Chevy & GMC Vans

As title says I am looking to hire a shop to lift my 94 astro awd. In colorado.

If anyone has recommendations please share before I just hit the phone book. Id rather use someone "known good"

I want to go as tall as realistically possible..I thought I want 6" lift and 33" tires. but, after reading a few pages it seems 4" 31" may be the limit? :(

I have looked at the overland kits, and could buy 1 and pay a shop to install. or pay the shop to fab. whatever.

Price is ofc a concern. just spent 1500 on the van, not looking to break the bank going sky high. just want to hit the max lift I can reasonably achieve.

I am not a mechanic, and would not drive any vehicle I installed steering or suspension parts on so I do unfortunately need to hire a shop.

Digger wrote:I want to go as tall as realistically possible..I thought I want 6" lift and 33" tires. but, after reading a few pages it seems 4" 31" may be the limit? :(

I am sorry i cant help you find a shop in your area, but I can say that it would be pretty simple for most shops, if they are smart, to install a 4" OLV lift, or the equivalent home brew parts. Have you checked out the "Homebrew Lift Kit" thread for a list of parts?
4" 31" - I wouldn't exactly call it the limit. I would say that it is the point at which you have to begin to seriously modify the front end, because the stock front end will not be able to get taller much than that, and still be drivable. The easiest mod for more lift is a solid axle on a set of leaf-springs in the front end, but even better method would be to skip the leafsprings, and go with a coil spring 4 link front axle. Most people who want to actually realistically use 33"s or more would just get a truck or a suburban or a jeep. But, Some people build these vans huge and showy. Me, I start to feel uneasy in a 4" lifted van on some of the steeper sidehills in my area, but its really steep mountains here. If I really needed that big of tire to get somewhere, I would build a whole different vehicle, more suitable to the task. You just gotta decide exactly what you want and read as much as possible about it before you try to explain what you want to someone you are gonna pay. If your gonna pay someone, it might be worthwhile to investigate the solid front axle option if you really want that much height in your van. It isnt that hard of a job for a good shop, if they are smart. Check out the super pickle bus !

Thanks for the great advice.

I was thinking about 6" and 33 simply because of a previous jeep build. I think after looking at some pics here id be happy with a 4" on the van. I don't need the show factor at all.

I do want more ground clearance, but I do not want to sacrifice performance, nor increase the cost. and honestly didn't give enough thought to tall van on, switchback trails (duh).

I will be playing in the rocky mountains. I don't have any experience with mountain trails....yet but I cant imagine I would not need as much lift as I did on my mud/rock crawler jeep toy.

I did read that parts list, and thought about maybe printing out that thread and showing it to a shop..just really not sure what route to take yet.

but the OLV set up seems to be tried and true around the net. I see no complaints other than from gear heads claiming they could build it cheaper

and the 4" AWD Economy Lift Kit seems to be really cheap, compared to what my jeep cost me to do.unfortunately its for 96 and up :(

With a 4" lift and 31" tires, you can do a lot of off-roading. You must look at skid plates and rock rails too as the engine/tranny/t-case and rockers sit too low to not protect. Once you do the lift and bigger tires, you'll want to install a 2 speed t-case for times when you want low range. If you want to do serious off road trails where 33" or taller tires are needed, I would look at using something more suited like solid axle truck, Jeep etc. I built the SPB and it performed awesome off-road but It got to where it wasn't cost effective to drive everyday. It definitely needed more maintenance due to the off-road abuse it took. If you paid a shop to do a solid axle swap, you are looking at probably around $10-$15k with front and rear axles, skid plates and wheels and tires.

Look through some of my old off-roading pics and you can see what a 4" lifted van can do.

Might be your van that made me decide 4"was enough.
have a link to your pictures? or is there a way to see them from your profile or something? looked around some and didnt see anything. if they are just scattered in posts, then im sure I already saw them been reading like a mad man.

Just search for SPB or Sweet Pickle Bus and you can find all sorts of info.

your Spb looks great (from the sale theread). but for 15k I think Ill tow a 4 wheeler, if I need to go farther than the van can get me on awd. at least at this stage of the game. the 1k price tag of the OLV kit is about my max range for any 1 upgrade I think.

One thing I noticed about the SPB was the tires seem narrow. compared to my old jeep that had a "stompers" type look.

just a matter of prefrence, or is narrow tires better for the astro or for the type of wheeling you did with it?

Boulder Off Road

thanks got a reasonable labor quote from them. :_

In the for sale thread, the tires were narrow and I only wheeled on them 1 time. I was running 33 x 12.5 R17's before but swapped them onto my truck.

If you go out to the main page and look under "Archives" for VOM June 2008 - Dean Harper's 1998 Astro. That will show the progress I made.

Here is the thread for the SAS I did.

Nice threads, nice van

I think I see why I consider all the van tires to be narrow (not as narrow as your sale thread tires) but generally van tires do not extend out wide from the body....

It is because of the sliding door huh kinda limits tire width?

wonder how hard ti would be to gullwing the door? quick google search seems like about a grand for a kit...hmm not worth it just for wider tires I think...

In previous post I said boulder gave me a good labor price, I was wrong. Boulder quoted over a $1,000 to install the kit

http://coloradocampervan.com/4X4_Conver ... rsion.html
These guys gave me a labor quote of 350-450 bucks so unless there is something I am overlooking I will be using colorado camper van to do my lift.

Thats good that you found a shop.
So how wide of a tire were you wanting?
I had 275's on my stock height 2wd van, no prob. (275MM is about 11 inch wide) The door just cleared it.
I've Seen a couple of Gullwing doors but here is one idea I haven't seen yet but might be cool.
A Lamborghini style door hinge on the slider, so that its a big suicide door on a Lambo hinge.
Its a real Nice Dream.

11 inches will be fine. I have to wrap my mind around the fact this aint my jeep lol, I would rather put the money into other areas of the van. instead of chasing "style" previous post I guess was just a brain fart.