hey tyson, thank you for the compliments on our big ole rig! i was just talking to cobi about you last week, all good of course, lol. always glad to hear of another local van enthusiast! i knew that screen name sounded familiar when i first saw it....still need to come check out your store. sounds right up my alley
1-our ccv conversion has been flawless thus far. we average just under 50 nights in it a season since weve installed the poptop and look to be reaching close to that number again this year. we also do a lot of a night in this spot, then change locations for the following night. so the top goes up and down twice as much as folks that stay put for a weekend. unfortunately longer trips are just not an option for us due to conflicting schedules between me and the mrs.
is the top perfect? no its not. i have discovered flaws that need to be addressed, but as far as the overall design, i am pretty happy with it and it suits our needs well. the issues ive discovered should be easily fixed. ive just been too lazy to take care of said issues
i stopped and talked with derek in person when we bought our van on the way back from georgia in 2012. i asked about how the designs have changed since i first started lusting over his conversions. he described it as an ever-evolving design. basically he is continually finding new ways to improve the design and function of his setups. i chose to go with one of his conversions simply because he was willing to ship me a setup so my friends and i could install locally. while i like the looks of the smb top in general, it is a huge waste of usable space above the front seats. just couldn't justify the cost of sourcing a used smb top and taking the chance of not being happy with the lack of space. plus the windows in the ccv top are huge in comparison. we absolutely love laying in bed in the mornings and just watching the wildlife do its thing from the comfort of our bed.
now, i would be concerned with the recent threads ive seen here as well. it is disheartening to see after referring so many folks to him. it did take a few tries to get everything i was told i would get from derek, but in his defence, there was some major flooding happening in his area in the middle of my order and he is part of the local search and rescue team. he put work on hold and focused on his community, which im sure most anyone in his position would. my experience with him was good overall. he is tough to get a hold of at times, but 90% of the time he did get back to me in a timely manner. if i had to guess ccv is experiencing some serious growth pains. hopefully hiring on some additional folks not in the shop area to help his wife manage the business side of things will help out.
i would never say that the person who started the thread about his ongoing negative experience with derek is out of line, lying, or telling the story to favor his side, but we are only getting one side to the story. seeing the pix and hearing his experience sucks...but being in the market ccv is in can be a very hard market to be in. you can ask any fabricator and they will confirm as im sure they have all had that one customer that had them questioning if it was worth all the headaches.... i worked at a speed shop here locally for 5 years and some of the accusations against us were so far out there it was just insane. there are some folks that you can NEVER make happy now matter how many hoops you jump through. eventually you have to cut your losses and move on.
again, i am NOT saying that is the case from the recent threads we have seen here regarding ccv.
if i were you, id reach out to some of his more recent customers and see how they feel about their experience. i checked out forum member 1der's van earlier this year and it looked amazing. i know members rallypanam and clubnobbie are 2 others that have recently dealt with him and had tops installed on their rigs. it cant hurt to inquire with all three of them via pm if they don't voice opinions here.
that said, mg's work speaks for its self. he is obviously a true perfectionist and the work we see from him is 100% top freaking notch in every aspect. i am very excited to see him offer a pop top and have been watching this forum closely for details. im guessing if you are willing to wait, it will be worth it.
2-our van came with rear heat and ac, so sorry i cant elaborate much on install, but damn good pickup on the parts van. let me know when you've got all you needed so i can scavenge too, lol.
jealous of your float trip. ive only been on the south fork of the payette and i loved it, but our free boat access moved back to the lochsa and we don't know anyone in the boating community any longer. we were up in bear valley last weekend and checked out the put in for the middle fork and dagger falls. it was beautiful up there to say the least.
respond when you can and enjoy your trip tyson! we need to get a little meet together one of these days. getting to be quite a few vanheads in the boise area.
watchtower, white whale, land yacht, big pig...
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