Van performs well during the 2010 deer hunt in Arizona.

We hunt deer in a very remote area of Arizona.  I decided to drive the van there this year.  No real obstacles, just a long bumpy way in.

We turned on the gps on the way out to see our average speed.  How does 3.7 miles an hour for 15 miles sound.  That is a fast walk.

We went up through araviapa canyon.  Several stream crossings, rare in AZ. 

Climbing out of the river canyon into the hills.

I got stuck here for a minute.  This van is just so heavy.  Had to lock in the rear locker and pulled right out.

Fell into a hole.  Poor tires took some abuse.

Deer in coolers, headed back home.  13 miles as the crow flies, 8 hour drive.  We've already been drawn for 2011. 

Rear Pinon seal goes out while on the road

I was lucky to be near my friend Mark's house in Reno when I had problems.  Found oil under the rear axle in Las Vegas.  Added oil and made it to Reno, NV for repairs. 

We pulled the whole assembly in Mark's driveway.  I was thinking the worst.  Assuming there were a couple of bearings going out.  We had to use a floor jack to get the pinon nut off.  That sucker was really on there. 

After pulling everything apart I'm happy to report that everything looked great. 

It turns out the breather tube for the axle was plugged causing pressure to build up in the axle and blow out the pinon seal.  Good news in the end, but still a lot of work.  That darn carrier weighs about 70lbs.  Needless to say I was very happy to put it all back together with a new seal and go on my way. 

BFG All Terrain AT Failure

Driving down the highway I felt a wobble in the van.  Pulled over at the next rest area and found this bulge in the tire.

Top view shows the tread starting to separate where the bulge is.

Close up of where the tread might separate.  These tires are load range D.  Supposed to be enough for my heavy van.  I'll be buying new tires load range E now. 

If you have to change tires.  A shaded rest area is the place to do it. 

Added 4" Turbo Back Exhaust to the Van

I installed a 4" turbo back exhaust on my van last month.  Found it at Diamond Eye.  


I was very impressed with the kit and ease of install. 
That number is 800-635-9950  I bought the exhaust from TVDiesel.com for only $275 shipped.

Here is a video of the install and some sound clips.

4x4 Test for the Sportsmobile

Went on a short trip just to test the capabilities of the van.  I wanted to really see what it's limitations are.

Overall it performed better than expected.  Since it weighs so much traction on hard ground wasn't much of an issue.  It motored up everything I tried.

Even has decent articulation for a beast.  The van weighs 9850 last I checked.  As long as I kept it slow and didn't let any sideways happen life was good.

Weak points were just being big.  I ran into some trouble in a twisty sand wash full of boulders.  The van is just too long to get around the corners.

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.