What did you do to your SMB today?

[Scalf77]

I added this a couple of weeks ago, I have had this on my wish list for a while. Just got back from a short beach trip, and even the wife enjoyed the extra storage of the bumper box. Thanks to MG, for help installing the bumper. (Actually he did most of the hard work)




-greg

[1der]

Greg - consider getting the rails which can be added (bolt on) to your box. They are incredibly handy. I secure two solar showers on top the box and have nice hot water by the afternoon. Let me know if you need any help getting these from Aluminess, I can arrange for a drop ship.

[rltilley]

Washed the van for the first time in a year today. I found the white underneath the dirt. I also gave it a polishing so it's good to go for another year. I should wash it more often but it is a pain. The inside is always clean though.

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[AndrewInSeattle]

This is a bit trivial, but I'm about as handy as a penguin, so I take pleasure in the small victories.

After a few false starts, I finally figured out a way to refill the water tank without a city-water connection, and without a big mess.

As background, SMB provides a short hose and a hard to reach fill valve next to the tank, but trying to squirt or funnel water into a garden hose while cramped inside the van is a recipe for making a big mess.

I searched in vain for some sort of funnel with a garden hose threading attachment, to reduce the spillage, but no luck. In another thread, I saw someone recommend a device called a "water thief", now rebranded to "water bandit", which slides over an unthreaded faucet and provides a hose-threaded outlet. Combined with our spouted 3-gallon water jug, I hoped that would be sufficient to plug in to the city-water inlet, so we could fill from the outside without risking any mess. But even after standing up on our folding step to get some extra height, there wasn't enough gravity pressure to fill the tank.

So resigned to having a bit of spillage, I tried doing the same thing to the interior valve, but discovered that it's a male inlet, as opposed to the exterior female inlet. So, long story short (oops, too late), the combination of a 4-foot hose, 3-gallon spouted jug, "water bandit", and a female-female garden-hose-threaded connector, I can fill the water tank even without a spigot. With one hand firmly on the water bandit to keep it attach, and the other lifting and tilting the jug, there isn't even any dripping. Yay!

[Fool120]

After having my Fridge empty it's contents while driving on a rough desert road, awhile back, I mounted a couple eyes on either side of the fridge, and attached a bungee cord. The clip which holds the Norcold fridge door closed is just a little plastic thing. The bungee seemed to work fine this weekend. The other simple project I did was cutting Double Reflective Insulation to fit the windows, behind the shades, to block the desert heat, and light if you're trying to sleep. The Double Reflective Insulation rolls up and can be stuffed under the couches.

[rltilley]

Originally Posted by AndrewInSeattle

This is a bit trivial, but I'm about as handy as a penguin, so I take pleasure in the small victories.

After a few false starts, I finally figured out a way to refill the water tank without a city-water connection, and without a big mess.

As background, SMB provides a short hose and a hard to reach fill valve next to the tank, but trying to squirt or funnel water into a garden hose while cramped inside the van is a recipe for making a big mess.

I searched in vain for some sort of funnel with a garden hose threading attachment, to reduce the spillage, but no luck. In another thread, I saw someone recommend a device called a "water thief", now rebranded to "water bandit", which slides over an unthreaded faucet and provides a hose-threaded outlet. Combined with our spouted 3-gallon water jug, I hoped that would be sufficient to plug in to the city-water inlet, so we could fill from the outside without risking any mess. But even after standing up on our folding step to get some extra height, there wasn't enough gravity pressure to fill the tank.

So resigned to having a bit of spillage, I tried doing the same thing to the interior valve, but discovered that it's a male inlet, as opposed to the exterior female inlet. So, long story short (oops, too late), the combination of a 4-foot hose, 3-gallon spouted jug, "water bandit", and a female-female garden-hose-threaded connector, I can fill the water tank even without a spigot. With one hand firmly on the water bandit to keep it attach, and the other lifting and tilting the jug, there isn't even any dripping. Yay!

I took the recommendation of someone on this forum and use a beer brewing siphon to manually fill the tank. Using the water hookup is too much of a pain for me. I carry two three-gallon containers and can get them into the water tank in 10 minutes or so. I did just pick up a Super Siphon but need to get a step-down hose to get it to fit in the fill hole before I can try it out.

