Video tour of the 4x4 Wheelchair Accessible Van for Expeditions

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmYohGerfo4

First effort for me so be gentle....matter of fact it would be best if someone who knew what they were doing volunteered to take over editing...best if someone shot the video also!

We shot more video outdoors and want to complete the tour but for now this is something so folks can see the rig and sign up for outings.

Enjoy
 

Grim Reaper

Expedition Leader
Looks good to me!


I almost went to work for a guy named Hank Dibble in the Atlanta area that was a DV himself. He had a company where he did consulting on handicap accessibility. I was doing some custom installs of Cell phones for him both in vehicles and on power wheel chairs (back when a hand held was $1200).

Anyway I know Sportsmobile seems to be more Ford Biased but I think that the Chevy vans might be a better vehicle as the dog house on the new models seems to encroaches less into the cabin making the transition to face forward much easier. The driver seat does not need to slide to the rear nearly as much as a result allowing more room in the rear for cabinetry.

Would they be open to doing conversions with the GM product?
http://www.chevrolet.com/express/pictures/ look at the interior and the cup holders and bin can come off and the dog house is flush with the face of the dash. The foot well are also much bigger then the ford and the tilt wheel makes for a lot of clearance.

So what is different in the rear to make functionality better? I'd like to see reefer and work space mounted to where the user could swing their knees under it.
 

JayGannon

Adventurer
Nice work, gives a good overview, Audio could do with some tweaking and cleaning up but otherwise great man,
Out of interest what laptop are you guys ising in the WAVE?
 

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
SMB West is happy to build on the Chevy platform from what I know..but you would have to double check with them. I know it is on their website.
Good news on the doghouse and I will look into that, thanks.

Thanks for the audio feedback, I am beyond a newbie at this...
We used the Kodak Zi8 with a wireless lapel mic for recording and then edit with Sony Vegas 9
I have no idea how to fix audio but my real hope is that we will get some folks who want to have fun volunteering to edit the video...and if anyone is local to where we are then shoot it also.

I have 18hrs of Continental Divide Expedition HD footage that I have never done anything with...it kills me.

Anyway thanks for the reply's, watch for the rest of the parts which cover the back of the rig, outside and in the field......as I am able to complete them.
 

JayGannon

Adventurer
Lance, if you give me an address via PM Ill post you a hardrive for he COntinental Divide and whip something together if you want? Or if you can think of an easier way to get it to me. I have no clients for the next 4-5 weeks or so so might as well try and get something useful done with the time?
lemme know..

Jay @ the factory productions.

www.thefactory21.com
 

JayGannon

Adventurer
Na seriously n its no biggie, I love the concept and the feeling behind DE, reminds me of my grandmother who spent the last 10 years of her life in a chair because of a botched hiP operation and heR attitude to it was well I did X,Y,Z before this why let this affect me.
And can never pass up the opportunity to do something good with my time as opposed to browsing ExPo :p
 

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Hey JayGannon,
That is insanely cool of you!
I transfered the tape to disk so can send you the disk..
I will get info by pm

thanks thanks!
 

howard101

New member
Hello,
I live in Toronto and I was looking for handicap vans.
I need to know how much the rental cost is and where I can find one.
Can anyone please help me.
 

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Hello,
I live in Toronto and I was looking for handicap vans.
I need to know how much the rental cost is and where I can find one.
Can anyone please help me.

There is a company called Wheelchair Getaways that rents 2wd vans around the country, they are usually mini vans.

As far as I know there are no 4wd wheelchair vans for rent, including the Disabled Explorers Sportmobile, well until I my $75K loan paid off :)

Red Crocs,
Well thanks for the comments but there are a few things you should be aware of...
As far as my research has show it is very tough to lower the floor of a 4wd van, if you have any examples that have held up to tough off road driving it would be great to see them and get the info out to others.
Also when I looked into the cost of lowering the floor it would add around $10,000 to the build and Sportsmobile wasn't sure if any of their other mods would work. I work as an ICU RN to be the primary funder of Disabled Explorers, there are only so many dollars to work with.
Matter of fact without the support of Sportmobile West and Alan & Lis personally the project would not have happened at all. The other company that supported the project like Equipt/National Luna, ARB, Nitto, Atlas and more (see our website) were beyond gracious.

Chris is not the main driver, but a great volunteer. And just so you know me doesn't drive from his chair in his own 4wd rig. Matter of fact most manual chair users I have met don't drive from their chairs...most power chair users do.

The Sportsmobile WAVE (wheelchair accessible van for expeditions) was designed by me to reach as wide an audience as possible, strokes/amputees/paras/incomplete quads/MS/MD and more.
When a person wants their own rig they can design it to suit them, in my case I am trying to just get people out there.

Not trying to be harsh, it has been a tough year paying for it (thanks to those who have donated as every dollar helps), it is good to hear comments and learn new things, just thought you should be aware of the details that went into the design.
 

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