Which 4x4 Van Conversion Has the Smoothest Ride?

[xped]

I just did a quick search and found these marine suspension bases.
The top one is just like a Montero base.
They offer several swivels but you have to make an adapter.
The bases are expensive, I got both of mine with seats for $50 bucks at my local junkyard.

http://www.go2marine.com/category.do?no=14651

 

[Vans-are-freedom]

I really like this idea as a way to improve comfort for the disabled driver or passenger without having to completely re-engineer the suspension of the vehicle.

I wonder if it would be possible to place these seats on a swivel base which would ease transfer in & out of a wheelchair.

Great info guys. I am following this thread very closely.

That sounds like what I need. I'm going to look into it.

 

[dsw4x4]

Ride quality is very subjective like Chris said some people are more than happy with their crap ride while others are still complaining about their cush ride. As someone said most stock trucks have about 2 inches of up travel to the bumps but the catch to that is most stock trucks do not weigh 10 to 12k pounds like a smb and even if a super duty had that much weight on it most the weight would be on the rear axle. On a smb that weighs 12k you can bet there is at least 5k on the front axle so all of the sudden 2 inches of up travel and the same rate spring as a truck is not enough. If you take into consideration how you will be using your van, how you will load the van and what is the most important to you, like ride quality, handling on and off road etc... Then you weigh your options most 4wd conversion companies do not give you a choice on your spring rate and shocks. You just get what they are serving regardless of how you want use your van or what you want to haul in your van. If you running empty 99% of the time you are going to want totally different springs and shocks than a 12k pound smb. Talk to the people you are thinking about using to do your conversion and let them know what you want out of your van if they do not want to cater to your needs move on. One benefit of coils is they are affordable and easy to swap out and change spring rates to dial in your suspension the way you see fit.
Good luck with your new build.
Derek

 

[loren85022]

Drew, swing thru Phx. You can bounce about in my Quigley. An aside; So far the custom lift hasn't let me down (so to speak).

You can sure throw a lot of money at improving the suspension and I suppose the seat as well. But barring a lotto win, I've found that driving at my own pace over the lines I prefer is the best way to keep the spine intact. Having ample onboard air so that you aren't reluctant to dropping the tires down to 20 or so PSI also keeps my clan happy.

 

[Vans-are-freedom]

I really like the Ride of my E350 79 Quadravan. It rides smoother than my Half Ton chevy suburban 4x4

 

[Ozrockrat]

My current experience is that my Quigley has softer suspension than my Advanced Four Wheel Drive conversion but has a really crappy turning circle and does not handle as well on the road (I have not had the Quigley off road or on washboard roads yet) Neither of them have the suppleness and travel I would like for traveling washboard roads.

Now my 6 wheel land cruiser in Australia has a hybrid setup with leaf springs for axle location and coils for the actual suspension. It is excellent over any surface and articulates better than the straight leaf system. I still run only leaf springs in the back 2 axles (I originally converted this to a hybrid as well) but this was to get better carrying capacity not for the ride quality.

All that said I am considering converting the Quigley to the UJOR kit to increase travel and hopefully reduce the turning circle.

 

[OBORG]

Smooth Ride

I have driven every 4x4 ford van .Not to brag but mine rides smoother than and of them i have drove out there. Its coils with just the right soft spring with long arm kit. Radflo Shocks with the right valving. An lots of up travel. We are in North Carolina ,Georgia ,Tennessee running all the roads and fire roads. Very smooth ride.

 

[deserteagle56]

My current experience is that my Quigley has softer suspension than my Advanced Four Wheel Drive conversion but has a really crappy turning circle and does not handle as well on the road (I have not had the Quigley off road or on washboard roads yet) Neither of them have the suppleness and travel I would like for traveling washboard roads.
All that said I am considering converting the Quigley to the UJOR kit to increase travel and hopefully reduce the turning circle.

I now have a few thousand miles on my '07 Quigley running dirt roads of varying roughness - everything from smooth, highway-like roads where I could easily run 60, to rough and rocky and washed-out every few yards. Sandy washboards are by far the worst. In my experience the Quigley coils are more supple than the leaf suspension that came on my 1976 Terravan. Problem is, I was able to air down the tires on the Terravan and that let the tires maintain contact with the road and made the ride really decent when on washboards. If I try airing down the Quigley below 65 psi it induces a terrible death wobble on any rough road surface. Quigley has just sent me a new, redesigned track bar and steering dampner that is supposed to help. I am heading for the wilds of Utah in a couple weeks so I will soon find out how the new combination works. If it doesn't, I may also be talking to Chris about going to leaf springs!

And you're absolutely correct about the turning circle...I thought that one of the main reason for going to coils (as did Ford in 2005 on the Superduties) was to better the turning circle. My Terravan would turn on a dime compared to the Quigley!

 

[loren85022]

DesertEagle: very interested in your Quigley changes. I'm driving 08 and can't stand how it handles washboards. Can you please post detail pics before and after if possible.

 

[dsw4x4]

Coils are not what allows a van to turn a sharper radius axle design is what gives you a tighter turning radius. When I do a 4wd conversion I only use the new coil sprung super duty axle for several reasons but one is because the ball joints are pushed further out on the axle closer to the center of the rim, this gives allows a tighter turning radius and works a lot better with the small van fender wells because the scrub radius is a lot tighter. It allows you to run a larger tire with less lift. This why all the newer trucks do not have a deep dished rims like the trucks of old days. All of this geometry is a result of years engineering to give trucks better ride and handling.
My new 4wd conversions will turn circles around my old quigly as far as turning radius is concerned. Probably 15 feet tight if I had to guess.
Deserteagle56,
Your death wobble can come from many things the track bar may help it but usually if you load a quigly or the rear springs sag it is enough change in the geometry to throw off your caster once that happens you introduce death wobble the problem with quigly is you cannot adjust this with stock arms. Quigly makes their systems as cheap as possible to mass produce them. By adding adjustable control arms you can then get caster adjusted accordingly and eliminate DW the right way. I say the right way but that is only if the rest of your front end components are in good working order, worn out steering and axle parts can also cause dw but if everything else is in good working order caster is usually the culprit.
As for ride quigley ride it easy to dial in to your likes. I have mine just the way I like it I can blow down windy canyon roads and not get sloshed all over or I can jump on the highway and do 80 through the mountains towing my comp ski boat and two motorcycles in the back and never feel unsafe and the gravel road up to my house that is full of wash board I can travel at speeds much higher than deemed safe and not rattle out a filling. When wheeling I disconnect the sway bar and the thing flexes to the moon for a big van. I once had the dw issue new track bar bushings were my fix and now with adjustable control arms it has never been an issue again.
Derek