Ujoint Offroad Colorado van build thread!

UjointoffroadCO

Well-known member
So now we are getting into spring 2019, Chris must have been pleased with the job I did on my van because he started sending people my way for conversions. First one was a partial conversion on a old people mover bus
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Next was a van that Ujoint had done in house that lives here in Denver. Just in need of some maintenance work.
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UjointoffroadCO

Well-known member
Not much changed with the van over the summer of '19. I just used the hell out of it. We put 35,000 miles on the van that summer. Only thing that was added was a smittybilt winch. I went back and forth a lot on what I wanted to do for a winch and I chose this one because all the guys in the 4x4 club I clear trails with use this one with not one major failure. It's a 12,000 wireless with synthetic rope. $600. You really can't beat it. Sure I'd like to have a warn, but I can buy 3 of these for a comparable warn unit.
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How bout a little photo recap of the summer
Thats actually my old ranger. Sold it to one of my best buddies
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Love it slick top, but I've gotta have that awning
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Another moab trip. Ended up going down to the north rim of the grand canyon on the same trip
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Great area at the north rim. You can camp right up on the edge of the canyon. Got hailed and snowed on pretty hard!
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So remember earlier when I said that por15 on the axle was a mistake? Well here is where I found that out. The roads out the canyon edge are perfectly grated long sweeping dirt roads and non one was around, so I was hitting them like I was in a rally car. Turns out about 60 miles of that will completely blast a axle housing down to bare metal.Im now using a epoxy primer and MRO flat black with much better results.
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Camped at a friends ranch outside of telluride
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On the stanceworks trip going through a avalanche field on the way up to crystal mill outside of aspen
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Clearing a avalanche field with C.O.R.E.
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Canoe trip near breckenridge
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top secret spot about as remote as you can get in Colorado
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Got a rear hitch ahead of a moab trip where I knew we were going to run fins and things
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Tin cup pass
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About the last trip of the year in the collegiate range
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eblau

Adventurer
Hotrod volvos and 4x4 vans in one shop?? Are you hiring mechanics? haha!

Seriously are you hiring?
 

Railvan

Adventurer
GREAT thread! Love to see the photos and hear your story about making what you wanted for years come true. The video was awesome too. As I sit here in NW Washington on a rainy afternoon, I would soooo love to be on the road somewhere enjoying a sunny afternoon with friends. Thanks for taking the time to share!
 

UjointoffroadCO

Well-known member
Through out the summer, I had been hearing this god awful knocking sound coming from under the van on washboard and rough roads. Sounded like it was coming from under the pass. side back doors. Couldn't find anything loose, so I kind of ignored it but it just kept getting worse. Finally found it one day. Remember when I said the 150 had different body mounts than everything else?
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the front 4 mounts are the normal puck style, then the center 6 are this style, then back to puck at the very back. Every single one of this style mount were broken, but the one right under the step was so collapsed that the metal tab there was banging off the bolt head that secured t to the frame. Removing these created a problem since I had built the interior with a base plate (over the top of the bolts) So with some careful measuring I hole saw'd through everything to get at all the fasteners.
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Luckily they all lined up under drawers, so nothing visual was messed up.
Ever seen $450 in rubber body mounts? I'm not a fan of dorman, but these are the only option available. Oem mounts have been NLA for many years, especially the weird 150 mounts. So i had to figure out if adapting the 250/350 mounts would work.
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Looking good!
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As you can see, it's not a ideal fit into the oblong hole in the frame with the puck style mount. but it worked out totally fine.
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Very pleased to have that headache out of my way. Also got me a 1/2" body lift! That had been bothering me for a very long time. One last trip out to telluride resulted in a catastrophic radiator failure pulling a pass. Luckily a local parts store had a 3 row in stock! Upgrade from the single row that was in it! oh, also somewhere in there I added the knock off ebay ARB lights to the bumper. They are adequate at best, but fit into my non existent budget at $75 shipped
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