2012 E-350 EB V10, 4x4, CCV Top

[cthayn]

Thanks. We are really excited to get the van back in April. Unfortunately it will be a week after our annual trip to southern Utah with extended family. So we will have one more camping trip with the tent.


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[cthayn]

It's been a long 6 weeks, but we finally got the van back from Agile with the new 4x4 and Aluminess bumpers setup. We flew to San Diego and after a review of the system with Jesus we were on our way back home.







We left Santee around 4 pm and drove straight through California and stopped about 50 miles past Quartsite AZ to spend the night at a gravel pull off, just off the highway. It was around 9 pm and dark we stopped so we ate some dinner and went to bed in the CCV top.



The next morning we got up and going around 8 am. It was a pretty good night and not too cold. We drove north towards Prescott. Along the way we stopped at the Memorial park for the Prescott Firefighters that were killed in 2013.



We drove north to Prescott and continued on to the Grand Canyon. We stopped at the main entrance for a while and then headed east stopping at several lookouts on the way.



After leaving the GC we continued north on hwy 89 towards Page AZ. Before Page we stopped at the Horseshoe Bend overlook. We were shocked at how many people were at the site. It was more crowded than the Grand Canyon. We did find a place to park so we hurried the 3/4 mile to the overlook and found a place on the rim to take some pictures. The sun was not good for pictures, but we still took a few. We hurried back because we wanted to get to Alstrom Point above Lake Powell before sunset.



From Page we continued north across the bridge and into Big Water, UT. From Big Water the road east was not too bad for the first 15 miles. It was gravel but a bit of washboard so we aired down the tires to get a better ride. The entire drive was about 22 miles, but the last 5 miles took about 40 minutes.

Once we turned off the gravel road it got a bit rougher and the last couple of miles were across the slick rock. The sun was setting as we arrived on the point, but we were still able to get a very nice spot on the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake. There were a few other campers out there, but it was very nice evening. We sat outside looking at the stars until it got too cold.









The next morning we packed up and left after breakfast. We drove from Alstrom Point back to highway 89 and on to House Rock Valley Road. We drove south on the dirt road for 15 some miles and then turned east towards the White Hole area that we were going to hike and explore.

The road towards White Hole was were things got interesting. It was about 7-8 miles of deep, soft sand. The first area of deep sand was uphill for several hundred yards and we almost got stuck, but we powered through. The clearance of the van sure helped as the ruts in the sand were pretty deep. After that we aired the tires down to ~30 psi. After that we had no big problems, but it still took a while to drive out to the hiking area.

At White Hole we ate lunch and then hiked and explored the area for a few hours. We went back on a different road, but it was the same deep sand for much of the trip. After we hit the House Rock Valley Road we went south down to Hwy 89A. After airing back up we drove the highway through Jacobs Lake AZ and then north to home.







So after about 1000 miles driving with ~80-90 miles of dirt road, with about 15 miles of 4x4, I am pretty happy with the Agile 4x4 conversion. When we first picked it up the rear tires were aired to 80 psi and the rear end was pretty rough. I lowered the pressure to 70 psi and it rode much better. After the suspension is broken in and we finish the inside of the van, the higher pressure may be more appropriate.

Now it is time to get back to work on building out the interior. I am sure it will take longer that I planned, but I am looking forward for help and feedback from the community.



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[Jsweezy]

Awesome van!

I would weigh your van and set the pressures accordingly. Not sure why your rear tires were at 80 but that's probably too high unless your van weighs alot more than it appears.

[cthayn]

I intend on getting it weighted before I start adding more weight with the interior conversion.

I had the tires mounted prior to taking the van to Agile. They must have just aired them to the max pressure. I should have checked before bringing them to Agile.


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[86Scotty]

Beautiful van and pics! Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to get out to the SW in a couple months but I'll be 2wd this time

I have been driving some van with E rated AT tires for years now and I prefer the ride with them even lower, usually around 60. YMMV but it doesn't hurt anything, FYI.

