Comments

I love to get comments on the blog and enjoy helping others with their projects.  People have posted comments and I completely missed them.  Unfortunately I had the blog set up so you had to be a member to comment.  The comment notification was also being sent to an old email address.  Long story short, I apologize for not replying to comments.  I've changed the settings so now anyone can comment and it will notify me immediately.  You can also always email me directly at tok2tom@gmail.com.

Installed New Deaver Springs in the Rear

Check out these giant Deaver Springs.  From www.deaversprings.com

I've been trying to figure out how to get the sag out of the rear of the van for some time now.  I didn't like the rear blocks that were used in the lift.  I had stock springs and a 3.5 inch block holding the back end up.  My ride was a bit like a tuna boat and seemed harsh on dirt washboard roads.   After researching many options I finally decided to go the correct but expensive route.  These things are not cheap.  I got lucky though and got a pair at 2/3 normal price because they were used for 2 months.  Works for me.

These things are huge and very heavy duty.  Notice the eye that wraps all the way around.  My new deavers have  12 leaves compared to the stock ones that only had 4.  This allows for a much more progressive rate and completely negates the need for a lift block because the spring pack is so thick. 

The old spring looks very inadequate when the two are side by side.

Here is another reason for the spring replacement.  My old leaf springs seemed tired.  They weren't completely straight any more.  The bushings were also worn out and needed replacing.  Deaver sent me everything I needed at no extra cost.  Ubolts, brackets, and bushings all included.

The install was fairly straight forward.  Not terribly technical, but difficult because of the size and weight of the van and parts.  We broke a jack stand because it was at a slight angle under a load.  I had 4 jack stands and 3 jacks holding everything up before we started messing with springs.  Still scary when one jack stand gave way.  These darn vans are huge and way off the ground.  Combine that with the 9860lbs that my van weighs and you have a dangerous situation. 

The deavers lifted the rear of my van 1.5 inches.  My van is now level to slightly higher in the back.  It sits perfect now.  When I load the van, including a rear motorcycle carrier or trailer it doesn't go below level.  It seems to drive a little bit better too, maybe because of the added weight and better balance on the front end.  So far the ride is improved as well.  Washboard roads are much easier to cope with.  One thing that did not change was the side to side movement.  It still seems the same.  Keep in mind I do not have a rear sway bar.

Bottom line, Deavers are great, a big improvement overall.  Expensive, but worth the money.  Great customer service, good people. 

Dad and I built a Front Bumper

Basic fitting. The goal is to make something that will provide protection, mount the winch, look good, and maybe even have some storage. Started with this 3/8 inch 6x6 for the main mount. Added some 1/4 inch 4x3 for the front.
Big chunks cut down and mounted. Good solid platform for winch tugging since the winch is bolted to the big iron.
Hmmm, can I fit this big clunky roller fairlead right here. Eventually did, but should have made the vertical higher at an angle to keep it all flush. Maybe I'm glad we didn't though, had enough crazy angles to deal with as it was.
Fitting box around the winch. Where to put hinges, how does it open, will the winch be able to clear in and out? Spent a lot of time trying to allow for air flow behind the bumper.
Basic mounting and middle finished. Now trying to figure out how to build up the ends.
Oh that helps. Make a rough outline out of cardboard. I'm usually too impatient for this, but really had not choice for this build.
Just started building out from the middle. Making duplicate pieces to keep each side the same (mostly). Made the bottom and back first then "skinned" the front and top last.
The shapes just got less and less square the farther out we went. Notice the piece on the floor which fills the bottom tip of the bumper. No more square angles left on the outsides.
All tacked together and now trying to weld it up without warping everything. There are over 40 individual pieces. Guessing over 150 feet of welding.
This is the best it ever looked. All shiny with the welds showing it looked really cool. We kind of screwed up on the paint so may have to re-do it.
Ready for primer. See the front receiver hitch. I weighed the bumper at this point. 144lbs.
Final paint drying. Looks like a cross between transformers and road warrior. It took two of us old farts 6 days at least 8 hours a day to do this. Total cost was only around 300 bucks. Was it worth it, yes and no. Love spending this kind of time with my father, don't love all the work involved or lost time.

Almost went a little too far in the van.

This was the destination. I didn't actually go through this one since it was only a 50 foot walk to the river. The darn trees and bushes were fighting us all the way. Well fighting me anyway. Darn sportsmobile sits a little tall and the trees like to bite. Getting some really nice Arizona pinstriping though.
This was the snafu of the trip. The road wasn't in good shape and then I took a somewhat wide line, then the road gave way more. Glad I have a lot of weight near the floor. This is about as leaned over as I ever want to be. Luckily I was able to drive out of it very slowly. Assuming the camera is basically level that's got to be 35 to 40 degrees. We ended up rebuilding the road to get everyone through and back out again.

Nuts and Bolts Pictures of the Front Suspension

I've had some people asking specific questions about how the front end went together. Here are a few not so hot pictures with short descriptions that may help.
Front left. Was hoping to get the steering tubes up higher.
Steering linkage and crossmember "adjustments".
Front right lift block and bump stop.
Front right. darn digital cameras and lighting.

Nuts and Bolts

Front right.
Front left. Crossbar mount and steering arm. Lift block.
Lift block and bottoming pad with rubber stopper.
Rear trackbar? mount. Sorry, maybe not up on all the lingo.
New transfer case crossmember mount.

Nuts and Bolts

Front Drive shaft
Rear Drive, fuel tank, transfer case.
Front left side. New bracket installed to mount cross bar. I think that's what it's called. The bar that keeps the axle from shifting left and right.
Spacer under the front spring. It's hollow and bolted down.
Top of transfer case in front. Shows some of the trimming on the crossmember. That's it for now. Hope that helps some of you guys out a bit. Send me email if you need more.

Tom.