Chinook RV

Finally have the lift installed. Went with ActionVans 4.5" front lift with 2" rear block kit. Tires are Goodyear Duratrac 235/85/16. Along with lift also got from ActionVan Fox Shocks valved for rig, fox steering stabilizer and 2008 radius arms. Since I will be mild off road I elected not to get custom radius arms which allows for major off cantor wheeling.

Install completed by Truck Outfitters in Midlothian VA - they did great job, came in on budget and were great to work with. Owner there was able to nail fabrication work and gave great guidance along the way.

ActionVan was great as well. Larry was huge help and really helped out by overnighting rear block in a pinch. Kit installed easil without problems, everything was as promised.

Leaf Springs - my intent all along was to get custom leaf springs since I din't want a tall rear Block, my installer thought we could get leaf springs locally. Short story is once we put tires and lift on we realized we only needed 2" lift in rear since Chinook rear was 1 1/2" taller already. However we could not source block with 5/8" holes locally so with a call to ActionVan we were 2nd day aired delivered set. Chinook drives great so I saved a couple grand not needing leaf springs custom made, delivered and installed.

Few notes:
* I elected to go with the 4.5" lift as I didn't think I needed the added height of the 6" lift and I also didn't want to jump up to 33" or bigger tires.
* Rear block plate needed to be modified to fit properly.
* Rear mudflats taken off as precaution so tire doesn't risk hitting bolt keeping them on.
* Front bumper corner trimmed a little to avoid hitting tire if hit big bump, as a precaution.
* I kept MorRyde Rubber Shackles.

Rig drives great, so much better than before. It is less harsh over bumps with less thump, sways less in corners and curvy roads and steering tightened up. Addition of PowerStop brakes gives confidence when stopping.

Now with Chinook driving, looking and acting like I want, next project is bumpers than upgrading electronics/solar in Spring.

Picture before lift

More lift pics - not sure how to fix second two pictures??? They turn normal if you click on them to open.

Front well w/o lift: Front wheel with lift: Closeup of shocks/springs:

Only negative is Tirerack sent us 2 year old tires so Monday I plan to battle Tirerack over this, I wish I checked before install. I checked with local Goodyear and they said up to one year acceptable when they install.

A friend just had that happen with tires. I can't remember now if it was Tirerack or Discount Tire Online. I think maybe the latter. In his case they gave him X dollars coupon on a future purchase. I would have argued more, but of course don't know if I'd have been successful. Because of things like this, I've gone to only purchasing online if they will actually look at the tires and get a date from them (which they most often will). I also have any shop actually look at or show me the tires. When you only get 5-6 years, 2 years is 33-40% of the life. And I mean, come on, are you going to pay for a large pizza and they bring out one cut in half?!

Hey Camaro, sorry to pry but any chance I can bother you to post a photo of your block arrangement? From the rear ends I've seen so far, I can't envision a viable solution without new springs. I would love to see your creative approach, especially as a part of your generous and comprehensive post...
Thanks

Scott wrote: October 28th, 2018, 11:53 am Hey Camaro, sorry to pry but any chance I can bother you to post a photo of your block arrangement? From the rear ends I've seen so far, I can't envision a viable solution without new springs. I would love to see your creative approach, especially as a part of your generous and comprehensive post...
Thanks

Hope these help, best I can do w/o taking tires off:

two more.....

I was wondering how dura-tracs would look on a chinook. Looks great! Will be looking forward to how you upgrade your solar.

Went on short maidan voyage to foothills, about 250 miles rountrip over highway, secondary and curvey mountain roads. Van drove great with upgrades and as always gets comments wherever we go. Now ready for Overland East, hopefully they don't treat this as class C and send me to RV area.

Only down side is mileage drop, looks like I lost around 1 - 1 1/2 mpg.

I looks awesome!!