I'm inquiring right now about a lift kit (2" or 3") with sway bar system and Bilstein shock (rear) followed by replacing my 245 Bridgestone tires with 265 Michelin LTX M/S 2.
I also want to add a 100W solar panel and controller and replace the stoplight above the rear doors with a stoplight/rearview camera. The Roadtrek installed camera mounted in the license plate bracket is worthless.
Finally, I have to do something to keep the blasted backrest cushions for the bench seats from sliding off the seat into the aisle all the time. A velcro job I guess.
Oh man, let's get crazy with my projects. I've got a 1997 American Cruiser. All of the appliances work, but I'm planning on living in it full time and rock climbing, so it needs some renovation.
Finished projects:
Replace exhaust system from the manifolds back (catalytic converter, muffler, tailpipe)
Replace melted black and grey water drainage pipes and stuck gate valves, covering with heat shield so they don't melt again
Remove and replace purple shag carpet in cab (Figure 1 below)
Replace normal faucet with a faucet featuring a removable spray nozzle (Figure 2 below)
Replace ceramic (?) sink cover/cutting board with DIY cutting board in American black walnut with mineral oil finish (Also in Figure 2 below)
Remove floor in bathroom/galley, including ripping up shower pan, replace floor from the sheet metal up (Figure 1 below) (technically in progress, as I still need to add some stair nosing where the new floor forms a step edge)
Next up:
Find and eliminate leak in the back
Rip out and replace probably the entirety of the flooring in the bedroom area
Shift a wall about 3 inches toward the front of the van so I can actually stretch out on the bed (I'm 6'3" )
Build a folding + sliding bed
Build a slide-out drawer to use as a "trunk" for storing rock and ice climbing gear
Remove and replace/re-cover inner side paneling
Replace all window curtains
Add door to bathroom
There are some other little things: Building a bathroom cabinet with mirror, fixing a small leak in the water lines near the tank, replacing cabinet latches, removing microwave and installing cabinet door instead, add a magnetic curtain to the sunroof...but those are all pretty minor when stacked up against all the construction projects
Seeking advice about...
Has anyone forgone a hitch-mounted cargo box and instead mounted a cargo box on the rear door, next to the spare tire? I have the feeling that those rear door hinges are rated to handle an extra 200 lbs without too much effort...
Thanks for the links. I spent hours last night and this morning "reading" all 34 pages of the suspension thread most of which I did not or barely understood not being a mechanical engineer nor automotive tech/guru. But I did glean some ideas from the discussions. Mostly that I'll be best to stick with a 2" lift. I've visited Boulder Offroad recently and talked to the techs there about their 2" lift kit for the Chev 3500 van, a rear sway bar, and Bilstein shocks and I think I will go with that. This will give me a little more ground clearance and perhaps an improved ride/steering though it's not too bad now. I think the ride will be helped when I add larger Michelin tires a little later this year. They thought I wouldn't need to change out the wheels if I went to 265s. However, unintended consequences I hadn't thought of -- the continental tire cover for the spare may not fit the larger tires.
Thanks for the links. I spent hours last night and this morning "reading" all 34 pages of the suspension thread most of which I did not or barely understood not being a mechanical engineer nor automotive tech/guru. But I did glean some ideas from the discussions. Mostly that I'll be best to stick with a 2" lift. I've visited Boulder Offroad recently and talked to the techs there about their 2" lift kit for the Chev 3500 van, a rear sway bar, and Bilstein shocks and I think I will go with that. This will give me a little more ground clearance and perhaps an improved ride/steering though it's not too bad now. I think the ride will be helped when I add larger Michelin tires a little later this year. They thought I wouldn't need to change out the wheels if I went to 265s. However, unintended consequences I hadn't thought of -- the continental tire cover for the spare may not fit the larger tires.
How do they do the 2" lift? Hopefully front springs and rear airbags and not lift spindles, which can be an issue. If you have a generator, there is not a swaybar that will fit the rear, unless the modify one or build one out of parts, so hopefully they know that. The Hellwig is listed to fit, but if you use that, the generator needs to move back a few inches.
