GMC 1500 AWD Van

45Kevin

Adventurer
The ones that came with my Rough Country 2" block lift were 11" long.
I didn't use the lift blocks, I used the 2500 Suburban springs and cut off about 1 1/2" after they were tightened.
I could have just ordered stock 2500 Suburban u-bolts I suppose. I don't know how much thicker, if any, the axle tube is on the Suburban.
 
When mounting the 22-907 springs, I took one of the takeoff u-bolts to a local spring shop - they made 4 to match, 1.5" longer if I remember.



Hey All:
Anyone know the dimensions of the rear u-bolts on these? I am doing the 22-907 springs for a lift and would like to order the u-bolts at the same time. I'm thinking I could order the stock size plus 2" longer. That should cover the increased spring pack thickness. Am I on the right path here?
Thanks,
-G
 

cherokeexj32

New member
Just wanted to let you know that is an awesome pic! Love the stance, love the color and wheels. I currently have an 05 E350 2WD with a V10 that we use to tow our large travel trailer. We are considering selling it and if we do I may sell the E350 and get a Chevy 1500 due to the fact I can get an AWD van. Is the ultimate dream to get UJoint to convert my van - sure - but getting a $12k personal loan is just not in the mix and being able to buy a factory AWD van and get a good finance rate may just be the ticket.

Time will tell.

Have a great weekend!
 

86cj

Explorer
Just got back from some camping back in the boonies, the AWD 1/2 ton Van just does what you ask of it with no repairs or issues that get on your nerves could not be happier!

I put some 1/2 ton Z-71 front bumpstops on the van and they seem to add a little cush, just pull the old out and push the new in. The new GM upper front shock bushings are also working great, I broke mine using front shock spacers! Don't use the upper bushings that come with most front shocks, (look at the size of the hole in the frame), the stock GM upper shock bushing is a quality piece that fits perfect.
The Weatherguard roof crossbars are holding my roofrack up just fine, they don't look to bad with the antlers cut off. I stand up on it when loaded and have had zero flex, that wood was only hauled locally due to restrictions on moving wood.
My new 100 watt solar works good if the sun shines, I have not mounted it yet and am not sure I want to park van in the sun if I don't have to, I might keep it portable or quick mount.


occasionaldirt,
I have not put the trans cooler on yet, the parts the dealer sold me may not be the way I go. The cooler has the bracket that bolts in front of the radiator but it looks like a hairbrush, I may just go with a stacked plate design w/ fan and piece together the hoses I got, when I figure it out I will post up.

Fire_Strom,
The springs are all the same width so just get U bolts that are long enough (stock 4x4 P U uses a lift block requiring longer U-bolts), don't re-use them they stretch around the spring. The van uses a little plate on top of spring that holds the U-bolt, they are cheap if yours are bent or rusty.
 

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fire_strom

Adventurer
I ordered 1/2" u-bolts, 9" long 2.5" wide. That's 2" longer than stock by my measure.

I've also got the 22-907, Traxda key, Bilstein lift parts ordered. As well as a receiver hitch and trailer wiring kit. And a set of Hella e code lights and h4 bulbs to ditch the sealed beams.
Thanks everyone for the inspiration on this part of the project.
I'll check those plates when I do the install. Mine are probably rusty.
Tell us more about the bump stops when you have a chance. It's a component I've never given much thought to.
****EDIT****
It turns out our U-bolts are spec'd as M14 so I should have ordered 9/16. I got the springs and u-bolts from generalspringKC. I called them to change the order but it was already processed and couldn't be changed. The guy on the phone said that there was a good chance that whoever packed my order might have used 9/16 because of the springs on the order. They did! I now have all the parts to install the lift and an open weekend to do it. Too bad I crashed a mountain bike Friday and broke my hand. No heavy wrenching for a while. Dang it!!!!
****EDIT OVER****
-G
 
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Accrete

Explorer
...The Weatherguard roof crossbars are holding my roofrack up just fine, they don't look to bad with the antlers cut off. I stand up on it when loaded and have had zero flex, that wood was only hauled locally due to restrictions on moving wood...
Got a kick out of the picture of all that wood on the roof. That would be a year's worth (and beyond?) of camping wood for our little Rocket Stove! About 1 piece cut down to pencil size will do us for an evening in camp.

attachment.php


=====wanted to share that we removed the 3M di-noc carbon fiber wrap from the hood of our van. 6 years of UV rays had turned it to a dull flat finish and the need for weekly rub with back-to-black to get it looking passable. We will leave it white for now. Removing it was a PITA.

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: ) Thom
 

86cj

Explorer
Yea it looks like alot but it had to last for 5 days! The restriction on moving wood makes sense, most of it was seasoned ash that had emerald bore damage, great for cooking over BTW. We don't spend much with the locals, just bait some gas and ice so paying for some wood never bothers us. I do usually qualify for a quantity discount...:ylsmoke:

I rarely haul a double stack of wood pictured, one stack of shrink wrapped bundles is normal and is usually plenty. I do source wood around the campsite but it never seems like it is any good for cooking over, its either wet and musty or green so I save some bought wood for meals.



