Member III
Add a 2nd Commander!
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Not your typical Overland Vehicle (pics)
- Thread starter Raul B
- Start date
Member III
Not mine, but seen on the road. A Delica van and a converted Fj45 ambulance. The Fj is for sale. View attachment 104252
Member III
This is awesome, saw a few of these, or something similar while stationed in Japan a few years ago. I wouldn't mind having one if the upkeep wasn't to pricey!
Off-Road Ranger I
Enthusiast III
Not mine, seen in Germany
Attachments
Enthusiast II
07 sequoia limited
Member III
My daughter is looking to buy a 1990 model w/ 117,000 miles on it. What can you tell me about the upkeep being pricy. It is a diesel and should be easy to maintain from that stand point. Anybody know anything about these Van's at all ?
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Explorer I
Here's mine! 04 Colorado. She's mostly stock, as I try and address a few of the weak points with this particular truck. What's not a weak point is that this thing is a little mountain goat. :D
I've added some skid plates, radios, and that's it so far.
Mods coming up next year are switching to an e-fan
Right now, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for lift, whether I want to do a hard cap, soft cap with a rack, stick with a cover, and do some load bars with a basket, or what.
I've added some skid plates, radios, and that's it so far.
Mods coming up next year are switching to an e-fan
Right now, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for lift, whether I want to do a hard cap, soft cap with a rack, stick with a cover, and do some load bars with a basket, or what.
Member III
Looks fine to me the way it is. It's easy to get carried away. Keep it simple, keep it versatile.. Happy Trails
Member III
Yup! What Lanlubber said! Spend that money on fuel & get out & enjoy!!!
Explorer I
I plan on it. But, at the same time, I've already gotten stuck once (due to not having enough clearance), beat and banged on the frame going over some whoops, and had a large rock get lodged uncomfortably close to my transfer case (I bought the skid plates shortly after that).
In the meantime, the more I go out, the more I'm able to narrow down what I need. The wife, kid and I plan on trying to get out and go camping at least once a month starting next spring. That will give me some more ideas on how to proceed, and what the truck needs.
Member III
Member III
Smart driving is the key. There is always two paths to take on most roads. Take the one with least resistance and you will save a bunch of money. The challenge for me is to just get there and get back without any breakage.
Explorer I
HAHA. I wouldn't go as far as to say many should follow my example. ;)
Most of the mods to my truck are aimed at addressing the design weaknesses from chevy.
For example:
Weak engine cooling system - When running the A/C in the summer, the truck likes to get HOT. Like...220+ hot. I'm not comfortable with this fact (and the truck will automatically shut the A/C off at 253*), and plan on switching to the V8 colorado radiator and an e-fan setup in the spring.
Poor transmission cooling - I've fixed this by adding a secondary aux cooler.
Weak front differential - If you don't plan on running a front locker (which I've not needed YET), the front diff is fine. It is, however, aluminum, and is known for exploding when installing a front locker. You can get around this by sourcing a cast iron front diff out of a v8 powered h3 alpha. This requires a few modifications to get it in the truck, but it's totally doable.
Rear axle - Comes with an eaton G80 auto-locker. This is also know for wearing out, and/or exploding as well (mine, thankfully, is still fully operational, with 185k on it). The 8.6" rear out of the v8 colorado is a direct swap, and has far more options for aftermarket lockers. They can also be sourced for cheap.
Oil seals in the front diff go out regularly, and CV's are known for not lasting all that long.
Those are the big ones. The nice thing is parts are cheap, and it's easy to work on. Being an inline engine, it's relatively simple. Which is good, since I''ll need to pull the head to replace the leaky valves once I get a second car to drive.
That being said, it's a fantastic little truck! Gets rather good gas milage (I average 18mpg on a tank during normal driving, and probably around 14 while on dirt).
Member III
So I didn't have the 4x4 version but a buddy of mine did. His was in good condition so upkeep was minimal and their wasn't many areas where we lived to venture off road so the van didn't get much abuse. Mine was a 2wd and I took it everywhere up in the mountains to all the rivers and lakes for fishing trips. As long as its well maintained they are very reliable.
Member III
THAT'S GOOD NEWS, I'll let her know .
