Yeti and the Marshmallow

[MrBeast]

I feel stupid. My neighbor looked at my 'oil spot' and it's just condensation from my A/C. Durrr.

How will I ever survive on the road. Haha.

It would be stupid if you had been driving for 10 years, it is understandable when it is your first vehicle.

I will give you props for actually taking the time to check to see if your vehicle is leaking instead of blindly driving down the road till something goes boom like so many do.

 

[Basement Yeti]

I also admit to running over a curb today. :sombrero:

I talked to my mechanic earlier, I'm bringing the van in either tomorrow or Saturday and they're going to check the entire vehicle over for me and let me know if they find anything amiss, and let me decide what to do.

 

[MrBeast]

I also admit to running over a curb today. :sombrero:

I talked to my mechanic earlier, I'm bringing the van in either tomorrow or Saturday and they're going to check the entire vehicle over for me and let me know if they find anything amiss, and let me decide what to do.

You will find that once you get used to the van once things start going wrong it will talk to you and let you know something is up.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Yeah? I am still trying to get used to driving the damn thing. It's so much bigger than the Toyota Corolla I learned to drive in.

I added some blind spot mirrors to my list of crap to buy. It scares the crap out of me not being able to see out that sliding door.

 

[ihatemybike]

Where did you have the key made? When I get a new van one of my first trips is to the dealer to have them make an original key based on the VIN. Need to have ID and registration at my dealer, your dealer may be different. I also have them print me off the RPOs for the van.

My side mirrors I use to see what's beside the van. If the side of the van is easily seen in them, they are looking too close to the van. You want to see others before they get that close to you.
Car and Driver - How To: Adjust Your Mirrors to Avoid Blind Spots

 

[MrBeast]

Yeah? I am still trying to get used to driving the damn thing. It's so much bigger than the Toyota Corolla I learned to drive in.

I added some blind spot mirrors to my list of crap to buy. It scares the crap out of me not being able to see out that sliding door.

Here is what you need to do, get some of those orange cones, find a big parking lot that is vacant, and practice backing up to them.

You will be suprised how much confidence it gives you.

Learning to use your mirrors will make you much more confident, in a few months time it wont even be a big deal to you.

And you think doing it with a van door with no window is bad, I used to do it in a Kenworth with no center mirror, just a pair of dumbos on each side, 8 feet of sleeper with no windows behind me, and another 48-53 feet of trailer!

 

[MrBeast]

Where did you have the key made? When I get a new van one of my first trips is to the dealer to have them make an original key based on the VIN. Need to have ID and registration at my dealer, your dealer may be different. I also have them print me off the RPOs for the van.

My side mirrors I use to see what's beside the van. If the side of the van is easily seen in them, they are looking too close to the van. You want to see others before they get that close to you.
Car and Driver - How To: Adjust Your Mirrors to Avoid Blind Spots

Good article.

 

[Chazz Layne]

I added some blind spot mirrors to my list of crap to buy. It scares the crap out of me not being able to see out that sliding door.

Good call. Personally, I can't stand driving any vehicle without them.

If you can get them big enough (1.5-2" usually), they come in pretty handy off-road too. I've found the sweet spot for traffic also lets me look directly at where the rear tires meet the ground - sooo nice not having to turn around and stick my head out the window to see where the rear tires are tracking on a trail.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Where did you have the key made? When I get a new van one of my first trips is to the dealer to have them make an original key based on the VIN. Need to have ID and registration at my dealer, your dealer may be different. I also have them print me off the RPOs for the van.

My side mirrors I use to see what's beside the van. If the side of the van is easily seen in them, they are looking too close to the van. You want to see others before they get that close to you.
Car and Driver - How To: Adjust Your Mirrors to Avoid Blind Spots

There is a key booth down the road from me. I had the guy make me a new key. I probably need a new ignition keylock starter thingy though.

Great article, I am going to go fuss with my mirrors now.

Here is what you need to do, get some of those orange cones, find a big parking lot that is vacant, and practice backing up to them.

You will be suprised how much confidence it gives you.

Learning to use your mirrors will make you much more confident, in a few months time it wont even be a big deal to you.

And you think doing it with a van door with no window is bad, I used to do it in a Kenworth with no center mirror, just a pair of dumbos on each side, 8 feet of sleeper with no windows behind me, and another 48-53 feet of trailer!

Yeah, it's damn scary. I just hope when I am backing up people can hear the siren.

Good call. Personally, I can't stand driving any vehicle without them.

If you can get them big enough (1.5-2" usually), they come in pretty handy off-road too. I've found the sweet spot for traffic also lets me look directly at where the rear tires meet the ground - sooo nice not having to turn around and stick my head out the window to see where the rear tires are tracking on a trail.

Any particular brand you can recommend? How well do the ones that stick to the mirror itself work?

Ok! Here's the deal. This van is going to the mechanic and I am going to have them look at everything. I talked with the guy down there and he gave me a list of some things he is usually asked to look over.