On the wheels, it gets a bit tougher, as none of us know what the new style of aluminum wheels have for specs. If you don't have aluminum, the steel wheels will be too narrow for the 265s. Some offroad places are OK with going the 1/2" small on wheels, but I wouldn't do it on a heavy road vehicle. If you have the new style aluminum wheels, you will probably need to take one off and measure the offset and rim width. It may also be marked, as the AR wheels were, on the inside of the wheel. With the bigger tires, you will absolutely need to have the right offset as with the wrong offset like the AR wheel has, the wheel moves fore and aft as it turns and will hit the rear of the front wheelwells. If you do get those dimensions on the aluminum wheels, be sure to post it here, preferably in the wheel thread, as it is the bit of missing information we all have been wondering about. The offroad place should also be able to measure the wheels if you can't do it at home. You are looking for 28mm positive offset and a minimum of 7" wide at the rim.
Sounds like you are well on your way to getting what you want, and hopefully you will be happy with it. I mention that because some folks have thought the changes made the van ride too rough, and some think it made it the same or better. Handling and ride are very subjective. We have been extremely happy with ours, and have had it in place for a long time. Good luck and let us know how it all turns out.
Boulder Offroad got their website back up again, so I got a look at the 2" lift kit they sell for the Chevy vans.
It appears that they now have a 2" aluminum donut spacer for the front to get the 2" there, and they use 2" blocks in the back. They don't use drop spindles until the 3" kit.
There is no doubt that it will lift the 2", but be aware of a couple of things. In the front, the Roadtrek is near the max load, so it is sitting about 2" lower than spec. This puts it just above, or on, the bump stops in the front suspension. There were pix of it in the handling thread. The bumps in the Chevy are beehive style which work like a Timbren load increasing setup does, by picking up some of the load under heavy compressions, like and extra sping. If you use the donuts to lift the 2", you will come off of the bump stops to where you should be suspension wise, but the bumps then won't be able to help the spring on large bumps or dips. The net effect is that the spring will travel further and basically soften the ride on big bumps, small bumps unchanged. This can be an issue if the spring is too soft for the weight and you porpoise. We don't know if it will or not as the donuts have not been available in the past. The other possibility is that the softer spring could go "solid" or bottom out all the coils because of the extra 2" of compression travel available. This is very hard on parts if it happens. Once in place they should be able to measure the spring coil gaps and the travel available and see if it would be possible. I am not sure how this would turn out, but it would be interesting to hear about it if you do it. They wouldn't have the going solid issue on normal lifts of less than fully loaded to max vans, as the springs aren't compressed as far and riding on the bumps before the lift.
Roadtrek actually uses 2" blocks in the 210s to get the rear back up because of the weight and rear extension. They will raise it without changing anything else, which also means the rear will have the springs sitting on, or very near, the overload leaf. Again there are pix in the handling thread. This makes the rear suspension a bit harsh and "pitchy" on bumps as the overload leaf is very stiff and unforgiving. Lots of us have used air bags for the lift and to get off the overload springs, others have replaced rear springs with custom ones to get the height they want, others have used the blocks. Most have be OK with their choice, so I don't think any of them are horrible. We like the airbags because we can adjust the height and ride to suit the road, load, etc, while others don't deem that necessary.
In any case, whatever they do to get the 2" lift, they won't need to use shock extensions like they would on a normally loaded van. The 2" lift puts you right about at factory spec for ride height, so stock shocks are just right, and you never can get light enough for it to go much higher.
I'm running out of things to do to this van but probably still have enough projects to keep me busy over the next year or two.
Current to do list:
- New shower curtain - DW will sew on zippers.
- Make bed cushion covers a bit tighter to make handling them easier. We have started converting the bed to dinette daily and find handling the over-sized, over-stuffed cushions to be a bit of a chore.
- Reduce the depth of one of the top cupboards. I've mentioned this before but really must get this done. It's in the way over the sink and I've bumped my head more than enough - maybe that's why I keep forgetting to do the job!
After those:
- Re-paint the running boards. Mike did a great job on his and inspired me to DIY this. I might as well re-paint the front bumper at the same time.
- Re-do the solar wiring. I picked up plenty of 10 gauge at a great sale price.
- Re-caulk around the roof mounted Fantastic fan and, if possible, squeeze in modified fan vent cover. There isn't enough space between the solar panels and the fan for a vent cover now.
Shower curtain ............ done!
Cushion covers ............. done!
Cupboard mod .............. will be finished today!
Trailer wiring, lights on cargo box, upgraded DC wiring, better quality higher capacity inverter, Trimetric, rear Air Lift bags, front coil springs, new shower curtain, improved cushions, better sink access because of cupboard mod ......... it has been a productive off-season
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