Van life? How about 4x4 offroad van life?! 4x4 converted van in for service. From Lucore Automotive
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- Опубликовано: 23 мар 2020
- The Van Life world is alive and strong in the United States and for good reason! Whether it's someone who is a rambler at heart wanting to enjoy the incredible roads and vistas of the American Outdoors, or someone who's in a pinch due to the ever increasing cost of housing the appeal of van travel is certainly strong! There are tons of options people find for doing the van life or even a long great american road trip, for our customer Chris however NONE of those options would work.
Before we jumped on board with putting our builds and projects on RUclips we took this 70s Dodge Tradesman van from a little comfortable cruising van with a not very healthy 318 v8 to something CONSIDERABLY different. First off, the standard rear wheel drive setup just wouldn't work if this thing was to see off road duty. Secondly, it needed to go up in order to clear obstacles it may encounter. Thirdly, it just needed a bit more grunt and go because well... Hotrod Van. So out came the small block mopar for a general light rebuild, also out came the transmission, suspension, steering, and pretty much everything else. Underneath the boxy van body went the 4 wheel drive setup from a Dodge Ram Charger donor vehicle, by NO means a small feat! Also converted to a 3 link setup from Artec Industries at the same time. Unfortunately for us the Mopar folks never offered these vehicles in a 4 wheel drive variant so there were a WHOLE lot of modifications to be made!
Today this monster van is in the shop after an epic 19,000 mile road trip around north america, we're seeing some oil leaks and other issues that need to be resolved. Typically speaking most hot rods won't see that kind of use in a lifetime but this rig was built to roam and play!
So with this video we introduce you to the rig, and get tearing into it freeing the motor for rebuild. Fortunately, when building this machine we had planned around servicing so we get a chance to check out how well engineered our solution was!
We want to thank all our friends, family, fans, subscribers, and supports who have stood behind us and allowed us to help make their automotive dreams come true... or keep their dreams on the road. Lucore Automotive is a small business in Central Ohio, just outside of the Columbus / Dublin area, family owned and customer focused. We work all all sorts of vehicles from the mild to the wild and literally everything in between. We hope you enjoy this video and our others, and will continue to support us into the future!
Music provided by and licensed through Hooksounds.com
"Road Trip" - Nicolai Heidlas 
Авто/Мото
Definitely one of the coolest and most unique projects we have undertaken but it was a HUGE amount of work! Was it worth it in the end? We certainly think so, it's also what's motivating us to begin the Jet Ski Haulin' Church Van project! We hope you enjoy this video, more to come!
Wow an honest mechanic that will stand behind his custom work dude your a unicorn
If we build it, we stand behind it. Now with that said we AREN'T going to hold responsibility for someone modifying or messing with what we've set up. All things we are extremely proud this van literally left our shop with maybe 100 test miles on it and made a 19,000 mile road trip across the continent! You never imagine someone doing that with a hotrod much less a custom off road van but... it did it and made it back alive!
I had a 77/350ci, Vandura 3500 4X4. Conversion was done by a specialty shop, ordered by the dealership. Fully Camperized to a 'Motorhome' designation (no raised roof). Bought it with 40k miles, body was mint. I had it 22 yrs, body was still straight, no dents or accidents.I surely loved it, and still miss having it.
Now that's what I'm talking about, just found one in South Australia sitting in the shed for $5000, It's an ex US Navy van that was used to move people around an army base in South Australia, thanks for the vids take care 👍😁🇦🇺
I always put a chunk of old radiator hose on loose battery cables, just in case
Not a bad tip/trick!
Very cool. Keep up the great videos and stay safe.
Thank you Sir! We'll try to keep cranking out content as long as you all are watching it!
I just learned somthing,drop the motor instead of pulling it out the front that way the grill and rad. stay put.
Yes Sir! That's how they were built in the factory, that's how we take them back out! ;)
@@LucoreAuto I think that you are the 1st person that was wise enough to know I am on the girlfriends computer, thumbs up to you Sir.
Some awesome ride..💪♥️ im in the process of doin a d150 shorty on a ramcharger ...🤟
Thank you, we are REALLY happy with how this thing turned out... and that it survived a 19,000 adventure across the continent! Good luck on your project, stick with it even when it gets frustrating!
This thing is so awesome, I wish there was a video on how you built it, or going over the details of the build. I want to lift my 78 b100, but probably going to keep it 2wd for the forseeable future. Do you have any photos of how you lifted it? I was going to go with leaf springs from a heavier van and strut spacers. Thanks again for posting this!!
Love this build! But it smells like socks! LOL
How would YOU smell after 19,000 wild miles across the continent!? :)
@@LucoreAuto I'd smell like old socks, and Armani Code!
love it
Thank you! So did we once it was all finally done! :)
Nice. I want to do a dodge van build with my Ram 2500 24V Cummins. Trying to find the right van has been hard
Ohhhh now THAT would be something! Just go into it with the knowledge that you have a LOT of work and engineering ahead of you!
lots of guys would but its said that 5.9 just wont fit it's just to damn long but the 4BT or 2.8R or one of the 3.8 or 4,5 I4 will go
my brother was going to buy a new GMC 4X4 van back in 1979.
Really expensive,i believe sticker was around 12k.
The odd thing with vans, EVERYONE else built 4x4 vans other than Dodge. So getting this thing engineered and assembled DEFINITELY took some doing!
12k in 1979 money is DEFINITELY a penny, hope that was with the shag carpet option! ;)
@@LucoreAuto I have a 1979 D20 Dodge Wrangler 3/4 ton 4WD van...Probably only one year and 600 total built. It was a "factory" conversion...so it is noted on the door plate...Talk about fun!!
I want to put a chevy k 10 chassis and drive train under my 64 dodge A 100 van. The problem is I'll need to cut the van body in half and lengthen it by 3 feet to do it. I don't mind doing that I've got enough material and tools but I want to see if I can build it so the van body can be raised off the chassis and the chassis rolled out from under it for ease of access. Not quite sure how to go about it exactly.
why wouldn't you shorten the frame and rear driveshaft...... that would be a lot less work than sectioning a van body. the dodge van is a unibody design, you will have your work cut out for you either way.
I hate a 709 tradesman 200 commercial van. Couldn't keep the carburetor set up on my 318
It's certainly not a racecar by any means but it rumbles around surprisingly well. Anywhere you take this thing point stare and ask about, it may not be pretty or fast but it's certainly unique!
Time-lapse is ok.
We include the timelapse portions in these just to give people a sense of scale on how much work goes into the actual work. We know those parts aren't for everyone but some people enjoy the "how does it happen" aspect. Either way, thanks for watching and commenting!
For sale?
If the shop is dirty as a pig then you need to take your vehicle to a different shop.
Call utg uncle Tony garage for help with mopar 318 engines or just do an old fashioned rebuild balance and blueprint the motor and rebuild tranny at same time it'll save $$$$ in long run and a mad customer