Chevy & GMC Vans

so i assume the threads we had on upgrading the 4.3 would going in running issues? maybe a 4.3 upgrades section might make sense however it might be a little dead as well since the engine swap tends to be the easiest route.
i like the off-road section SAS swaps have so much that go into them they do deserve a sub-forum. i wonder thought if Wheels and Tires should be broken up though i know there are quiet a few questions about tires but i feel the Wheels section might be a little dead the main questions are just back spacing and max size (is there a max size?) not much on anything else. Everything else i like the look of so far

4.3 performance upgrades can go under the ENGINES GENERAL/PERFORMANCE main forum. I don't see a need for a separate sub-forum. Once we get to organizing the threads, there may be a need.

I am going to start creating the revised forums today. Once they are done, new posts can be placed in the correct locale and I'll start organizing. At that time I will post a "wanted" thread looking for new Moderators. I have had a couple people express interest so far.

sounds good to me

Cobra wrote:sounds good to me

x2

As you can see, I added the new sub-forums and locked a few of the old ones. Look through them and let me know if anything needs changing. I will start moving threads over.

I think Dean has too much time on his hands and the "honey do" list isn't getting any shorter.

Dean duck and cover a storm is coming

You've got it all wrong. The changes he's making will allow him to moderate less, and spend more time on honey-dos. Plus, he's hiring help, which will allow him to be away from the website more.

Hi Dean.

I like the way you had engines divided up before ... fuel, intake, ignition etc...
I'm finding that a lot of the existing topics are difficult to classify as a starting issue, running etc. (although I think they are worth keeping). Most are discussions relating to one of the systems mentioned.

I originally wanted the engines broke up like you stated. Kidhauler basically suggested looking at it from a customers point of view. If someone came here because their van won't start, won't stay charged or is running bad, they won't know where to post. As Moderators, we go through the posts and get a feel for what the issue was and the resolution, and then place the thread into the proper forum. Really, an engine only needs 3 things to run...air, fuel and ignition. Problem is a customer coming in with an issue won't know what is the cause. If they did they would just fix it.

Yeah you're absolutely right, which is why the running+starting issues sections are good to have.

But I strongly suggest we ALSO make proper sections engine subsystems. Many of the topics I have are maintenance related, upgrades, re/builds, or just discussion like "what do you guys think of these cams". Then, put yourself in the shoes of someone who looking for specific information, like a vacuum routing for instance. It would be much easier for that person to pop into the intake/vacuum sub-forum and start reading, rather than wading through pages and pages of unrelated running issues.

I also suggest we change "AIR CONDITIONING" to "CLIMATE CONTROL" for anything to do with heating/cooling the passenger cabin, and leave "COOLING" for strictly engine cooling topics.

air conditioning technically applies to any form of modifying properties or flow of air however i do agree to change it to climate control easier to understand. I don't think we should break down the forums for every engine system i feel it would be more bothersome then helpful however a good idea would be for someone to compile a cam info thread and that could be stickied

This is where it gets tough. Do we break them down further and create more subsections? I am not really sure we want to go too far. The more sub-forums we have the more confusing it may be to someone posting a new question.

I will change the A/C as noted...good catch!

EDIT: should climate control go in the body forum?

Organisation = clarity, not confusion. We could keep a "troubleshooting" sub-forum where people can post new questions they're unsure about. (they can be sorted later by a mod).

I don't want to beat this issue to death, so take a look for yourself at the first page of unsorted topics in the Engine forum, and ask yourself how you would sort them. Many of them do not fit into the existing sub-forums.

Yeah, I think climate control should be in BODY.

i don't think everything has to fit into a sub-forum, it wasn't bad before people still found what they were looking for most of the time thanks to the search feature. I think for now we should work on filling the current sub-forums and later on down the road if we see they are really helping people we can add all the in-depth sub-forums.