jacobconroy
Hillbilly of Leisure
Hi All,
Well, my Darling Wife finally allowed me buy the flavor of rig that I've desired since the beginning of my whole "Overland" obsession. A 4X4 Van. She noticed what seemed to be what she refers to as an "off-road van" on the side of the highway while on the way home this week. She called me and suggested that we might go and take a look after dinner. We did.
Now, it should be clearly stated that up until this happened I'd been searching Craigslist for "4X4 van" and "Quigley" and "Pathfinder" every day for years. More recently I've been openly investigating "2018 Chevy 4X4 conversions", "Transits", "Sprinters", and worse. I've been babbling about interest rates, options, warranty implications for 4X4 van conversions, etc., etc., etc.
If you've seen my Jeep build thread on this forum...I tried. A two door JK just isn't big enough. Not even for one person. Not even if you spend $25,000 in accessories. So, since Wife realized that I was about to spend some real money on a new van....
Say "Hello" to HillBillyRV:
Now, I'm a little bit "Anal". Wife is too. When I say "Anal" it I mean it in the Freudian sense of the term. "Previously-Owned" rigs scare the crap out of us. Who knows what happened before today, right? Other people pee in their gas cans. They drive for 20,000 miles between oil changes. They purposefully smear fry-sauce on the seat covers. They don't care. Some trusting turd will buy their crap and take their word for everything. Right?
We don't own any used rigs. Each was purchased new from the dealer. I maintain them or track the dealer-monkeys that do. Solid.
HillBillyRV has a little rust. She has a little "wiring drama". A little bit of "why is the front-right side of the rig an inch or two lower than the left" situation is in play. She pulls to the right like she means it. At 65 MPH she shakes like a mad dog sh!tting peach seeds. But, I still fell in love with the old broad. Mostly because she doesn't seem to have any problems that scare me. People say that vans have a high center-of-gravity, and that you should be wary of this. Those people haven't tried to drive a 2-door JK with 300 lbs. of crap on the roof.
Previous owner is "GoodPeople". He owned the van for 12 years and kept up with her demands. I now have a 31 year old van that doesn't leak fluids in my driveway. Pretty sure that's rare! On the first day of texting with this fellow, he offered to let me take it for "24 or 48 hours" to check it over carefully, take it to a mechanic, whatever. Didn't ask for a deposit. Didn't threaten me. I accepted and he actually let me take it. How weird is that? I'm going to invite this guy to some group camping trips because he is the type of person I like to see around a campfire. As it turns out, he knows my brother-in-law. They are both "GoodPeople". We live in a small world.
Today I pulled the driver an passenger doors apart to see what's what. Took some pictures and whatnot. It begins!
Well, my Darling Wife finally allowed me buy the flavor of rig that I've desired since the beginning of my whole "Overland" obsession. A 4X4 Van. She noticed what seemed to be what she refers to as an "off-road van" on the side of the highway while on the way home this week. She called me and suggested that we might go and take a look after dinner. We did.
Now, it should be clearly stated that up until this happened I'd been searching Craigslist for "4X4 van" and "Quigley" and "Pathfinder" every day for years. More recently I've been openly investigating "2018 Chevy 4X4 conversions", "Transits", "Sprinters", and worse. I've been babbling about interest rates, options, warranty implications for 4X4 van conversions, etc., etc., etc.
If you've seen my Jeep build thread on this forum...I tried. A two door JK just isn't big enough. Not even for one person. Not even if you spend $25,000 in accessories. So, since Wife realized that I was about to spend some real money on a new van....
Say "Hello" to HillBillyRV:
Now, I'm a little bit "Anal". Wife is too. When I say "Anal" it I mean it in the Freudian sense of the term. "Previously-Owned" rigs scare the crap out of us. Who knows what happened before today, right? Other people pee in their gas cans. They drive for 20,000 miles between oil changes. They purposefully smear fry-sauce on the seat covers. They don't care. Some trusting turd will buy their crap and take their word for everything. Right?
We don't own any used rigs. Each was purchased new from the dealer. I maintain them or track the dealer-monkeys that do. Solid.
HillBillyRV has a little rust. She has a little "wiring drama". A little bit of "why is the front-right side of the rig an inch or two lower than the left" situation is in play. She pulls to the right like she means it. At 65 MPH she shakes like a mad dog sh!tting peach seeds. But, I still fell in love with the old broad. Mostly because she doesn't seem to have any problems that scare me. People say that vans have a high center-of-gravity, and that you should be wary of this. Those people haven't tried to drive a 2-door JK with 300 lbs. of crap on the roof.
Previous owner is "GoodPeople". He owned the van for 12 years and kept up with her demands. I now have a 31 year old van that doesn't leak fluids in my driveway. Pretty sure that's rare! On the first day of texting with this fellow, he offered to let me take it for "24 or 48 hours" to check it over carefully, take it to a mechanic, whatever. Didn't ask for a deposit. Didn't threaten me. I accepted and he actually let me take it. How weird is that? I'm going to invite this guy to some group camping trips because he is the type of person I like to see around a campfire. As it turns out, he knows my brother-in-law. They are both "GoodPeople". We live in a small world.
Today I pulled the driver an passenger doors apart to see what's what. Took some pictures and whatnot. It begins!