Mass_Mopar
Don't Litter
What's overlanding without a little corrosion?? Love the decals :safari-rig:
Boomer the Quadravan 4x4 Camper
- Thread starter spencyg
- Start date
Arctic Travelller
Adventurer
You do know that 5200 is the devils glue don't you?
Darkrider
Adventurer
Thanks to the laws here i am stuck leaving it 2wd. But one thing i have learned over the years is that with the right tires and a locker or limited slip of some type in the rear diff...it is quite surprising to see where one can manage to get a 2wd into. So the plan at the moment is to gut it out and change the lay out of the interior and more then likely fit a limited slip or locker in the rear end. Combine that with some good all terrains i should have a good unit to get to most of the areas i may wish to travel. Will def post a thread when i start on it. Great build so far and def looking forward to updates!
Wow. There has been a lot of stuff going on since the last update. I just returned from an amazing adventure with the guys from Mountain State Overland in their tour of the Northeast. Not going to discuss many of those happenings since there is a whole series coming out of the adventure on YouTube later this summer, but lets just say the bar is about to get much much higher.
Leading up to the trip there has obviously been quite a bit of prep. The roof needed to be prepped before the rack could be finished up, so I needed to reseal all roof penetrations and installed a new metal roof hatch.
This was bedded in 3M 4000 which is a slightly less aggressive UV stabilized marine sealant. Once that was in, the other rack mounting rail was bonded to the roof.
The rack was then brought up and the final mounting feet were welded in.
I'd love to tell you this was a seamless process, but it wasn't. In my haste I didn't weld the roof tabs with spacers to account for the massive amount of movement Aluminum makes when welded, so there was lots of grinding and sanding to get everything how I wanted it.
After that fiasco was sorted, the rack came back down for paint and wiring of the rack lights and solar panel connection.
The connection to the roof is thru a IP69K rated metal disconnect from Automation Direct. It isn't top-shelf equipment but has proven to be more than rugged for anything I'll throw at it.
Leading up to the trip there has obviously been quite a bit of prep. The roof needed to be prepped before the rack could be finished up, so I needed to reseal all roof penetrations and installed a new metal roof hatch.
This was bedded in 3M 4000 which is a slightly less aggressive UV stabilized marine sealant. Once that was in, the other rack mounting rail was bonded to the roof.
The rack was then brought up and the final mounting feet were welded in.
I'd love to tell you this was a seamless process, but it wasn't. In my haste I didn't weld the roof tabs with spacers to account for the massive amount of movement Aluminum makes when welded, so there was lots of grinding and sanding to get everything how I wanted it.
After that fiasco was sorted, the rack came back down for paint and wiring of the rack lights and solar panel connection.
The connection to the roof is thru a IP69K rated metal disconnect from Automation Direct. It isn't top-shelf equipment but has proven to be more than rugged for anything I'll throw at it.
Before I could mount up the rack, the roof needed to be painted. The first part of this was to sand all the stripes down with a DA sander and 150g abrasives.
It was then time to finish up mounting the ladder mounts.
Once the last of the mounts were applied and the roof was relatively smooth (we were NOT going for anything resembling perfection here), I re-sealed the two side windows up top with the same 3M 4000 used for the roof vent. Everything was then masked and primed with Petit EasyPrimer. The weather was remarkably uncooperative, so I primed and painted between storms. It was stressful and I didn't enjoy myself in the least, but it finally got done and the roof rack was mounted.
Between storms, the rear upper ladder was painted.
And all together..
Of course, I couldn't just take off on a 10 day trip without a shakedown cruise, so 4 days before leaving we loaded up for a couple nights in VT.
The shakedown was a really good idea because I discovered that the van was running a little warm. Upon arrival home and with 36 hours before departure I replaced the thermostat and fixed the final leaking connection on the radiator. I also mounted my very sweet Midland MXT100 GMRS radio and printed up a prototype cup holder.
The roof rack lights were wired up and it was time to roll.
SG
It was then time to finish up mounting the ladder mounts.
Once the last of the mounts were applied and the roof was relatively smooth (we were NOT going for anything resembling perfection here), I re-sealed the two side windows up top with the same 3M 4000 used for the roof vent. Everything was then masked and primed with Petit EasyPrimer. The weather was remarkably uncooperative, so I primed and painted between storms. It was stressful and I didn't enjoy myself in the least, but it finally got done and the roof rack was mounted.
Between storms, the rear upper ladder was painted.
And all together..
Of course, I couldn't just take off on a 10 day trip without a shakedown cruise, so 4 days before leaving we loaded up for a couple nights in VT.
The shakedown was a really good idea because I discovered that the van was running a little warm. Upon arrival home and with 36 hours before departure I replaced the thermostat and fixed the final leaking connection on the radiator. I also mounted my very sweet Midland MXT100 GMRS radio and printed up a prototype cup holder.
The roof rack lights were wired up and it was time to roll.
SG
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Without delving into the details, I'll post up a few of the pictures I took during the trip with Mountain State Overland. We explored portions of NH and Maine, traversed Mt Washington (Boomer did NOT participate in that climb!), drove some rally cars at Team O'Neal Rally School, Caught some big salmon, saw lots of bears, and generally had an amazing time.
Of course, with so many things struck from my "to-do" list, I've not got a whole new round of modifications and upgrades that are coming to the top. I'm hoping to make a trip into the North Maine Woods next month and maybe a bit of adventuring in the fall. I'm also starting to think about DRAM4 and what that adventure looks like now that the journey has been successfully completed already.
So stay tuned...lots more to come.
SG
Of course, with so many things struck from my "to-do" list, I've not got a whole new round of modifications and upgrades that are coming to the top. I'm hoping to make a trip into the North Maine Woods next month and maybe a bit of adventuring in the fall. I'm also starting to think about DRAM4 and what that adventure looks like now that the journey has been successfully completed already.
So stay tuned...lots more to come.
SG
Bikersmurf
Expedition Leader
I'm glad to see one of us is making progress. This way I can live vicariously.
ClubWagon
Observer
I'm glad to see one of us is making progress. This way I can live vicariously.
You can say that again! It seems like every time I try to work on my van something else seems to always need the time or the money. I guess that's what happens when you have 8 kids. 😉
The progress of Boomer has been awesome!
So many cool ideas. 👍
Arctic Travelller
Adventurer
This is exactly what we expect in Alaska too. At least you had enough time between storms to finish, here in Juneau it's pretty well the norm to start a project with a reasonable weather window forecast, but once committed, the rain begins. I now look at these rain dimpled projects as having non-skid surfaces. Anyway, nice job on the rack, and great photos. Will you post a link when the video comes out?
Petrolburner
Explorer
Looks great!