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Old 01-03-2022, 02:03 PM   #741
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OK Tim. Time to get out and play.

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Old 01-08-2022, 06:20 PM   #742
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Tim, thanks for the referral to the sand ladders.

Got a lot more information from your post with better pictures that what I had previously seen.

Installations looks very clean and professional.

Thanks, Sam
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Old 01-09-2022, 12:31 PM   #743
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sloya View Post
Tim, thanks for the referral to the sand ladders.

Thanks, Sam
Sam,

Reach out if there is any more info required. I now carry four of the sand ladders. I often use them as a platform to sit on up on the roof, an added benefit is that they can be taken down and set on the ground when a flat platform is required, such as when using the exterior shower.

Tim
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Old 07-13-2022, 04:32 PM   #744
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Flint came stock with Continental Vanco 245/75/16 FourSeason tires. I never drove the van with these in place as they were replaced during the SMB build with BFG 265/70/17 KO2’s. These tires performed reasonably well for 42k miles, in that time I had two flats and the tires became appreciably nosier as they aged. During this period the Van Compass Striker 2” lift was installed and when the noise finally got to me the KO2’s were replaced with Falken Wildpeak 285/70/17 A/T3W’s. I looked closely at tire sidewall to strut dust boot clearance when I selected the tires and I knew that clearance was minimal, but my design goal was to use my existing Method wheels and not use spacers.

There was no issue during the first 30k miles of use and I really came to like the Falkens. BUT….after running the Mohave Road earlier this year (four days aired down to 30 psi, a GREAT TRIP!) I noticed that the tire sidewall was scuffed and that the front strut dust boots were destroyed. So much for my thinking that spacers weren’t required for these wider tires. I got away with no issues when aired down for short durations, but four days was too much. I know, I know, I should have known…

Anyway, I called Agile and placed an order for 16 mm spacers. An afternoon to install them and all is better. And I must say, it is nice to get away from the Sprinter lug bolt and get back to the much more traditional threaded stud and lug nut arrangement.

BTW, I have had the front alignment checked and no damage was done.

Pictures just because I know that without them it didn’t happen!




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Old 07-14-2022, 09:05 PM   #745
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Hi Tim,
Do you have more detailed thoughts and impressions to share about the Falkens? I'm about to wear through my KO2s as well, and have been thinking about going with Falkens as well, as the set we have on a subaru have been excellent.
I don't need serious off roading capacity, spend almost all my time on road or on easy dirt, but do spend a ton of time on snow so that capacity is important. More quiet would be worth quite a lot to me as well.
Any impressions you find the time for would be most welcome.
Thanks!
Mike
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Old 07-14-2022, 09:57 PM   #746
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One of the reasons I added the spacers is because I am sold on the Falkens in this particular size for my van and I intend to keep running them well into the future.
The Falkens are snow rated, do very well in sand and rock, have a stronger sidewall than the KO2’s (I had two flats with the KO2’s, one a rock puncture on a sidewall, the other a piece of steel through the tread), and after 30k+ miles there has been no increase in road noise, which was very much an issue with the KO2’s.

In summary, I’m a fan and my next set will be Falkens.
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Old 07-25-2022, 12:27 PM   #747
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FYI, something I just learned from Agile when asking them a question about their Big Brake upgrade. To quote: "Because there's a 16mm offset compared to the factory rotors and they have a wider track width, spacers are no longer required."

I haven't decided about the brake upgrade, but had I known this I most likely would have put the $650 cost of the spacers toward the cost of the brake upgrade. Live and learn!
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Old 01-01-2023, 08:54 AM   #748
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2022 Year-In-Review

2022 Year-In-Review Stats…two years retired as of December 18th and watching the time fly by… I know this is an often-heard comment, but how can retired life be so busy?

77,003 – 67,248 = 9,755 miles and 43 nights spent in the van in 2022 (vs. 4,632 miles and 27 nights in 2021). Last year a family medical emergency saw us having to turn around and head back home en-route to AZ in January, we will try the same trip again in a couple of weeks, hopefully with a better result.

