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Old 05-23-2016, 09:30 AM   #21
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Nice van! there are quite a few base model vans around with black plastic grills, if you decide you like it they might hold up better than the plastidip over chrome paint.

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Old 05-23-2016, 10:36 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by maxx View Post

Happy with the results so far, I hope it lasts otherwise I'll look into making it permanent.

Also drove the van into a 6'10" garage today, woaa scary. I measured it to be 6'9 with the little knobs on the roof, but it was still nerve wracking.
Yep, I really like the blacked out grill look. Nice you got it into the garage w/o any damage. I had that sinking feeling when I drove into a short car wash once. Luckily it was the antenna scraping the corrugated metal roof...thought I was rippin something up for a second.
Enjoy the journey.
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Old 07-22-2016, 01:14 PM   #23
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Thanks! For all your info, will definitely either build or buy the bed, trying to avoid the long drive to the Fresno branch, there are more exciting places we want to go first. ;-)


Yea I'm definitely going to add 4 stabilizer bars too, once I increase the top load. I think the squeaking i mentioned at 120lbs are just the springs since they barley hold it up, so u should be fine with the stabilizers.


That sounds very scary, thanks for the heads up, didn't know that even 20lbs could do that... will try to find more info on that.


Here is great step by step video: https://vimeo.com/61317178
I'll let you know if I get around trying this.

Thanks for this Vid. A couple months have passed and I'm about to head out for a trip down California Coast. We are going to be pretty loaded up with toys and stuff so I need to get some more stuff up there.

Got up the stones move a few links today. Here's what I found.

1) It was pretty easy once you were braced. Maybe took 15 minutes total.
2) I was a bit on edge through the whole process just thinking something would snap or drop or whatever. All was fine, though.
3) I removed 2 links on each side (question below)
4) Oddly, and I don't know why, there were 13 links on one side (total) and 11 links on the other. Two additional S hooks were cobbled together to make the 13. I'm not sure why other than spring tension? That's my hope as the top always seemed to raise and lower evenly.

So here's my dilemna:

90% of the time the only extra weight on the van is the two yakima crossbars. Maybe 30 lbs extra? The previous spring adjustment handled this fine.

The other time (when camping) we'll have toys and stuff on the roof in a roof cage and a Yakima Skybox 21. This adds another 100lbs. We won't open the PH unless everything up top emptied. We definitely won't sleep there unless empty.

As mentioned, I took out two links. I know a lot of people mention 3, but they seem to carry more load than that.

What are thoughts on 2 links? My thought is this isn't too much for the normal crossbar configuration and then adds enough extra spring for the 100 extra pounds when traveling/camping.

Thoughts?
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Old 08-22-2016, 01:11 AM   #24
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Finally gotten around to get SMB to build a PH bed for our SMB.

Just wondering how to mount it to the roof, do you guys with EBs have to move the main piece forward every time they hook it onto the roof? If I move the main piece towards the front i can probably just hook in to the existing screws from the push/pull handles. It is
probably not a good idea to drill into the thin pressboard?

Here is a picture for reference.
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Old 08-24-2016, 10:59 PM   #25
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Hi Max,

I have a 96 Dodge EB. Last spring we went to Sportsmobile West and had them build and install a penthouse bed while we waited. To hang it from the ceiling they put in three cleats....two in the front and one in the rear center of the bed. From where the chrome handles to lift the top are....they added three adjustable hoops. After you lift the top.....you lift the front of the bed and hook them into the hoops then the rear. I'm sure they would send you the hardware. I took a couple of pics for a reference.....but they are in my gallery. I was too tired and a little on the retarded side to figure out how to upload them with this post.
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Old 08-24-2016, 11:00 PM   #26
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Ok one pic made it up...the others are in my gallery
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Old 08-25-2016, 06:30 AM   #27
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Maxx, my SMB came with a 3 piece bed (don't know why) and I modified it to hang up top out of the way. Here's how I did it with a few basic pieces of hardware from Lowe's.
It's an RB but should be similar for your EB. You definitely can't hang the weight of the bed from the thin roof panels, SMB does it from the support boxes for a reason. Hope this helps (about halfway down this page).

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...-10698-16.html

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Old 04-16-2017, 04:37 PM   #28
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Hi all,

I was finally was able to get the spring adjustment done yesterday. I put it off for a while, thankfully a buddy of mine helped me out. Definitely helps having someone around who has used a come-along before.
Pretty scary taking the 3 links out, but the video and all the info on this forum helped alot getting prepared. Thanks guys!



Finally the roof stays up with all the kite gear in the box.



I also was able to install a cheap china volt/ammeter, its pretty good for 30$, bi directional so I can keep track of how much went in and out of the batteries. I was surprised how much less the LEDs use over the fluro lights (11W vs 34W).




Now I'm stuck on fixing the water pump, after reading up on it I realized its supposed to shut off once the system is pressurized, but looks like mine is sucking air somewhere. I can see bubbles in the pipes, so it constantly runs and the waterflow is crappy.

Hope everyone else had a productive weekend.
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