The great white fun hog (another white GM awd build)

[boardrider247]

Long time no update. Honestly I haven't done a whole lot of work on the van just been using it. Right now it is about 90% of what I would call complete. And I don't know if that last 10% will ever happen. So for now I just pick away at little things here and there.

I swapped out the bulbs in my Hella housings for some LED's from ADV monster
Before
2017-03-08_08-54-00 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

After
2017-03-08_08-53-44 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

I also added some LED light strips to the interior. These were marketed as truck bed lighting so they have a protective cover on them and a little more finished look then most of the LED strip lighting available.
2017-05-27_07-38-27 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-05-26_08-43-59 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-05-26_08-44-17 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

You may also notice that I scrapped the built in dog crates. While they functioned as intended it proved to just not be a modular enough solution for us. Now I can remove one crate or both easily and also remove the entire bed assembly in less then ten minutes.

Pretty pictures from winter travels
2017-01-27_09-02-48 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-01-31_05-56-43 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-01-31_05-57-16 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

Cheers! I'm off to camp in the van for the holiday weekend

 

[Ngneer]

Just read through the 23 pages. Very nice and detailed write-up, great info you passed along for others to use as a guide. Love it man, now enjoy. Safe travels to u.

 

[boardrider247]

Just read through the 23 pages. Very nice and detailed write-up, great info you passed along for others to use as a guide. Love it man, now enjoy. Safe travels to u.

Thanks!!!
I was able to gather a lot of information from various threads on this forum. Happy to help out and put (hopefully) some useful information back into it.

Cheers!
Danny

 

[boardrider247]

Well I am now realizing I have fallen behind a bit with this thread. Small polishes are all I have this time around. The little AWD 1/2t continues to impress me despite being almost continually overloaded.

I finally laid out a headliner.
Right off I knew I would not be able to get it perfect so I just rolled with it and went for a tattered sort of look.
Over the years I'll lay patches and other memories of our travels over this. But for now it really made things feel less cave like.

2017-12-31_05-31-05 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-12-31_05-31-29 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-12-31_05-31-53 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-12-31_05-32-13 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

And we made our annual September journey to the Wet coast
2017-12-31_05-33-59 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-12-31_05-44-41 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2017-12-31_05-32-53 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

 

[WVI]

Festive!
That last pic is great!

 

[boardrider247]

I never liked the steel wheels which came stock on this van but being a cheap SOB I couldn't stomach buying aftermarket wheels.
This winter I came across a deal on some 2013 Tahoe wheels which I always kind of liked. They received the requisite black plasti dip.
Like I say cheap SOB.
The new used wheels were wrapped in a fresh set of Cooper ATP's. The previous set had just over 50k miles on them and though they still had tread left in some spots they were down to the wear bars. So it was time.
For those curious the plati dip on the stock wheels also had the same 50k on it and looked good as new. Just one touch up in that time.

IMG_20180102_162601 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

IMG_20180102_162622 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

 

[WVI]

Looks great!

 

[boardrider247]

Since lifting the van I have been running a set of cheap rough country shocks which came with the kit. I knew they wouldn't be fantastic but I figured I would give them a try. Well 3 years and 50k miles later they were starting to feel pretty bouncy.
Time for an upgrade
IMG_20180106_095228 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

Old versus new
IMG_20180106_095205 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

The passenger side shock still seemed like it was in OK shape but the driver side was definitely clapped out.

IMG_20180106_115602 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

 

[86cj]

Glad to you see your van is still getting it done, the miles go by so easy I love to drive them. Congrats on the tires and wheels it looks good.............

I have about 60,000 on my tires and will get some before next winter, the AWD Van tire wear is a non issue, I am getting the same life and wear as any other GM IFS vehicle which give nice even wear.........

The picture shows the front hitch nicely, I will probably mount mine similar it does not hang down that bad. Without cutting the bumper you did not have that many options, a nice simple install......

The upper bushings that come with those front shocks are a sloppy fit, the stock ones work great and new ones are not to bad at the dealer............

 

[mapper]

Hey all been lurking on the Express AWD threads for a long time. I finally promoted myself, and huskies, from an Astro into a 2012 AWD Express. Plan is get the high roof installed sooner than later. Thinking Fiberine 24" Bubble top. You all still liking it?

One question I have is whether you found wind noise, while highway cruising, to be an issue with the high roof?

 

[boardrider247]

Hey all been lurking on the Express AWD threads for a long time. I finally promoted myself, and huskies, from an Astro into a 2012 AWD Express. Plan is get the high roof installed sooner than later. Thinking Fiberine 24" Bubble top. You all still liking it?

One question I have is whether you found wind noise, while highway cruising, to be an issue with the high roof?

Still loving the Fiberine high top!
No regrets. The only thing I don't like about it was the price. But that is long forgot.......
I noticed no additional wind noise from the top at all. Obviously in strong cross winds there is some additional driver input needed.

We just returned from another cross country trip and in extreme cross winds I noticed the driver side door leaking a bunch of air, but I don't believe this has anything to do with the top.

 

[Roamin' Chariot]

Great build. I wasn't as smart as you and didn't give up on the Westfalia top ... AWD Savanagon Lives!

 

[boardrider247]

Great build. I wasn't as smart as you and didn't give up on the Westfalia top ... AWD Savanagon Lives!View attachment 435009View attachment 435010

Your top looks great!!
I wish I had started with a Vanagon top rather then the bay window top I attempted to use. The lines are a better fit for the GM vans.
Honestly as I was working on that project I realized I had crossed a personal life threshold where I had more money than time and needed to start using my time more wisely.
Some day I would like to try the same project again though.....

 

[boardrider247]

Couple minor updates to share with Ya'll
I worked on trimming out the high top some more. It took me awhile to decide on a material to cover my plywood spacers but it finally came to me. Yoga Mat
So I purchased a few cheap mats from amazon and chopped them up glued on with a dow multi purpose adhesive.
2018-02-12_04-34-19 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-12_04-33-59 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-12_04-33-22 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

Also installed a few blue sea outlets with a voltmeter for the house battery. It came with a nice template for install
2018-02-12_06-51-54 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-12_06-51-43 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-12_04-34-58 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

Then promptly drove a couple thousand miles to go snowboarding
2018-02-12_07-52-01 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-12_07-53-34 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-07_07-38-14 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-12_07-56-07 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-12_04-32-29 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-02-12_04-32-35 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

 

[boardrider247]

Last fall I picked up a used norcold fridge/freezer and finally was able to get around to building a slide out for it.
I was in a hurry and welded this with a spool gun rather then tig welding. The results are sub par but for my first time welding aluminum with wire I guess they are acceptable.

2018-03-10_12-37-00 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-03-10_12-36-52 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr

2018-03-10_12-36-44 by Danny Knowlan, on Flickr