UJOR Build Thread

[ujoint]

What do you use to prep and paint axles? They look brand new!

Wire wheel, elbow grease and some good cleaner!

And a very messy engine bay! Just got the dead 7.3 out, LOTS of cleaning the rest of the week!

And here I was thinking the 7.3 were immortals...

Nice work as usual, and congrats on the little one!

Cheers
Mr. D

They are if they're cared for!

No I sure haven't.Isn't it down the street from the old shop?

Yea, right around the corner.

I was lucky enough to see the Russia Van in person - it looks mean as hell!

New lift is in the ground, your rig will be under attack today! Working late tonight to get a jump start on it.

 

[d67u57]

very nice. how patient do you find the ruskis? and those axles? oh god. pure porn.

not going offtopic,but a mechanical diesel is the way to go reliability and ease of maintenance wise.
going back to the boater's experience,those guys run their engines at completely different loads and duration vs a truck.

 

[ujoint]

very nice. how patient do you find the ruskis? and those axles? oh god. pure porn.

They were great, very appreciative that we got the work done in time. There were of course a few things that we weren't able to tackle with the time frame, my main concern was making sure the van was reliable.

 

[ujoint]

We never slow down! Stayed late last night to get a jump start on Brett's van, we got all 4 springs swapped along with the crossover steering knuckle, cleaned up a bit, and bolted up the front bumper. Now I have to start cutting! (coil buckets, old trac bar mount) The new lift at the shop is a beast! Wish my other was just like it now...



Work continues on the Cummins swap. Motor is out along with most of everything from the engine bay. Then it was time to CLEAN. The frame had 13 years of dirt and surface rust, so we did it the hard way (I shouldn't really say WE, since I didn't do it!) Here's a hard working UJ employee after spending some quality time on the frame



Today I cut the coil buckets off, trimmed the engine x-member, welded the dual shock towers, started coating the frame, bolted up the spring hangers that are fresh from powdercoating, and got the springs hung. Coming along nicely!



We also got the 1st new front receiver for out bumpers! Simple unit that uses the winch mounting holes for a front receiver. I'll have them on the site soon with a price.

 

[tribeof5]

That hard working UJ employee is filthy... Weren't we just talking about that the other day?? LOL

I like the receiver. Gonna have to put one of those on my upcoming build.

 

[ujoint]

Another new arrival! This 06 E350 6.0 will be getting the WORKS for a couple that will be using it to travel for several months a year. AdVanture Van is its name, more details as we get started.



Brett's van is back on the ground, headed to Morehead Design Lab for a high top tomorrow. We added crossover steering, trac bar kit, new springs all the way around, front bumper, onboard air, fender flares, dual front Bilstein 5160's and gave everything a good once over. Once it gets done @ Morehead we'll install the new fuel tank, 35" tires/wheels and its ready to go home!

 

[Tyrant 66]

Another new arrival! This 06 E350 6.0 will be getting the WORKS for a couple that will be using it to travel for several months a year. AdVanture Van is its name, more details as we get started.

View attachment 154712

Brett's van is back on the ground, headed to Morehead Design Lab for a high top tomorrow. We added crossover steering, trac bar kit, new springs all the way around, front bumper, onboard air, fender flares, dual front Bilstein 5160's and gave everything a good once over. Once it gets done @ Morehead we'll install the new fuel tank, 35" tires/wheels and its ready to go home!

View attachment 154725

Can we see a few mor pics of that bike?

 

[ZukiCAMPER]

Can we see a few mor pics of that bike?

 

[Abitibi]

Hey Chris

Have you ever considered having a point of reference when you take pictures of your vans? (Not suggesting a pretty girl standing beside but won't argue either...) even a large measuring tape as long as it'd be consistent.

It'd be very useful when comparing your lifts and tires combo. I was actually shocked when Bknudtsen at 5'10" stood beside Vandiana Jones. When looking at a bunch of your builds here (or on your site) at time the 4" looks just as tall as the 6" lift, maybe cause the 4" got smaller tires that don't fill the body as much?

Anyway, maybe it's just me... But keep them coming!

Cheers
Mr. D

 

[ujoint]

Yea, angles and specific tire size can make things look out of proportion. The van above is still on the old tires (32" at best) so the lift looks huge.

 

[Tyrant 66]

Honda!!

 

[4wheeldrivevan]

Chris,

Was lifting and converting an ambulance to 4x4 any more difficult than lifting a standard van?

 

[ujoint]

Chris,

Was lifting and converting an ambulance to 4x4 any more difficult than lifting a standard van?

Na, just a little extra mass to deal with.

 

[4wheeldrivevan]

Which rear axle did you use on MegAmbo? Sterling 10.5?

 

[225]

Probably