U-Joint vs. SMB vs.Quigley vs. Advanced 4X4 vs. ???

[RandallDee]

Originally Posted by wheresmikeys

Id like to throw in another company that is putting out some conversions. Fairly new, but getting great reviews.
Denver Fleet Van and Truck Sales

https://www.facebook.com/denverfleet/

That white 2002 van for $11,995 is a fresh conversion and you get the whole van for less than the price of a conversion. Am I understanding that correctly? That's a pretty good deal. I know nothing of the conversion quality, but it looks to be similar to a quad van system. Have you driven one of their conversions?

[TheWooginator]

After I get home from this job I'm on, I can go scope these guys out and maybe see how their vans handle and report back. They are just down the highway from me.

[86Scotty]

Wow! That 11995 white one is an amazing deal. Look how clean underneath! Sure you're going to need a crate motor soon but then you'll be set for a really long time for 15k or so all told. Wow!

[carringb]

It has a 4-link setup similar to Quigley. The lack of crossmember reinforcement is a little concerning, but at a quick glance the rest of the workmanship looks decent.

[MSD]

I've driven and looked at Denver Fleet vans, when I was doing my van search. I was not impressed personally. Drove 3 different rigs and all didn't drive very good, they would searched/track all over the road and lots of undercarriage noises. Looking at the front end conversions just didn't look good or clean either, if your in there doing the work and putting a front end on clean and paint up the parts, all 3 rigs look like parts were just swapped over, no cleaning or painting. The attention to detail just wasn't very good either. On a scale of 1 to 10 for quality of work on the three rigs I looked at came in at a 4. This was almost 2 year ago now... so hoping there quality has gone up but after driving 3 rigs and not being impressed I steered clear of anything they had…

I will say that one forum member here seemed to get a good rig so it's not impossible, but I'm glad I went a different route. Actually one last thing… I'd by a crows 4x4 over a Denver Fleet. So what does that tell ya.

[REF]

E350-and anyone else bottoming out in their Quigley's, as mentioned, you may be able to solve the issue by moving the axle forward, solved my issues with my Quigley, gave me more travel, better articulation and handling. Boulder off road and CCV offer longer fixed length or adjustable torque arms respectively, they both also both offer 4X4 conversions, I think both use Ford super duty axle swaps.

[TomsBeast]

For me, it becomes what my ex-military buddies call 'philosophy of use' or POU. That and budget. Resale value a high priority? Rugged and maybe bullet-proof important? Availability of wear parts while you're on the road, even 10yrs from now important? Smooth riding and handling manners important? option to DIY or is a dealer built, turn-key rig the only option for you? Is squeaks-n-creaks and a little hash ride of a 4x4 truck acceptable to you? or does it need to ride like a Lexus?

Example: a $100K SBM was out of my budget for a camper/tow rig/explorer rig, to replace my F350 Dually and cabover. I drool over SMB's them all of the time, there's no nicer camp/van interiors and options. Even if I could afford one, at that value, for me it would become an 'investment' that I need to preserve, nurture, wax and caress, rather than a tool to get me out to my next remote adventure place.

My camping/tow rig needs to serve my POU, which is camping in Baja, exploring Death Valley, Eastern Oregon, getting out to remote hot springs in snow, ski trips to the Sierra's, highway road trips to Sturgis, Grand Canyon, tow a 32' racecar trailer to Sacramento, Sonoma, Pomona, the Bonneville Salt Flats, Vegas, Phoenix, heck even Indy.

At the time, my budget was $20k. That's it. Not taking out a loan for a toy. But that's me...

In my way of thinking, I want reasonable performance, availability of off the shelf replacement parts is very important to me. I like the DIY (sweat equity) and modularity aspect of the UJoint kits, since I have the skills, the time, the place to work on my rig. To me, I think Chris has a great thing going. Is it the best? What's your definition of good, bad, and ugly? It's all a compromise.

I'll give up some ride smoothness, and even some turning radius for long term repair-ability and supported parts.

I do think this topic gets a little beaten to death, you have some very knowledgeable guys on here, but they'd be foolish not to endorse their own products. For the rest of us, most haven't driven let alone owned more that 1 or 2 different set ups. As a result, it's difficult to get a back to back comparison.

Bottom line is my 'best' might not be yours. Forums like this however, allow the stinkers to be identified (a certain ebay seller from TJ comes to mind)

[rallypanam]

Originally Posted by REF

E350-and anyone else bottoming out in their Quigley's, as mentioned, you may be able to solve the issue by moving the axle forward, solved my issues with my Quigley, gave me more travel, better articulation and handling. Boulder off road and CCV offer longer fixed length or adjustable torque arms respectively, they both also both offer 4X4 conversions, I think both use Ford super duty axle swaps.

Agile also has adjustable replacement arms...

[rallypanam]

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

For the rest of us, most haven't driven let alone owned more that 1 or 2 different set ups. As a result, it's difficult to get a back to back comparison.

I'm certainly lucky to have driven Agile TTB, SMB, Quigley, Advanced, and UJOR.

[JohnandMandi]

We had our van dequiglified by Ujoint and have driven almost 27k miles during our current trip. As a weekend warrior it really comes down to type of terrain. For us, ours is a full time overland home that must handle every type of terrain imaginable, sometimes daily. We refer to our van as a gigantic Jeep, more of an Econoline Rubicon. There are surfaces she is better at than others but the crawling she does on rutted rocky steep slick watershed single track grades is where she excels. We have driven major roads that wouldn't be legal in the states or would be designated for Offroad use only. We wouldn't hesitate at owning another Ujoint.

What we have changed, and feel is necessary for an overland 4x4 E-Series van, are serviceable bearing units over the sealed ones Ford uses and 6" of lift. We still run 33s and are actually closer to 5.5" of lift. The handling at highway speeds to dodge huge holes, missing road, motorcycles, vendors, and other drivers has been wonderful...where the Quigley was weak. We wish we would have started with the 6" kit which would have given us tighter turning but we have been managing, pulling 4 or more point turns at intersections due to the lack of parking regulations and the narrow streets. While we'd love to eat up the corregated tracks at high speeds, going slow is what everyone tends to do to reduce the possibility of mechanical failure.

We fall into the smallest percentage of owners but have consistently put hard miles on our van. Probably any one of the available systems would be plenty for occasional use. A head to head rugged comparison would be a great idea for any one of the current enthusiast magazines, or even Expo Portal.