Ever since I joined this forum and saw how awesome these vans can be, I knew I wanted a 4x4 van. I did some research last year as I thought I was ready to invest the money into the conversion, but I chickened out and went with the 2wd lift instead. I thought having the look would be good enough for me, but I kept reading trip reports from people going to locations needing 4x4 and I kept dreaming about joining some of those adventures.
So after about 6 months of having the lift, I decided that I would go ahead and get my van converted to 4x4. I was originally very interested in the UJOR kit, but I didn't want to ship my van across the country to have them install their kit and I don't have the skill set or the room to do the kit myself. Agile Offroad's kit has always been on my radar since I live on the Central Coast, CA and only about 10 minutes from the Pismo/Oceano dunes. Agile Offroad's kit seemed to be a perfect fit with that type of terrain and independent front suspension with great suspension travel. So I made a call to the shop and John took the time to go through everything on their kit.
I was heading down to San Diego the next week and having never driven an Agile Offroad van, John invited me over to his house to check out his van and take it for a spin. After driving his van I was sold. The van handled like it was on rails and it was soaking up speed bumps, dips, and everything else he could drive through.
Made the appointment to start the conversion to start at the end of January and pick it up about 3 weeks later. During the conversion process, John kept me in the loop with updates and some pictures which was really cool. I appreciated the communication and explanations of where they were in the process.
My van was ready to be picked up on Friday (the 19th), so I took a day off work to head down and pick it up. Aesthetically, it looks pretty much the same since the ride height is just about the same as it was with the 2wd lift. But the van now handles crazy good and the ride is firmed up quite a bit. John and Ramsey were there to go over everything and show me how it all worked.
Tan SMB in the middle was there from Sacramento getting a RIP kit installed.
I got home yesterday evening and had my niece's 1st birthday party to go to today (the 21st). Just so happens that it was going to be at the beach so I was stoked to take my van out onto the sand. I didn't actually get to go out onto the dunes because I don't have a flag yet, but on the way out, I took it through some of the soft stuff and it was fun.
I'm definitely very happy with my entire transaction with Agile Offroad. John, Ramsey, and Glen are great guys and know what the hell they're doing. I can't wait to go down to Baja with these guys and check that off my bucket list!