Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 11-09-2013, 01:38 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 6
4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

Seems like 4x4 is only way to go for exploring the off trail camping sites.

Notice that there are quite a few choices for getting SMB converted to 4x4 besides Quigley.
I have read a lot of the posts but could not find one asking what I am inquiring about.

like to know what forum members have and why they selected them in a few sentences.
I travel a lot so can go to them and not concerned about distance unless in Montreal or such.

Guess trying to also establish which one's are most popular for the camping crowd as I don't tackle many cliffs so don't need a monster machine.

You can post here, email or PM if you wish. Love to hear back from people

thank you in advance. Tooey

__________________
2001 SMB Extended
Tooey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 01:25 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
UJOINT's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: AVL NC
Posts: 1,008
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

Since no one is answering, here are some individual testimonials.

http://www.ujointoffroad.com/testimonials.html
__________________
Chris Steuber
02 E350 7.3 (V4)
17 Focus RS, 90 SHO, 49 CJ2A, 89 LSC, 20 T250 AWD
ujointoffroad.com
UJOINT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 03:50 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
BajaSportsmobile's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rancho Nuevo (Cabo/Todos Santos) B.C.S. and San Diego, CA
Posts: 1,952
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

Quigley is by far the most prolific converter - no one else comes close to the number of vans they have done. QuadVan is one of the next on the list but with much fewer conversions done.

Clydesdale in Canada, Advanced 4X4 in SLC, Salem Kroger and Whitefeather in Red Bluff, CA, Ujoint Off Road in NC, Boulder Off Road Van in CO, Sportsmobile in Fresno, CA are all on the list of other converters.

We, Agile Off-Road, specialize in Long Travel Twin-Traction Beam 4X4 conversions perfect for Baja and Desert applications where "Go Fast" comfort is what you need - of course you can do everything the others can do in ours.

If I wanted a leaf spring front suspension, tried and true, with the look and heft of it, I would go with Ujoint.

If I were picking one of the main converters, I would go with QuadVan.
__________________
Four time Baja 1000 winner, four time Baja 500 winner. Solo'ed the Baja 1000 to LaPaz/Cabo twice.
4-Wheeling since 1972, Desert Racing since 1989.

AgileOffRoad.com
BajaSportsmobile is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2013, 10:07 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
arctictraveller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,234
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

I'm currently running an Advanced leaf spring conversion on a 2001 E250. While it's ok, some of the issues have been documented on other threads.(mostly poor workmanship, but basically a good design) For the last week, I've been a bit of a fixture at Bajasportmobile's shop while he has been working on my suspension. Before we started, I had the springs re-arched to gain about 2" of additional travel. Then Ramsey replaced all 6 shocks with his custom valved Fox shocks, and he modified the shock mounts to take full advantage of the new shocks longer length. He also spent a lot of time measuring the travel and finding ways to maximize it. I started with a pretty soft ride that at times wanted to hunt around on the freeway when hitting uneven patches of asphalt, and bottomed out in the front on average parking lot speed bumps. Now that he is done with all the mods, were headed to Baja to give it a real test, but my initial seat of the pants opinion is that it's slightly stiffer over the road when encountering small irregularity's. Once the road gets a bit rougher, or my speed increases it's way better than before and will allow long distance travel in the dirt at a much faster pace. Before the mods, rough dirt roads required a really slow pace to avoid loosing the fillings in your teeth.

Sadly, he also took me for a ride in his Sportmobile equipped with his custom 4wd conversion. I say sadly, because the ride is so superior to any other 4wd van I've ridden in, I may never be totally happy until I have him convert mine. He took me on a tour of the neighborhood running over curbs, high speeds on the side of the road in the dirt, in and out of driveways while hitting every bump he could find. The ride is amazing, a bit like a luxury car in fact. I think he said he gets about 13 inches of travel. So, if your looking for the ability to travel off road at a reasonable (or perhaps not so reasonable) pace in total comfort, Bajasportmobile has a very well engineered product and I'd highly recommend his conversions. ..............Arctic Traveller
__________________
Arctic Traveller
KC6TNI
2001 GTRV
Advanced 4wd
Agile Ride improvement package
arctictraveller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2013, 05:16 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Ford_6L_E350's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Washington - Ridgefield
Posts: 4,728
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

I had Salem-Kroger convert my van. A couple of minor issues came up and they took care of them promptly.

If I were doing it today, I would probably go with QuadVan. Their installation looks very professional and clean.

Sportsmobile was crossed off my list when I noticed they weld a plate over the crumple zone at the front of the frame. I'm not going to defeat a feature that may be a very critical safety feature just to make it easier to mount leaf springs instead coils. Not everyone agrees with me.

Mike
__________________
Alaska to Key West, Labrador and more
Prostate cancer survivor. See Thread Prostate cancer and Sportsmobiles
2015 VW GTI 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
2012 E250 Hitop camper
Ford_6L_E350 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2013, 07:08 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: East Bay CA
Posts: 1,078
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

Salem Kroger sis mine, but they're closed. I like it but they ujoint and/ or bajasportsmobile builds would be my choice these days.
__________________
2001 Ford E250 Sportsmobile with Salem-Kroger 4x4 conversion
rob_gendreau is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2013, 08:21 PM   #7
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 6
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

Guess everyone has the 4x4 done by Sportsmobile.

Was hoping to hear from Forum members who might have had Ujoint, Agile, Van spec, or others.

When I called Sportsmobile was told they do later years mostly so I thought I would hear about other's experiences.

Maybe just a shy crowd……..

I do see other threads but was looking for something from owners on how they liked the conversion they have as they all seem slightly different.
__________________
2001 SMB Extended
Tooey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2013, 09:49 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 101
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

Actually, when they were reffering to BajaSportsmobile, they were reffering to Agile Offroad. Agile Offroad's screen name here is BajaSportsmobile. I rode in the Agile Offroad van as did my wife and it is a great smooth ride and I would highly reccomend considering his conversion if you want a nice ride. With out a doubt that is my choice when I have the time. Goodluck.
Slicks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2013, 11:12 AM   #9
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

At 90 minutes away, SMB was my choice. At the time I could have gone Quigley but wanted the robust construction that Fresno also offered. If somebody like U-Joint were W/I a similar distance I would have been forced to make a decision.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2013, 03:26 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Ford_6L_E350's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Washington - Ridgefield
Posts: 4,728
Re: 4x4 conversion survey- who did it and why choose them

A high percentage of SMB's were built with SMB 4x4 for the simple reason it is easier to order the van done all on one site.

I have not talked to a Quadvan owner who was unhappy with the conversion. I have talked to more than one Advanced 4x4 owner who was unhappy. Quigley owners are basically satisfied, but there is room for improvement.

U-Joint has happy customers, and generally customers that wanted something not available from other convertors.

Mike
__________________
Alaska to Key West, Labrador and more
Prostate cancer survivor. See Thread Prostate cancer and Sportsmobiles
2015 VW GTI 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
2012 E250 Hitop camper
Ford_6L_E350 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:23 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.