Not today but over the past week I installed S10 3+1 packs in the rear, added helwig rear sway bar, 2" body pucks, cranked up the torsion bars, new shocks all around, new idlers, new driverside hub unit, changed the t-case fluid, oil change, alignment, mounted the safari rack from my old jeep, ...

doyoulikeithere wrote:

ruecifur wrote:Having a gasoline heater would be the cat's ass IMHO

I guess a gas heater out of an old beetle is a bit big eh?

I'm traveling right now, but i'm taking the one krsowles offered up a few posts up when i get back... I love making friends on the forums

Your camper is going to be really similar to mine. I'm going with a bigger bed/rear seat, and getting rid of some of the storage as i will use the high top and behind the seat for my storage needs. I tend to wear the same clothes for a few days (till my jeans stand up on their own LOL) when i'm camp...

Good luck with your project. I searched for 2 years and couldn't find anyone in the U.S. that sells a top like that. Several places sell the high top, just not for an Astro van. I ended up getting a 10 1/2" top installed. Total cost was about $2200 of which $500 was labor. That extra headroom ...

Where did you get your foam and what density was it? (If you know.) I'm having the opposite problem here - the only foam I can source locally is "upholstery grade", so it's fine for a sofa, but even the densest option is a bit soft for sleeping on if you're as big as I am. I will do ANYTH...

I do plan on using a webasto coolant pre-heater to run the rear heat all night (more on that when i get to it), and a heat exchanger for hot water, which would mean outdoor shower, hot water in the sink, water tank where the spare tire is, etc etc... Got a source for a cheap coolant heater? As far ...

THAT was exactly what I was dreaming of. As always, I'm a day late and a dollar short. It is really cool to see it will work. I would like to see the inside to see if in fact you can sleep up there. I would like to add a "camp kitchen" setup that will go in the back for tripping and we ca...

It sounds like a cool project. I think as long as you lift the van and put some gnarly tires on it you have a winner no matter what goes on top. In fact, if you built the rack to extend down the sides of the top you could mount your boards there. That would look pretty cool and would leave room on ...

you should look at some of the vans CCV has done on expo-portal. Similar idea, pulled off really well http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/68051-CCV-astro-van! I'd also recommend looking around the home-brew builds on http://www.sportsmobileforum.com and some of the 4x4 van builds on http:/...

The steel is still cheap. Hardware, welding gas and aluminum have skyrocketed. My rack combines steel and aluminum. The aluminum comprises 1/3 the materials and cost 6X as much as the steel. The rack on that Sportmobile looks pretty cheesy as far as strength. Being that it's bolted to fiberglass I ...

97CargoCrawler wrote:If you make it look like the sports mobile then go for it!

A rack like that will cost you over $2K. I know, I'm building one. Better than that one though.

has steel gone up that much?!?! Last Jeep build I did was 3 years ago, and I didn't spend that much back-halfing a YJ!!

Ugh. Why'd you have to post that Sportsmobile pic? Now I gotta walk around with a boner for the next hour. I'd go with a pop-top. The high top looks like a handicap van. People will always be wondering what's wrong with you. On the Sportmobile....it's so awesome nobody will care if you're handicapp...

I've been thinking about the pro's/con's of a high top vs a pop top First off, I am not talking about the molded "normal" conversion top... I'm talking about the big camper top that extends the roof by 27". like on this ice-cream astro: http://www.yellericecream.com/Uploads/P5120282.j...

T-Low and Herbie have been very inspirational, and I may end up attempting to build my own pop top eventually. I LOVE MY VAN!!!! That's very cool, but Dean, Blazer, Loc Doc, Petey, Sand Fly, and others were the pioneers. Herbie will agree that we are the next gen. But it's all one big happy family....