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Old 12-14-2016, 10:09 PM   #411
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And I thought your baby slept in the garage all the time.😅

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Old 12-14-2016, 10:20 PM   #412
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That looks a lot better! But I'm almost mad at you for working outside with that shop. I was working on mine in my sloped driveway when the snow started. Ended up bashing my face with a crescent wrench (yeah I'm talented that way) out in the cold under the van. Good times.

I did enjoy pulling a few yuppies out of ditches this afternoon though. They abandoned their cars after I pulled them out. Oddly enough nobody was interested when I offered a ride home in my big 4x4 cargo van....?
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Old 12-15-2016, 03:43 AM   #413
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So you don't keep your van in that big beautiful garage when your not driving it???
That's almost a crime!
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Old 12-15-2016, 07:09 AM   #414
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Ha ha you guys are funny, I'm sure my wife wishes she knew about this because she's always telling me to park it in there... but she'll never know...

My giant shop has big barn style roll doors that aren't electric and dont open automatically. that would be super cool but I'm kind of a minimalist and built that shop to function as a work out/auto shop working area. There isn't even heat or insulation because I don't plan on doing it full on like it should be done so I won't even start. It does have a bathroom that I need to finish but I used that money on my van ha ha.

So anyway, in order to park the van in that shop, I would need to pull up, get out of the van, go through the side door, open the barn door, get in the van, pull the van in, get out of the van, close the barn door, go out the side door and into the house. Instead of doing what I do now which is pull into driveway and get out of van, go into house.

This all sounds like a hassle but then imagine doing it in a wheelchair, it would get old real quick ha ha. That and in a quick evacuation scenario it's a lot better having it in the driveway than in the shop.

I'm not gonna lie, I haven't played in the snow for a little while now so getting in it yesterday to do work on the van was like being a kid in a ball pit at McDonald's.
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Old 12-15-2016, 07:11 AM   #415
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brianjwilson View Post
That looks a lot better! But I'm almost mad at you for working outside with that shop. I was working on mine in my sloped driveway when the snow started. Ended up bashing my face with a crescent wrench (yeah I'm talented that way) out in the cold under the van. Good times.

I did enjoy pulling a few yuppies out of ditches this afternoon though. They abandoned their cars after I pulled them out. Oddly enough nobody was interested when I offered a ride home in my big 4x4 cargo van....?
You know you can always use my shop, just let me know.

I thought about going out and helping some people but then realized I didn't have a winch... shucks...

You should have told them it's cool, you have candy...
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Old 12-15-2016, 07:15 AM   #416
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...I haven't had a chance to drive it yet with it installed, but I popped it out of 4wd while I was trying to get the Advanced one off so I wanted to go put it into some sort of gear...
Just be careful when working on a transfer case, especially the linkage. Pop the t/c into neutral, and the van could easily start rolling while you're underneath it. Chock the wheels to be safe.


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Old 12-15-2016, 07:17 AM   #417
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brianjwilson View Post
That looks a lot better! But I'm almost mad at you for working outside with that shop. I was working on mine in my sloped driveway when the snow started. Ended up bashing my face with a crescent wrench (yeah I'm talented that way) out in the cold under the van. Good times.
Ouch! I thought I was the only one with such talents. Just about two days before Thanksgiving I was removing the stock spare carrier from under my van and had a crow bar wedged between it and the frame. I was smacking it with a hammer and it popped right at me (think a glancing blow to a nail that flies across the room, but this was a crow bar). Anyway, it clocked me in the cheek and now I have a nice knot and scar there that may never go away. Anyway, yeah, couple days before Thanksgiving and a big family get together so I had to tell the story of the big gash on my face about 20 times. Life in the shop can be war.

Josh, that is a pain but I so love parking in the garage. Is your door made in a way where you could get an electric opener or something? I mean, as soon as you run out of things to spend money on with your van.
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Old 12-15-2016, 07:23 AM   #418
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It's worth it...

I could have spent all the money I had on my 4wd conversion and not cared one bit yesterday. It's totally worth it.

Yesterday in Portlands snowmagedon I was headed home from the ice rink and started to go up a slight incline in 2wd when my rear end started to slide. I don't have any weight in the back of my van which doesn't help. I was in the process of passing a car in front wheel drive that was stuck on the side of the incline and not going anywhere. So I kept the throttle on and made it up that hill and decided I was putting it in 4wd.

I pulled into a residential area, got out, locked the hubs, got back in and shifted into 4h. It immediately felt like I was driving back on pavement and that's when I fell in love with my van and all of the work I've put into making it 4wd.

My wife and even myself started to wonder how necessary it was and did I really just spend that much on something I'll never use?!

Yes, it's worth it. Even if it's just that one day per year, having my van 4wd not only allowed me to get where I wanted to go but it gave me the peace of mind going down the road that I wouldn't be the cause of a wreck. It also made me more confident in my ability to be able to get me and my family out of harms way if SHTF and you can't put a price on that.

So if your going through a conversion or upset at how much it's going to cost you, hopefully this will make you feel better about it...
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Old 12-15-2016, 07:25 AM   #419
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Originally Posted by BroncoHauler View Post
Just be careful when working on a transfer case, especially the linkage. Pop the t/c into neutral, and the van could easily start rolling while you're underneath it. Chock the wheels to be safe.


Herb
The van was in park and the wheels were chalked with snow, that's definitely a good warning though.
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Old 12-15-2016, 07:45 AM   #420
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Originally Posted by 86Scotty View Post
Ouch! I thought I was the only one with such talents. Just about two days before Thanksgiving I was removing the stock spare carrier from under my van and had a crow bar wedged between it and the frame. I was smacking it with a hammer and it popped right at me (think a glancing blow to a nail that flies across the room, but this was a crow bar). Anyway, it clocked me in the cheek and now I have a nice knot and scar there that may never go away. Anyway, yeah, couple days before Thanksgiving and a big family get together so I had to tell the story of the big gash on my face about 20 times. Life in the shop can be war.

Josh, that is a pain but I so love parking in the garage. Is your door made in a way where you could get an electric opener or something? I mean, as soon as you run out of things to spend money on with your van.
Geez! I hate when stuff like that happens. I have a couple stories that I'm ashamed to talk about like that ha ha.

Uh I probably could but my want list is pretty long and that would definitely be the last thing on the list ha ha.
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