Newbie here: Please school me on NV 3500 4x4 conversions.

[365_NV_Life]

Want: NV 3500 4x4

For:
1. Daily, 9-5 grocery getter in my every day life
2. Fitting my huge Gunner kennel inside A/C for summer obedience training and transport. May add another kennel if I get another dog in the future.
3. Traversing minor to moderate off-road terrain for hunting, hiking, and holiday/vacation camping.
4. Weekend RV'ing
5. Because it's a dedicated Daily for a young professional, and only a variable RV, I plan on getting the passenger version, ripping out the last 2 rows of seats, and using that cargo space for my mattress, coolers, and other minor camping gear. If I need more room when I go on solo trips, I'll temporarily take out the first row of passenger-seating, but I plan on keeping it in most of the time should I go places with family, friends, or coworkers.
6. I will not be adding permanent extra weight (cabinets, kitchen setup, insulation, et cetera) as many VanLifers do. I want the extra space, but I also want the extra space to be readily convertible for any purpose: carrying dogs, carrying people, carrying stuff.

I've heard of 3 major players for the NV:
1. Quigley: seems the most well-known, but doesn't offer 4L and I've heard they do sloppy work for some of their Ford E series customers.
2. Advanced 4x4 Systems: Offers 4L with aftermarket parts, but I've heard they have bad customer service in terms of vehicle maintenance and records.
3. Tim Dahle Southtowne dealership: offers 4L and aftermarket/Nissan Titan parts/front end, but I've heard they have bad customer service in terms of vehicle maintenance and records.

Because this will be my do-everything-pretty-good vehicle, it will be my ONLY vehicle, so it needs to be reliable and servicable at a dealership near me.

What are your guys thoughts and experience?

And thank you for the help!

 

[Theshwed]

I believe Tim Dahle uses Advanced for their Nissan conversions, but I could be wrong. I was just at Advanced over lunch hour today doing my own research and believe I saw some Tim Dahle window stickers on the lot as I walked around. I haven't used advanced yet, but after seeing the shop and parts they are using I would not hesitate to. Randy was easy to talk to and willing to answer any question I had. The quality of the parts they use and work they do is legit. I can't speak to the past, just what I saw currently. Advanced will convert used vans, so if you are looking to save a few dollars, that narrows it down even further. I don't think you are going to go wrong choosing either Advanced or Quigley. Just don't be in a rush to take delivery from either of them.

I was focusing on Chevy/GMC vans so I can't offer too much detail about the Nissan's specifically.

 

[whith]

I can tell you that I've had two Quigley vans, one Ford and currently a Chevy, and their customer service has always been great. I've never seen or experienced anything that would imply sloppy work, and my diesel shop is also a 4x4 shop and they've always said that things look solid and well done.

 

[shenrie]

Not Happy with Advanced 4X4 - Sportsmobile Forum

I am happy with the 4x4 system it's self but of course that was new. They did fix my carrier bearing 2weeks later when I was able to get it to them (300 miles away) and I am grateful. However I have

www.sportsmobileforum.com

That’s just one thread regarding advanced on the smb forum. There’s more if you search. If you live near the shop, I might consider them, but if you aren’t just down the street, there’s no way in hell. All I did was talk to him on the phone and knew I wanted nothing to do with the guy.

Quigley has really good customer service and great record keeping. However, I just read one of their own passed away and that return calls/mails were currently slower than the norm. Usually though emails and info requested are within 24 hours.

Their craftsmanship on my ford is just fine, the lack of caster adjustments sucks, but nothing with their design has failed and my van is about to turn 200k. Last 50k have been at my hand and I’ve taken the thing numerous places I likely shouldn’t have.

 

[broncobowsher]

I believe Tim Dahle uses Advanced for their Nissan conversions, but I could be wrong. I was just at Advanced over lunch hour today doing my own research and believe I saw some Tim Dahle window stickers on the lot as I walked around. I haven't used advanced yet, but after seeing the shop and parts they are using I would not hesitate to. Randy was easy to talk to and willing to answer any question I had. The quality of the parts they use and work they do is legit. I can't speak to the past, just what I saw currently. Advanced will convert used vans, so if you are looking to save a few dollars, that narrows it down even further. I don't think you are going to go wrong choosing either Advanced or Quigley. Just don't be in a rush to take delivery from either of them.

I was focusing on Chevy/GMC vans so I can't offer too much detail about the Nissan's specifically.

Dahle does the work in-house from what I have found.

 

[Miles D]

Dahle does do the work in house with Nissan parts from the Titan. I purchased my 2019 NV from them and couldn't be more happy. They will also upfit them with aftermarket bumpers, roof racks, etc and seem to mostly use products from Avatar Metal Works. https://www.avatarmetalworks.com/nissan-nv-3500-vehicle-accessories I didn't get the upfitting from Dahle as I wanted to do this myself but it all looked high quality to me.

 

[AbleGuy]

Not Happy with Advanced 4X4 - Sportsmobile Forum

I am happy with the 4x4 system it's self but of course that was new. They did fix my carrier bearing 2weeks later when I was able to get it to them (300 miles away) and I am grateful. However I have

www.sportsmobileforum.com

That’s just one thread regarding advanced on the smb forum. There’s more if you search. If you live near the shop, I might consider them, but if you aren’t just down the street, there’s no way in hell. All I did was talk to him on the phone and knew I wanted nothing to do with the guy.

To be fair, that’s a really old complaint (from 2012).

Are there other more current threads showing whether these guys ever improved their customer service (or not)?

 

[shenrie]

Unless they’re under new ownership is it worth the risk? Again, possibly if I was close and could air my grievances in person when ignored by phone and email, but I’ve had custom work done in another state and got burned. It’s not worth the risk imo. I’ve had face to face conversations with 2 people that placed screwed. I’d heed the warnings unless you can find a recent thread somewhere with nothing but solid praise.

 

[llamalander]

If a Nissan dealer uses Titan parts on a conversion, they should be able to cover that in the warrantee-- as long as Nissan has dealers. The computers and electronics on my Frontier have only been accessible to dealers, so that's where I've had to go for the few repairs I've needed in the last 11 years.

 

[willywalderbeast]

I met a dude on the road a couple months ago in Kanab UT who had one converted I believe at advanced. Said he was into the rig for 90k for the conversion and aluminess front bumper and rack. Doesn’t seem worth the money to me but it did look great!