The big projects at out new-to-us home are done and behind us, hopefully this year I will have time to settle in and get a bit more organized, plus work on a couple of van projects that have been languishing on the to-do list. FYI, we have a flat driveway with room for van parking if anybody needs a spot to overnight when driving through Vacaville CA.

Our current grandchildren headcount stands at four, this number is due to double to eight in 2023. Twins will be along in Chicago in March, this will entail a long and (hopefully) leisurely van trip back east. Final route planning will be weather dependent, but I’d like to go back through Iowa where I was born and raised and we always love driving through Colorado and South Dakota’s Black Hills. We will see what the weather throws at us and adjust accordingly…

Wishing everyone a safe and happy 2023!

Flint cooling off while running the Mohave Road with some Forum Friends this past spring.
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Old 02-08-2023, 10:50 PM   #749
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Double Shear Bracket for Rear Upper Shock Bolts

If you look back to Post #703 on page 71 of this thread you will see a discussion regarding carrying spare rear upper shock bolts, the reason being that this was becoming a known weakness of the Sprinter van at the time. Since then both Agile and Van Compass have come out with double shear brackets to strengthen this attachment point. This post documents my installation of the Van Compass bracket.

I have not seen the Agile bracket for myself, but looking at pictures and reading the description I believe that one key difference is that the Van Compass bracket is designed for a Falcon shock and the Agile bracket is designed for a factory or Fox shock. The Falcon shock is wider than a Fox shock, thus if Falcon shocks are on your van or may be in your future it looks like the Van Compass bracket is the way to go. There are other differences between the two brackets but this is not a product review so I suggest you compare the two for yourself before deciding which option best suits your needs.

In my case I have Fox shocks but I wanted to keep the Falcon option open so I went with the Van Compass bracket. The addition of a couple washers/spacers is all it took to adapt the Fox shock to the wider bracket; thus this was an easily solved minor issue.

The Sprinter is blessed (cursed?) with an unbelievable amount of undercoating that looks like it was troweled on in places. This needs to be removed where the brackets are attached, don’t discount this as a trivial piece of work! See the following picture for the undercoating that I removed from one side, with both sides being the same. Ultimately, I found that a small stiff scraper and a ball peen hammer worked best for this operation. Also, don’t forget to paint all the newly exposed areas because you will expose steel in the process.

Here is a picture with some of the undercoating removed. At first I thought this was enough, but that was not the case. Do a good job with this step as the material needs to be removed for the bracket to fit.

One thing I found was that there was a metal tab in the inboard upper corner that was exposed by scraping. Ultimately, I had to grind the top of both brackets at this location in order to provide clearance, so add your peanut grinder to the list of tools required. He is the bracket after grinding and before painting.

I mentioned above that washers/spacers were required to fit the Fox shock to the bracket, here is all that was required.

And here is the finished bracket installation on the passenger’s side. I had to work around interferences from one of the rear bench seat mounting bolts and the hose runs from the aftermarket passenger side 14 gallon auxiliary fuel tank, but neither issue was particularly difficult to resolve.

Then it was on to the driver’s side. This got very interesting when I discovered that one of the existing holes that the instructions direct you to use to install a bung was being utilized as an attachment point for a bracket and linkage that I believe is only found on vans with the Zenon headlight option.



I quickly decided that relocating this bracket was a no-go for me so I eliminated the bung, added some washers on the outside of the protrusion and reinstalled the bracket with its original bolt. Not quite as strong, but I believe plenty strong enough. Here is what it looks like from the underside.

And here is the finished bracket installation on the driver’s side.


This is a good addition that adds greatly to my peace of mind. I have carried the two spare upper shock bolts in the van for the past several years, hoping that I would never need them but knowing that they were on board if they were ever required. Now I can retire them from their place as spare stock and put them on a shelf as a curiosity item to be discarded at some point in the distant future.
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Old 02-09-2023, 10:16 AM   #750
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Friz,
Great information. Looks like my next project to add to the list.

Regarding the circle bung. Would drilling a larger hole to go over the bung? Thoughts
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