Coolant
Brake Fluid
Power Steering Fluid

I added in oil coolant lines, axle seals, fuel filter, all the pumps, and my intake manifold gasket.

The oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, transmission fluid and filter have all been replaced, but with basic parts (I asked the dealer). I need to decide if I want to re-do those.

Anything else I should add?

It's going to be kind of pricey paying the mechanic to do all of this. So my question is, how hard would it be for a complete noobie to do his own differential fluid and coolant flush/replacement to save some money?

 

[Chazz Layne]

Any particular brand you can recommend? How well do the ones that stick to the mirror itself work?

Fantastic - the on-mirror ones on our Ranger have been in place for 10 years now.

No specific brands come to mind, I don't think there are any big names in that market. One thing that is worth looking for are the ones that are adjustable - they have a little swivel built into them so you can angle them lower than the main mirror. I believe I bought them at Target.

 

[ihatemybike]

There is a key booth down the road from me. I had the guy make me a new key. I probably need a new ignition keylock starter thingy though.

That could be your problem. You now have a copy of a key that is probably a copy of a copy of the original, if not worse. Every time a copy is made the quality goes down. If you get a fresh key cut based on the VIN at the dealer you have the original again. I've dealt with the key not working quite right in the ignition of several vans and this cleared it up every time. Cheaper and easier that replacing the lock cylinder too.

 

[Basement Yeti]

That could be your problem. You now have a copy of a key that is probably a copy of a copy of the original, if not worse. Every time a copy is made the quality goes down. If you get a fresh key cut based on the VIN at the dealer you have the original again. I've dealt with the key not working quite right in the ignition of several vans and this cleared it up every time. Cheaper and easier that replacing the lock cylinder too.

Thanks. I'll look for a GMC/Chevrolet dealership on one of my runs.

I've sourced all my paint, insulation, wood, and building supplies! I have prices and addresses. I've talked to some very nice people on the phone today, one woman in particular was a great help to me.

I'm waiting on my GPS and back up camera. I need to get a 12V cigarette plug, some wire nuts, and electrical tape to get power to it. (I don't want to splice into my wiring harness and mess something up)

Once I have those sorted out I am going to combine trips and go get my stuff for the interior. First stop is Sherwin Williams and Colorama for my low VOC non toxic metal primer and paint, and my zero VOC wood stain. While I'm out that way there is an Auto Zone there I can stop at and get some blind spot mirrors and maybe some fluids if I decide to do some of my own fluid changes. On the way home I can swing by Lowes and get some radiant barrier.

The next trip will be to the Olive Branch to get my Ultra Touch cotton insulation batting and double sided radiant barrier with cotton insulation. On my way home I can stop at Home Dept or Lowes and get some low formaldehyde exterior grade plywood to panel will and some self drilling sheet metal screws. Before I panel I need to disconnect my rear dome lights from the van battery so I can eventually connect them to the house battery.

Here is what I am going to do. The entire interior is going to get a layer of radiant barrier. In the front all the way to the bulkhead I am just going to replace the rubber floor over it. The back floor, walls, roof, front and rear doors, and pillars will be stuffed with 3.5" cotton insulation, compressed down to 1-2" depending on what part of the van it is.

Cotton insulation doesn't require air pockets to work like fiberglass, it will also deaden a lot of sound and absorb a lot of vibration.

I'm going to line my 1/4" plywood panels on the backside with radiant barrier and then panel the entire rear living area with them, the trimmed headliner will be replaced in the front.

 

[MrBeast]

Sounds like you are well on your way.

You should go check out my build, major progress today.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Was just headed over that way.

Rehashed from my post in General Vehicles. I've got to get this camera hooked up tomorrow.

I just got my back up camera. I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do I am just a bit hazy on some parts.



I want the camera to be always on acting like my rear view mirror, so I am ignoring the green wire and I am not splicing the monitor or camera into wires that aren't always powered.

I'm going to buy one of these from Radio Shack (Not the exact one, but you get the idea) As well as a solder gun, some electrical tape, and some solder.

I'm going to disconnect the negative terminal to my battery. Splice off the end of the cigarette lighter plug wires and connect the hot wire to the red wire on the camera monitor, and the ground wire to the black wire on my camera monitor. Then wrap in electrical tape.

For the camera itself I am not sure where to wire it so it's always on. Can I run the hot and ground wires back to that 12V plug up front and power the camera and monitor off the same 12V plug?

Sorry, not an electrician, here is my stupid picture.

 

[MrBeast]

hold on a minute, there is a better way!

You should have an MELC (Main Electrical Load Center) which is commonly known as a fuse box under the hood.

In that box GM was really good about providing 2 studs you can wire directly to, both came with MAXI fuses, you need to see if your astro has this, thus you would not have to cut and splice any wires into your factory system leaving it in tact.

I would strongly recomend you tap in here, then run a smaller fuse of the appropriate size going to your camera.