Help me "Pimp My Ride"

[panion]

Wow, what a change just taking off the stripes and running boards. Looks like you are off to a great start already and it didn't even cost you. lookin good, keep up the pimpin and keep the pictures coming.

tom.

[sdwindansea]

lowracer - you have done an excellent job. Like Tom said, it's amazing what a difference taking off the running boards and stripes made to the van. I take it you are not going with Jage's "yellow submarine" suggestion ? I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures of the progress.

-Geoff

[lowracer]

Thanks for the encouraging words...

Just ordered some LED interior replacement lamps from superbrightleds.com. These were quite reasonably priced. Will see how well they do. My main concern is conserving the battery while camped. They only had replacement lamps for the captain's map lights and the 3 swivel reading lamps. The lamps over the sink/stove area and rear reading lights I couldn't find LED replacements for anywhere, they're a funky 2-pronged deal. I'll keep looking.

Ordered a wireless back-up camera from Amazon.com/Etronics.com. Boyo VTC460R. I chose this system because it replaces the rearview mirror with a unit that displays the rear-camera image in the mirror itself. And it was relatively cheap.

Also had the safelite glass guy come out this morning and fix a few chips in the windshield. Enjoyment of a new (used) vehicle is all in the details.

[jage]

Guess who was really bored this morning.... (wait for it...)



I'm trying to stick with low cost- same size ATs, black steel rims and the "trim" is supposed to be gloss or semi gloss black paint. It might take some spacers on the rear too... I tried to tuck them under a bit.

I actually thing you gain the most losing those rims, but if you look at pics of any of my vehicles you'll see my personal taste in this image as much as anything.

It looks really good BTW, I was actually inspired to do this because of how radically different it looks sans stripes and steps. That and I'm bored today.

[lowracer]

Man you definitely were bored this morning... That looks great! I like the black rims a lot, it really says "this is not Grandma's RV anymore."

Would you really paint the awning? How about some black plastic wheel flares instead of trim paint?

So if I go with just new tires and rims, skipping the lift work (mainly because it's $2000 and the DMV is getting all of that), what would the particulars be? Post me some links to rims and tires that would be best.

[Christopher Thwaites]

Jage,
Can you stick a billet grille on the dodge? This is fun to watch.

[lowracer]

Originally Posted by Christopher Thwaites

Jage,
Can you stick a billet grille on the dodge? This is fun to watch.

I'd rather see an Aluminess front bumper (black of course) with fog lamps...

[jage]

Originally Posted by lowracer

Would you really paint the awning? How about some black plastic wheel flares instead of trim paint?

Well the flares are more expensive than paint, and I think the wide body wouldn't be helped by flares. I really think it just needs rims and tires, but I was toying with cheapo options.

I don't know about the awning per se, but it seemed pretty white over all. Maybe paint the stock bumpers until you can afford the Aluminess.

Here's a mockup of the Aluminess... I don't think it turned out really accurate. Maybe if you squint you can get an impression of what it would acutally be like. Maybe you should ask Aluminess if they have any pics of dodge vans they've done in the past.

[lowracer]

Went to Discount Tire today and had some new Michelins put on. In the end I decided not to jack it up any, nor to replace the stock rims (yet) but did go with as wide a Michelin as would fit. Chose the Michelin LTX A/T 2 as a compromise between offroad and onroad performance. The tires are definitely much more rugged looking. Next step is to get the spare attached to the back door.

[mmocken]

Nice tires...are they much noisier on the highway?