TL;DR: WeldTec does great work, stands behind it, and is very communicative. The Baja Grocery Getter kit is phenomenal although I’m still struggling to find correct alignment.
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Back in December, I took my 2002 E-250 2x4 Sportsmobile down to El Cajon to visit WeldTec, where they installed the
Baja Grocery Getter 6” lift kit,
Vantage Optics headlights, and
Carr LD steps. This is my review of the kit and WeldTec’s work.
The lift kit is phenomenal: looks great, performs great. I get so many looks and everyone wants to know more about the lift. Of course, with the beefier look I also now have more people asking if (or assuming) it’s 4x4. Oh well. Maybe when I have a spare $15k lying around I can save us all that disappointment.
The performance of the van is much better than what I was without. The shocks on my van had been replaced at 155,000 miles. I got the lift at 190,000. No more slowing down to go over causeways. No more bouncing after bug bumps and potholes. It’s smoother, quieter, and more comfortable on the highway than ever before. I find that I can cruise at 80MPH without even thinking about it.
Off road, I took it to some of the Death Valley back country roads right after the install. Having the added clearance allowed me to confidently tackle what should require 4x4. I didn’t push this as far as I probably could have. Maybe when I have a winch. After I got back on the road my steering wheel was about 45° off-center. But an alignment squared that away.
Speaking of alignment, I was not particularly impressed by the alignment shop WeldTec used. They wasted a lot of time going back and forth for the right cam only to have Les Schwab tell me I still needed a different cam. The van consistently pulls left after 3-4 realignments. WeldTec paid for the follow-up alignment, which was great and Les Schwab is still standing behind the original service. Yet the steering still pulls left and am open to suggestions from the forum on how to address that.
The only other issue with WeldTec’s work was that the van was not level after install. When we took the van out of the shop for the first time, it was pretty obvious that it was sitting higher on the driver side (tilting to over to the passenger side by an inch or two). I ended up driving the over-curved leaf spring back to the shop to have it flattened out. That shop also didn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence but the rear leafs have had zero issues otherwise and are pretty straightforward as a part so can’t complain too much there.
WeldTec also installed new Vantage Optics headlights and Carr steps for me. In the process, they discovered a hole in my gray water tank that they helped me patch. The lights are fantastic but were installed pointing too low. Shout out to Scott over at Vantage for helping me get that dialed in. The steps are solid. The only issue has been that the one by the gray water tank is installed in a very tight location (the gray water tank had to be removed to access it). It's starting to squeak and creak as I put load on it now and I'm not looking forward to trying to bolster the mounts given the location. Nothing to do with WeldTec.
I've attached some pictures of the van before and after. If you're looking to lift your van, I hope this review serves you well.
- Avand
WeldTec Baja Grocery Getter 6" Lift Review
2008 GMC 3500 SMB
Linear Mode