Accrete,
We get bad stone chips here and I was thinking about hood protection when you posted the hood wrap years ago, removal later did cross my mind. Don't they recommend removal every so many years to keep it easy?
 

Accrete

Explorer
...one stack of shrink wrapped bundles is normal and is usually plenty..

Accrete,
We get bad stone chips here and I was thinking about hood protection when you posted the hood wrap years ago, removal later did cross my mind. Don't they recommend removal every so many years to keep it easy?

On camp wood & sourcing. We can rarely find wood that is not to wet to get a good burn in the usual size one would put in a fire pit/ring, though what we've found is that even wet wood down to a pencil size hasn't much chance to escape the eventual burn inside the small rocket stove : )

On Hood Wrap...
Within a week of getting our van in fall of 2010 we had a chip on the front edge. This prompted us to put the hood wrap on and it obviously did a fantastic job on protecting the paint it hid when wrapped. The instructions clearly stated that the di-noc wrap has a 3 year "Release" and a 4 year "Life". I thought it was a bit of hype so we put it to the test. What we did notice is that by year 5 we were having to rub it every week with vinyl cleaner/brightener products to get any luster/shine going. So I don't _blame_ the product at all, it performed just as advertised...but having put ~$140 into materials and ~4 hours of crazy two-person (should have been three!) labor getting it on the hood we were not looking forward to re-doing the wrap any time soon. As I look out the window to the van this morning my first thought was "Wow I like the clean look" (with black wrap removed). I also think that had we just placed the WeatherTech deflector on there the hood would look fairly close to what it does now. As mentioned we do have a new deflector on the way.

: ) Thom
 

fire_strom

Adventurer
Thanks again 86 for working out the lift parts. I got the rear installed today. It took the whole day but it went smoothly considering I'm basically one handed right now. Looks like about 3", just as you said. I'll tackle the front tomorrow. I'm thinking it will go a bit quicker.

Still curious about the bump stop replacement...
 

86cj

Explorer
The Z-71 Bumpstops part #15153959 do seem to give a better ride and for less than $20 and about a minute to install it's worth it. With so little aftermarket support digging into the factory parts bin and making our own Z-71 AWD Van is one option, just need to add some skid plates and for some people the easy 4low transfer-case swap. When the Z-71 option came out decades ago it was a big improvement with good Bilstein shocks, better bumpstops, springs and skidplates. Today is has less offroad credibility with the Z-71 "Appearance Package" but if the bumpstops are better I will use them.

Anybody use Timbren bumpstops on the front of a GM IFS truck or SUV? They could be better than the Z-71's or could be to harsh?...................
 

fire_strom

Adventurer
Ok, thanks. I was looking at them from OE sites and I think they were asking like 45$ each. That seemed wicked high for what I thought they were. You must have found an alt source for that price. I guess a lot of our front wheel travel is involving that piece so it could play a bigger roll than I ever gave it consideration for.

On another note, I got the front shocks and Traxda keys installed. Between the frozen torsion bar/key interface and the really buried top mounts on the shocks it was more challenging than I'd hoped. I was hampered by a broken hand but that's my fault. The Traxda keys only provided about 2" of lift with the bolts about half in. The ride is still good so I think I'll turn them in a bit more and see what I can get. The van is pretty stink bug now with a solid 3" lift from the rear springs (unloaded). I'm hoping they'll settle a bit and I can get a bit more out of the front to even it up. The ride is still great through and the Bilsteins were good money so if I can coax more from the Traxda keys I'll be good. The Hella e-code lights and H4 bulbs are bright and crisp but too low in the stink bug stance. Much brighter than the sealed beams (halogen) they replaced. I'll have to re-aim them if I can't sort out the the stance.
Thanks again,
-G
 
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dleeallen

Adventurer
I addressed the front lighting this season by upgrading the low beams to some HIR2 9012’s on a tip from Candlepower forums, the best low beams I have had so far!.

What bulbs / brand did you use? I did a little poking over there but didn't find anything specific to the vans. Would love the low beams to be a bit nicer.
 

86cj

Explorer
What bulbs / brand did you use? I did a little poking over there but didn't find anything specific to the vans. Would love the low beams to be a bit nicer.

HIR2 9012 low beam, HIR1 9011 high beam......Candlepower forum talks at length about them and they seem to be a legal upgrade according to their experts, a rare blessing for an upgrade. The 9005 and 9006 bulbs in your van are in many other vehicles and they will benefit also, the vans housing/lens is specific and does respond well to the bulb!

I bought them here, good people...http://www.rallylights.com/all/light-bulbs/l/hir2...
 

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