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[Gooseberry]

Originally Posted by AndrewInSeattle

This is a bit trivial, but I'm about as handy as a penguin, so I take pleasure in the small victories.



After a few false starts, I finally figured out a way to refill the water tank without a city-water connection, and without a big mess.



As background, SMB provides a short hose and a hard to reach fill valve next to the tank, but trying to squirt or funnel water into a garden hose while cramped inside the van is a recipe for making a big mess.



I searched in vain for some sort of funnel with a garden hose threading attachment, to reduce the spillage, but no luck. In another thread, I saw someone recommend a device called a "water thief", now rebranded to "water bandit", which slides over an unthreaded faucet and provides a hose-threaded outlet. Combined with our spouted 3-gallon water jug, I hoped that would be sufficient to plug in to the city-water inlet, so we could fill from the outside without risking any mess. But even after standing up on our folding step to get some extra height, there wasn't enough gravity pressure to fill the tank.



So resigned to having a bit of spillage, I tried doing the same thing to the interior valve, but discovered that it's a male inlet, as opposed to the exterior female inlet. So, long story short (oops, too late), the combination of a 4-foot hose, 3-gallon spouted jug, "water bandit", and a female-female garden-hose-threaded connector, I can fill the water tank even without a spigot. With one hand firmly on the water bandit to keep it attach, and the other lifting and tilting the jug, there isn't even any dripping. Yay!

I have this siphon hose that you just drop in the water container you fill and shack up and down to start the siphon and then on the other end I have the hose fitting to screw on to the tank. Works real good and cheap.

https://www.harborfreight.com/self-p...ump-63309.html


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[rltilley]

Originally Posted by Gooseberry

I have this siphon hose that you just drop in the water container you fill and shack up and down to start the siphon and then on the other end I have the hose fitting to screw on to the tank. Works real good and cheap.

https://www.harborfreight.com/self-p...ump-63309.html


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That sounds similar to the Super Siphon I picked up on Amazon. The tubing is too large to fit into the fill hole so I need to modify it a bit. It will pack nicer than my beer siphon.

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[Sheriffdoug]

Originally Posted by Twoxentrix

Performance Diesel in Baltimore. Upgraded mainly because the weight of the Van (loaded & with two people 11,500lbs). On some washboard trails & back roads (when going through turns) the front of the van would dip far enough that the wheels would just barely make contact with the wheel wells. Also, at higher speed, when going over bumps or poorly fused sections on the road (like traveling across some bridges or overpasses) the front of the van would bounce a couple times before it evened out....at 70mph thats a little unnerving.
So thats the first thing I trialed when i drove the Van back - have a section of freeway that produces that issue. It took the bounce and evened out immediately. Overall, normal street/highway travel hasn't really change. Cant wait to test it off-road.

G'day,

Can you get me the details of fabricator for dual fox shocks please, contact name, email address & company name?

My 08 Ford e350 6.0 diesel bounces around far too much.

Could you post a few closeups includung plates at top & bottom holding Fox shocks please?

Cheers Doug.
Western Australia

[Oogs]

Installed a K&N cold air intake on my 2013 V10 EB50. This was not a straight forward install due to the rear AC lines running over the fan shroud where the air filter box is supposed to sit. There wasn't enough slack in the AC lines to move them either which meant cutting, grinding and test fitting the box several times to get it to work. I worked with a local fabricator to get this done and it basically doubled the final cost of this mod. All the cutting and welding ended up bending the box so things didn't line up perfectly in the end.

I've taken a couple trips since the install and seat of the pants seems to indicate it helps a little with power on inclines. I don't really notice a difference during WOT, but w/out some real dyno testing it's hard to know for sure. Intake noise is louder as expected with a noticeable drone at around 2500 rpm when under load driving up a hill, otherwise barely noticeable under normal driving.

I also don't really like the way the MAF sensor is out in the open compared to how it mounts inside the stock filter housing. The stock rubber grommet on the wiring harness can't be easily removed either so it's just hanging there.

I'm undecided whether I'll keep this installed long term, but at least thru the summer for now. I'd feel better about a custom built air box long term, but that's a lot more $ unless I fabricate it myself. Could be a fun project.

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