[WhitH]

Agreed with Eric. I usually run around 60-65 rear and 55-60 front if I have no load. Everybody's happier. Great, clean looking rig. Glad you got to take it out and put it to work right away.

[Francisco Coddou]

Hi, great build, thanks for sharing it!!!
Did you consider using spray can foam to fill those hard to get places?

Thanks.

[Bbasso]

Looks great and great pictures too.
Maybe agile had the van weighed before the conversion?
As for BFG A/T psi, I prefer on the highside for max mileage. 69f/72r with the bilstien hd shocks its a firm ride but with my unknown but heavy van it's a very nice ride. Flat, stable, min amount of body roll unless I provoke it, able to hold hwy speed into the off ramps and scare the living crap out of people who think their mid-level sports sedan can't turn above 40 mph...

[cthayn]

Francisco, I plan to use spray in foam in several areas. However sometimes I wonder the value of insulation in a pop top van. First you have ~30 ft^2 of glass in the body of the van, and then you raise the top. This gives you ~100 ft^2 with nothing but a couple of layers of canvas.

However, I will likely do the standard insulation for the body. I’m sure it helps a bit and will help block road noise.

Bbasso, I will play around with the tire pressure to find what works best for me. Thanks for the advice.



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[cthayn]

It has been a while since my last post. Between work and family, it is difficult to find the time. I am sure you all know the problem.


We bought a Fiamma F45 awning from Agile when we did the 4x4 conversion, but I did not have them install it. I wanted to save the shipping, and since I was I was mounting the awning with the Z brackets from 1der, so I wanted to do that myself.


The front bracket went on pretty easy. I found the right spot behind the passenger board. The design of the bracket makes a very sturdy mount. The middle and rear brackets seemed a little more difficult to get mounted and aligned. I struggle for a while until I figured out the problem. The instructions for mounting said a bit of bending may be required, but it seemed no bending would get the bracket to mount tight to the van body.




Finally I realized the issue. The putty/caulking really varied the depth of the gutter. The brackets need the full gutter depth to mount properly. On my van, the front of the van had a deep gutter, but towards the back the caulk almost filled the gutter. I don't know if that is by design, or just my van.





With the gutter full of caulk, I could not get the rear bracket to hold tight to the van. It would kind of grip the top of the gutter, but I was afraid it would pop off. So the only way I could get it to fit tight was to remove some of the caulk. I used a utility knife to trace out the bracket, and then a wood chisel to remove the caulk. I forgot to take pictures, but I cut out a chuck of the caulk that was the size of the bracket. After removing the caulk, I repainted the area and then used some silicone to pot the bracket into the gutter. I also added silicone on top of the bracket after it was tightened up. I think this will seal out any moisture, but I will keep an eye on it. After this work, the bracket mounted very tight and I have a lot more confidence in it staying on the van where it belongs.




I know it look terrible, But it was hard to get my hand in there. I will need to clean it up.


The next step was bolting the awning to the bracket. This was not too bad, but it was a tight area to get a drill in and drill through the aluminum awning case and steel bracket. Since I have the CCV top, I could only drill from the awning side.


I used some 1/4-20 bolts with nylock nuts to bolt the awning to the bracket. I put the head of the bolt

inside of the awning case so the low profile of the head will allow the awning to close. However, the rest of the bolt and nut extend from the bracket towards the CCV top. Without thinking, I raised the top and since the CCV top rests in the gutter, the extended bolts caught on the bulb seal of the top and started to pull it out.

This was an issue for both the middle and rear brackets. I had to get some button head bolts and low profile jam nuts. I put the button head on the outside and the nut inside. Then after everything was tightened, I had to cut off the excessive bolt inside the awning to get it low enough not to hit when closing the awning.

I also put a strip of UHMW tape over the button head to help the bulb seal slide over the bolt head. I will have to see how long the tape lasts.


So while the installation had a few difficulties, it was not too bad, and after it was all done, everything

looks good and very sturdy.








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