The front wall of the mount can be hammered backwards (away from tire), but they need to be heated with a torch.

I don't know what wheel offset you ended up with; but anything more than +18mm (inset 18mm) will quickly destroy you front wheel bearing-units. Also, a wheel with +18mm or more offset will have less rubbing problems. You can install the bearing-units for the 10,000 GVW van, as they have the same exterior dimensions. These are stronger than the lighter bearing-units.

You may want to switch the front springs for a set of springs from a diesel powered van. Or install a metal spring spacer from Suspension-Maxx. You will have to call them, as the info is not on their website. Either of these changes will give you 2" of lift, and some room between the lower-arms and the bump-stops.

The rear springs need a little more arch. An extra leaf or two from Atlas would be a big help, depending on which factory leaf-pack you have.

Longer shocks are a big help, on all four corners.

Lastly, you will want longer brake lines. The factory lines are just too short.

Here is our 2WD Chevy van, weighing in at 9500 pounds. Boulder Off Road lift and a few other mods.

 

[hitek79]

Great info there! Thanks! The wheels are zero offset, and the tires are OEM sized wheels, so it rides very similar to how it did originally.

Got the Bedslide in this morning, I'm installing some lights this afternoon.

 

[hitek79]

Let there be light!!!



Rigid Dually Diffused lights. 15 watts, and the output is crazy good.

 

[hitek79]

Building the platform for the bed. I got it all finished, and got a sweet mattress up there today. My wife approves.





I also insulted the walls in the back, and I'll get the house battery all set up tomorrow. I've ordered a water container as well. I'll try to take a short trip in a couple of weeks to see how it all goes.

 

[southpier]

with the matress added, how much room (height) is in the bed?

thanks