What did you do to your SMB today?

[larrie]

Finely got my awning mocked up and mounted. Have been reading the different awning mounting discussion and also looked at retractable awning like Fiamma and chocked at the cost. Knew that there had to be a less expensive way to get an awning so started picturing different ways to get one as I was falling asleep. I have had a yellow heavy duty nylon tarp laying around for years and though that this would make a good awning. Could mount it to the van using strut. Just had to figure out how to mount the strut to the van as I did not want to drill into my penthouse top.

One of the threads mentioned the GoWest web site. While poking around there I found the Fiamma F45 bracket for under $60. This bracket mounts to the rain gutter. Figuring that all rain gutters are created equal I ordered a set. As I found out all rain gutters are not created equal. The one on my 89 Ford 150 is narrower than the one on a VW. Modification time.

The first modification was to narrow the clamp that went into the rain gutter.



This was close to working but when I clamped it down the base of the bracket stuck out from the body of the van.



To resolve this I cut the lower part of the clamp off. I



This allowed a snug fit to the body.



Once the bracket was in its final position I had to figure out how to deal with the top mounting plate that was in the way of the top when it was raised and lowered. The solution was to cut off the top part of the bracket. I also drilled two holes in each to mount the strut to. See photo above.



I then reattached the top mounting plate at the outside edge of the bracket. I also had to cut off a corner so that the side door would open. It is shown bolted in the photo but will have a friend weld the two pieces together.



With both brackets attached to the van I added a piece of galvanized strut between them.



The yellow tarp attached to the strut. Need to get some washers and better nuts for the attachment.



Here is the tarp attached to the van. I also need to get some stronger rope for the guide lines and also better tent pegs.



The nice thing about the tarp is the it folds up small and fits in the wooden box that I use as a step.

[JoeH]

I installed a custom tune from Eric at Innovative Diesel with an SCT X3 Programmer today. I got three tunes but the first to try was the lower power Economy tune with both PCM and TCM tuning. Holy cow am I ever impressed. I got 17.8 mpg going down to Sedona and back. That's 77 miles on hwy89 with an elevation difference between the two of ~3000 ft. I don't normally do that drive in the van but I'm guessing that the mileage increase may be as high as 3mpg. More testing awaits

[vandiesel]

Changed my gears from 4:10 to 4:56. Tired of feeling like the van was climbing a hill. Went from 31" tires to 34.75". Takes me right back to stock gearing. A needed upgrade.

[Viejo]

I chopped the handle off the transfer case shifter. Had a sleeve with thumbscrew welded on the top end. Now the handle rides in the little box under the drivers seat and only goes on when I need 4WD.



Now I can step in/out of drivers seat from the van interior and the drivers seat can swivel into the cabin like God intended.



Actually, I did this last month. Just got around to writing it up today.

I really wanted to also do Gnarvan's mod that moves the seats back and up a bit but then I realized that the seats can't swivel if their position changes at all. Bummer.

[pjpvi]

I practiced dropping my TransferFlow tank. Why practicing, well, it would seem I have to do it again. My roll over valves have leaked since the day I got the van when the tank is full and I park on an angle. TF told me quite some time ago that the tabs on the tank that "lock down" the roll over valves needed to be bent in some so the roll over valve would snug down tighter. I did that, but apparently not enough or the valve(s) are cracked. The front one leaks quite bad. The rear one isn't as bad, but still leaks.

On the good side, I'm now pretty comfortable removing the tank now. Had to remove the propane tank to reach the font driver side bolt nuts. Used an inexpensive transmission jack to lower both the propane tank and fuel tank. It worked pretty well.

On the bad side, just put in $160 worth of diesel I need to burn off before I take another stab at this.

Always learning ...

Phil

Following up on my previous post. I called TransferFlow, had a little dialogue and decided to just have them do the fix so I know it's right (they can pressure test before re-installing the tank). Drove up to Chico late Thursday and was on their doorstep at 7AM Friday morning. This is no little operation. What an impressive family business! They were ready for me immediately, spent a couple minutes discussing what the problem was, the van disappeared for an hour and a half and re-appeared finished at a lower cost than they estimated. A very comfy "doctor office" type lobby with wifi allowed me to get some work done while I waited. Also received a tour of the manufacturing facility. Very impressive on all fronts.

TransferFlow now ranks up at the top of my list of favorite and respectable manufacturers / vendors (others include Alluminess, Santa Clara Truck Wreckers and Extreme Outback)

Phil

[jsaavedrav]

I was in Fresno and I got the Avery tape to protect the body of the van where the PH sits. Here some pics.

[PatO]

I finally replaced my CR Laurence crank out awning window (FW904RS). Last month I cranked it out and the awning glass fell right out of the track and smashed into the driveway. You can not order these direct you have to go through SMB or a CRL dealer. There were several in town so I went with a local so I could just pick it up. I had planned to immediately replace it but it kept raining. I had put a piece of flashing in to waterproof it. It was about a 2.5 hour job to remove the old and put in the new and not too difficult. It was about $470 for the window. I did not get a price from SMB.


With the flashing

remove the inside panel frame

new window

2 hidden screws to find when the old window does not just fall out

cleaned the exterior

insert the window clamping frame

position the window and screw to clamping frame

re-attach the panel frame

Clean up & Windex!

[Tapatio]

Made under shelf glass rack.

[Pntyrmvr]

...

[jage]

Originally Posted by jsaavedrav

I was in Fresno and I got the Avery tape to protect the body of the van where the PH sits. Here some pics.

What is the silver where your factory 3rd brake light should be?