We bought our van to pull our boat and were having issues on the (slippery) boat ramps we frequent. Since the van is perfect for us in every other way, we decided to put the money into converting the van to 4WD instead of selling it for another vehicle.
After all the great reviews I called Chris at U Joint for more info. After Chris answered all my questions he told me he was planning a trip to California and would assist with the install of the conversion at a very reasonable price. Ordered the conversion kit, axle, and a bunch of misc stuff to put it all together. Since the van is equipped with Advancetrac RSC Chris spec'd some different parts than he normally would to keep this system in tact.
The initial install was complete very quick with the help of Chris, John at One Ton Off Road, a good friend of mine Rob, and myself. Chris and I installed the front hangers in an afternoon, the remaining was done the next day at John's shop. After the initial conversion the van sat for several months because I have had a very hectic work schedule and was unable to take any time to work on it. Recently Chris made some design changes to correct for the Advancetrac RSC system, and Rob and I just got it installed.
I still have Camburg's lift block and shock in the rear and it is a little too low compared to the front now. When I get around to taking some measurements Chris is going to help me out with the rear springs.
The van drives great! Absolutely no bump steer due to the steering setup! The van drives straight as an arrow without any steering inputs. I have put the van through its paces around right and left turns, freeway cloverleafs, freeway turns, and cannot get the RSC system to activate at all! Very very pleased with it! Chris nailed this setup!
I highly recommend anyone who is considering doing a 4WD conversion call Chris. His customer service is awesome. He answered his phone just about every time I called even while working on the van late at night in CA, sometimes very late on the east coast. Chris knows his stuff, has a great eye for style, and has great attention to detail.
I will update this thread when we change the rear springs and make additions to the van. Here is some pictures so far.......
Chris pulls into SoCal in Vanaconda....
We got started right away. Chris made this step look easy!
Chris was able to make the drill bits go farther with some sharpening....
One side mounted, working on the other side....