Chevy & GMC Vans

I installed a pair of Gabriel Hi-Jackers on my Safari today. The previous owner had the van oil- sprayed yearly, so all the nuts and bolts came off easily. More than I can say for the oil and grease on my hands, arms and somehow, head. All in all an easy install- about 3 hours start to finish. Pressured up to 60 lbs, it lifts the van about 1 inch and firms up the roll in the turns. Now I need a pair of tires about 2 inches wider for the back.

Nice, I run 275 60 15 tires on the rear 245 60 15 in front.
Rides real nice. Slider door still opens too.

I got a new exhaust from the Y pipe back.......
Shhhh, is it running ??

van hit 177k.
hoping to get the climate control issues nailed down in the next couple weeks.
I have to replace the front resistor pack, and dad got a new box for the rear AC condenser housing so the air might be able to blow out the vents in the roof instead of out the sides of box.

Also, got the distributor in for the caddy today. it should be running by the end of the month
(I know its an old pic, but I havent got one with the carb perched on top yet)

doyoulikeithere wrote:Nice, I run 275 60 15 tires on the rear 245 60 15 in front.
Rides real nice. Slider door still opens too.

I got a new exhaust from the Y pipe back.......
Shhhh, is it running ??

Does your van have ABS? Does the difference in tire size affect it at all? Inquiring minds need to know.

Green
Permanently removed the steel chrome overlaid 5 spoke rims. Those things are rust belt horror stories waiting to happen. Two of the rims were cracked, one rim had a spoke completely separated.

Not having time to paint the 1st Gen wagon wheels I pulled my old American Racing Outlaw rims down, checked to see if they hold pressure and discovered three had valve stem leaks. Pulled the tires and wheel weights off, cleaned the aluminum-oxide from the rims and reinstalled the 235/70R15 BFG Radial TAs using 5 oz of airsoft pellets in each tire for dynamic balancing

Parts van
Started prepping it for the tow to the scrapyard from my brother's house. Needed to reinstalled the steering column and the transmission cross member. Prepped two of Green's stock rims to be installed on and scrapped with the van.

Installed a new Fram oil filter and went with Castrol Syntec 10w30. You literally can't tell the van is running from inside the vehicle, so quiet and smooth. 143,000 km- any concerns with going synthetic with other fluids??

sidecar53 wrote:Installed a new Fram oil filter and went with Castrol Syntec 10w30. any concerns with going synthetic with other fluids??

I haven't had any problems switching my vans to syn. I'd be wary of the filter though. Many Fram filters have been cut open and posted on the internet to show the poor build quality. I'm cheap as all get out with Grumpy and won't put in a filter below a Purolator PureOne. Oil filter is not the place you want to get cheap with.

Thanks- I'll head out now and buy a replacement. Luckily I have enough oil left over to replace the cup or 2 that I'll lose.

Finally popped open my Intake. Can't wait to get it back together and put my first mile on her

today ( and for the next couple ) its being pushed back into delivery service. I noticed today both front tires are down to the wear-bars so they will have to be replaced over the winter. I am disappointed as they are Yokohama Geolanders and I have only had them on for appx 30 thousand summer kms over the last 5 years. Great ride but soft compound

Any recommendations on a 215/70/16 tire ?? I priced the Michelins LTX and got sticker shock, they are appx $250 ea here + mounting and balancing !!

I just put a set of Michelins on Cherie's Explorer. STICKER SHOCK . We replaced Kumho's. Only got 30K out of them. When it comes to tires you get what you pay for. The original Michelins on the Explorer went 80K. The Explorer has close to 200K miles. I'm hoping these tires out last the vehicle.

blacknome wrote:Any recommendations on a 215/70/16 tire ??

BFG Long Trail T/A Tour, dang things last forever. 60k mileage warranty & $123.
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/findTi ... INT&cs=215

Finished manifold removal, and got rid of my dang bug guard

Found my fuel filter is leaking. Must be rusted through as the fittings and lines are dry. Sprayed some PB Blaster and broke the fittings free. Hopefully by tomorrow night the rust is loosened enough to allow the fitting to spin on the lines. ](*,)

New fuel filter in and no more leaking. Now that we are pretty much done camping I can get some miles on it and get the front diff gears swapped out. Winter will be here before we know it.