My experience with Salem Kroger - Page 2

Buji · 08-28-2007, 12:15 PM

hahah... I just hope it doesn't look like I'm compensating. I'll just have to make sure it's always muddy.

I ended up not picking up the van on Saturday, there's a few little issues that still need to be ironed out, and the rear airsprings are on back-order, but I should still be able to drive w/o them for my inaugural trip to AZ. They are actually going to bring the van down to me either later today or tomorrow, which is nice.

These are the additional brake lights we added since the box and spare can obscure the factory lights.

Jeffrey · 08-28-2007, 01:07 PM

Now THAT"s starting to look like a real man's van.

Buji · 08-29-2007, 11:55 AM

Good news! They got the airbag springs in and are wrapping it up. Hopefully I'll have it for tonight (we have another big dinner group going out for seafood).

And I thought my vette had a big butt!

twolost · 08-29-2007, 08:56 PM

Ahhhh, c'mon.. you are killing me with these pics.

Buji · 08-31-2007, 10:28 AM

It's here, and it's BIG. The girlfriend took off this morning without helping me take any pictures, but I'm spending the day loading it up and getting ready for the inaugural trip so I'll get some better pics of the closeup details.

Jeffrey · 08-31-2007, 10:47 AM

Buji,

Your van has been a long time coming and we've all followed along during the build. What a monster! It makes mine seem small.

What is that apparatus on the roof?
Is there any option you did not get?
I'm surprised you did not go for the custom grille.

I can't remember the reason you went to S-K for the 4x4. Are you still glad you did?

**BroncoHauler** · 08-31-2007, 11:12 AM

Does it come with a hoist and weight lifter to get that spare on and off there? Great looking van. They all are, but your's is a standout! When do the graphics go on?

Herb

Buji · 08-31-2007, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

Buji,

What is that apparatus on the roof?
Is there any option you did not get?
I'm surprised you did not go for the custom grille.

I can't remember the reason you went to S-K for the 4x4. Are you still glad you did?

It's the raysat in motion satellite dish. Works AMAZINGLY well, once it's locked onto a satellite. I can flip a u-turn, navigate around town etc and it hangs onto the signal, unless something comes between the van and the satellite like a tree or building, then it works to reacquire the signal and usually takes 2-4 seconds. At startup it can take a few minutes to get locked in tho.

I think I didn't get the amphibious conversion package

Also, no stove inside, yet. going to go with a portable and grill and see how that works, but have it built to house a diesel cooktop like the badgers got if I really feel like I need it and want to put up with it.

I was supposed to get the grill at SMBW when I picked up the van, but somewhere along the way it fell off the build sheet. Now I'm not sure if I'll get it after all or not, the factory grill is starting to grow on me

The main reasons I went with S&K were:
1. flexibility of design - coil-springs in the front and tire size were no problem for S&K as well as other 4x4 details.
2. Price - dollars for donuts, S&K was about 25% cheaper all around. I ended up spending the same amount with S&K but I ended up with a lot more.

I would absolutely go with them again, but there is

room for approaching the situation with patience and forethought. They definitely seem to know their stuff with regards to suspension and drivetrain setup. The 4-way airbags were a first for them I think, and there were some other little issues. I'm going to do a post-mortem post when I'm done working with them (after I come back from vacation next week) to come full circle on the experience; there are still a few parts to be installed like the body armor and skidplates underneath, and a larger compressor tank. I will definitely say again that of all the different providers I worked with on the project so far, Craig at S&K definitely 'got' my vision and worked to make suggestions toward that goal more than anyone, with a close second going to Rob at Integrated Audio.

Buji · 08-31-2007, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bronco_hauler

Does it come with a hoist and weight lifter to get that spare on and off there? Great looking van. They all are, but your's is a standout! When do the graphics go on?

Herb

That's just my exercise routine

As tall as I am (not) I'll just have to get my shoulder under it. Those big tires take a while to air up tho. They were delivered with 45lbs of pressure because the guy delivering the van misread the instructions on the internal tubes, which say no more than 50 lbs. I confirmed with Craig today that they should be 70 rear and 65 front.

It does ride VERY nicely though, with the airbag suspension. Craig has also engineered a very flat handling suspension. No more limo driver method for me, it barely pitches with a hard brake, and sway is near unnotice-able. VERY IMPRESSED. I am probably being partial, but I would say it's considerably better than the SMB4x4 ride. I need to ride in another 4x SMB to make sure, but when I did before it reminded me a lot of my lifted '01 jeep wrangler. So far all of the passengers have remarked on it as well, in comparison to how it was before.

Hopefully the wrap will go on sometime next month after I get back. I can't tell you how dissapointed I was that fastsigns #427 in Folsom dropped the ball on that one! As it is now I am rethinking the design and decided to work on it over the vacation and see if I came up with anything I liked better.

**BroncoHauler** · 08-31-2007, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buji

It does ride VERY nicely though, with the airbag suspension. Craig has also engineered a very flat handling suspension. No more limo driver method for me, it barely pitches with a hard brake, and sway is near unnotice-able. VERY IMPRESSED. I am probably being partial, but I would say it's considerably better than the SMB4x4 ride. I need to ride in another 4x SMB to make sure, but when I did before it reminded me a lot of my lifted '01 jeep wrangler. So far all of the passengers have remarked on it as well, in comparison to how it was before.

While I have no complaints on my SMB, especially as I got such a great deal on mine used, part of me still wishes I had been able to spec mine from scratch, and have Quadvan do the 4x4 conversion. There were aspects of their conversion that I really liked. All in all though, I would have gotten far less van for my money, as we would have had to cut a lot of corners, and I'd still be waiting....

Herb