Hello everyone! They call me The Face and I'm glad to be here.
First off: I apologize for skipping the formal introduction, and also if the following topic would have better been placed in a more specific category, but I am in somewhat of an urgent situation as I am leaving town in less than a week.
Recent major changes in my life have prompted me to drop everything and leave my hometown of Cleveland to head west. I have a unique occupation as a self employed tattoo supply merchant so since I make my living on the road anyway, I am already well suited for this type of adventure.
As I've always been a GM guy, my vehicle of choice was a 2003 Chevy Astro RWD with the Discovery conversion. High miles but extremely clean and well maintained with a super strong running engine and tranny.
I will be a part time "van dweller"..meaning my living situation will be about 1/3 motels, 2/3'rds sleeping inside the van or camping in National Forest/Parks.
I have made most of the necessary interior mods including removing the worthless rear power seat/bed (those bolts were a sunuvab***...I needed a friend with a torch to heat em up enough to budge and it was still a p.i.t.a) and building a suitable platform bed with storage for my tattoo supplies and necessities underneath.
My dilemma is a suspension issue but I decided to put this thread in the general section because I would love additional tips and advice on mods from seasoned van dwellers.
My only true love in life at the moment aside from my family is my Ducati Monster. It absolutely has to come with me and the solution I've found is a class III hitch + a hitch mounted motorcycle hauler. It weighs in at around 380 lbs dry and I'm "guessing" around 420 max full of gas and fluids. Factor in the weight of the hauler and I am thinking this rig will weigh close to, but not over, 500 lbs. All on the tongue of the hitch.
I need to order what I need to safely make this van suitable for this type of tongue weight. I have several hitch options that claim to handle a tongue weight of up to 600 lbs but the unibody nature of this van has me very concerned..am I right to be concerned about this? the metal underneath is not rusted or decayed. But it's still just thick sheet metal...in any case I will be welding several additional spots to fortify it wherever I can.
And the suspension...I have browsed the various threads about beefing up the saggy *** of these vans extensively but I'm still confused as to what route I should go..are heavy duty gas charged shocks sufficient? should I also add a leaf? or just find a better suited leaf spring from a donor? Or both? can this unibody even safely haul my moto in the first place?
I have about a $1000 budget to make this setup work but I would obviously like to spend less. A close family friend who is a "real" mechanic and talented fabricator will be assisting me.
Here is the hauler I am looking at: http://www.discountramps.com/smc-600-mo ... hauler.htm
Still unsure of which hitch to go with.
Your help is so very much appreciated and I'd like to add that I'm a bad *** vegan campfire cook and purveyor of fine tequila, rum, and pipe tobacco so if I meet you out on the road I can surely compensate in return.
First off: I apologize for skipping the formal introduction, and also if the following topic would have better been placed in a more specific category, but I am in somewhat of an urgent situation as I am leaving town in less than a week.
Recent major changes in my life have prompted me to drop everything and leave my hometown of Cleveland to head west. I have a unique occupation as a self employed tattoo supply merchant so since I make my living on the road anyway, I am already well suited for this type of adventure.
As I've always been a GM guy, my vehicle of choice was a 2003 Chevy Astro RWD with the Discovery conversion. High miles but extremely clean and well maintained with a super strong running engine and tranny.
I will be a part time "van dweller"..meaning my living situation will be about 1/3 motels, 2/3'rds sleeping inside the van or camping in National Forest/Parks.
I have made most of the necessary interior mods including removing the worthless rear power seat/bed (those bolts were a sunuvab***...I needed a friend with a torch to heat em up enough to budge and it was still a p.i.t.a) and building a suitable platform bed with storage for my tattoo supplies and necessities underneath.
My dilemma is a suspension issue but I decided to put this thread in the general section because I would love additional tips and advice on mods from seasoned van dwellers.
My only true love in life at the moment aside from my family is my Ducati Monster. It absolutely has to come with me and the solution I've found is a class III hitch + a hitch mounted motorcycle hauler. It weighs in at around 380 lbs dry and I'm "guessing" around 420 max full of gas and fluids. Factor in the weight of the hauler and I am thinking this rig will weigh close to, but not over, 500 lbs. All on the tongue of the hitch.
I need to order what I need to safely make this van suitable for this type of tongue weight. I have several hitch options that claim to handle a tongue weight of up to 600 lbs but the unibody nature of this van has me very concerned..am I right to be concerned about this? the metal underneath is not rusted or decayed. But it's still just thick sheet metal...in any case I will be welding several additional spots to fortify it wherever I can.
And the suspension...I have browsed the various threads about beefing up the saggy *** of these vans extensively but I'm still confused as to what route I should go..are heavy duty gas charged shocks sufficient? should I also add a leaf? or just find a better suited leaf spring from a donor? Or both? can this unibody even safely haul my moto in the first place?
I have about a $1000 budget to make this setup work but I would obviously like to spend less. A close family friend who is a "real" mechanic and talented fabricator will be assisting me.
Here is the hauler I am looking at: http://www.discountramps.com/smc-600-mo ... hauler.htm
Still unsure of which hitch to go with.
Your help is so very much appreciated and I'd like to add that I'm a bad *** vegan campfire cook and purveyor of fine tequila, rum, and pipe tobacco so if I meet you out on the road I can surely compensate in return.