The Final Step In My 4x4 Safari Van Rebuild - Complete Front End Refresh
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- So in this episode, I did a complete front end refresh on my 4×4 swapped 1998 GMC Safari. I replaced the upper and lower control arms, tie rods, drag link, idler arms, and the CV axles. It was a hard job, but it should be the final upgrade I plan on doing before a summer full of vanlife adventures. I have big plans this summer, but the van definitely some work, and this is the final step in that process. I have many other videos on all the work I've done to the van, from the original build all the way up to the most recent work I've done. Im now looking forward to getting out and about this summer, and using this van to it's full potential.
I bought all these parts off of Rockauto.com and I included pictures of the listings in this video. Most of the parts were Mevotech brand, but I think I also used a couple parts from Cardone and the Idler arms were Moog.
Follow me on Instagram @SARGEinc and consider donating to my parts fund on Patreon / sargeinc
Have a good day!
Great job ..n no busted knuckles..
Onward n upward ...as allways ..waiting for the next one..
Thank you. It actually did go pretty smoothly other that the stuck bolt lol
Heck yes son. Nice work.
Thank you!
Man this looks like a huge job. Kudos to you for tackling this. After watching this I’d be more inclined to letting mine fall apart, hah.
😂😂 I definitely get that. All the control arm bushings were in bad shape, but they were still there, so how bad could they really be?
Nice job, dude
Thank you!
That looked like such an insane job lol.
It's going to be a new van!
Honestly it's not that far off a new van lol. If I keep driving it I'm sure I'll get to replace everything that's left, engine, transmission, differentials...
Hope you caught your shout out in this one!
@@SARGEinc I did! it was funny lol :D
Pops and I enjoyed this video. My father is a mechanic by trade. He himself and I say great job, buddy! Informative and entertaining 👌🏼 👍🏻 👏🏼 😀.
Thank you. Nothing worse than knowing a real mechanic is out there critiquing my shoddy workmanship😂
@SARGEinc 😆 nah pops is kind of guy that what impressed him is that you're saving money by DIY. Pps.. late last night, I told my mom about next Friday national 🍩 day she said " oof, it's an national day we have to celebrate it and grab a box and this time I want my powdered 🍋 filled you three boys wolfed em down. It's Mama's turn! " Lol 😆 😂 🤣 Mom's there're the best!
When I replaced my idler arms I discovered that nearly every aftermarket part had a really week pivot. They basically flexed up and down out of the box which affects toe a lot. The originals had a really beefy bushing to pivot on. Have a look at the oem picture on rock auto to see what I mean. Of the two different styles of idler arm available besides oem... I would get the "L" shaped ones since they mimmik to oem style better.
I think my original ones were the original. The pivot was like double the size of the aftermarket ones. It was so bulky that it slightly interfered with the socket when I undid the bolts holding it on. When I looked at rock auto all the replacements all kind of looked the same, and non of them looked nearly the size of the ones that came off. I just kind of assumed they were all going to be mediocre.
Good job 👍, hope you remembered to grease all those new parts, ball joints, idler arms, tie rod ends, etc 👍
I greased them and refilled my diff that leaked out before I took it to the shop. Probably should of mention it in the video, but as always, I don't really know what I'm doing😂
@@SARGEinc you did well , there’s a few things I would have done differently, but I’ve been doing that kind of stuff for over 50 years, great job 👍
Nice job, you got some good patience it seems, maybe off camera the expletives' flow lol
I definitely have pretty good patience. I was also mentally prepared for this to suck, so if you expect the worst, it's easy to handle the not that bad lol.
@@SARGEinc good way to look at it
Al Gore rhythm
I was almost too canadian to understand this. I had to say it out loud a few times before it made sense😂
I am laughing at your saw seeing as I just and I mean just put my RYOBI away great saw. I got the 199 dollar kit that when I had money.
It worked pretty good, although I have nothing to compare it to.
@@SARGEinc I have had many saw all I cut up a school bus. Went threw a bout 10 of them and 4 grinders. The were all Walmart brand saws . You seen them the one that take allen wrench to change the blade. Yea the allen wrench you just put down and now you can't find . LOL LOL
That's savage. The vibrations these things give off would be a lot if I just had to keep going and going. I did have a couple times where the blade pulled out of the saw, so maybe an Allen key wouldn't of been so bad lol
I always wanted one of these vans, but every video I look up is just people doing repairs. lol.
Seeing as the newest Astro/Safari made is over 19 years old now, there will be plenty of videos on repairs. As with any older vehicle, they do require upkeep and repairs to keep them going.
However mine is a daily driver, and gives me very few problems. I keep up on the preventative maintenance.
Ya they definitely need work. If you get one that has had a bunch of work already done, you might be in better shape. Anything this old is going to require work though.
@@SARGEinc there's a guy out here in Sidney that builds out these vans for rental. I think its called Cool Campers or something. He also runs the mechanics shop next door... I'm always checking in to see if they're selling any of the vans as I know he puts tons of work into them!
@@ParadoxdesignsOrg You definitely need a mechanics shop if you're going to rent these out lol
Great Video! The Reality Of Working On The GMC Astro'Fari, I Did A Lower Ball Joint On One Of My AWD Astro's And It Was A Nightmare With The Rivets! Dealer Said It's EZ You Just Cut The Ball Joint In Half And Don't Need To Take The A-Frame/Control Arms Out To Get The Ball Joint Out, Just Cut It? Ahhh? So All You Need To Do To Replace It Is Cut The New Ball Joint In Half To Install It? Total Moron's, If You Want It Done Right You Have To Do It Yourself Apparently? Great Job! It Looks Awesome But I Never Do More Than One Job At A Time. My Old Brain Will Forget Stuff. Not To Mention All The Beer I Drink To Get The Job Done, Was Watching A Few Mike Z Video's Of Rear End Diff Problems So I Am Going To Change My Cover And Gear Oil And Have A Look, I Got 60K and They Say Change The Oil Every 50K. Looks Like Motul MOTYLGEAR 75W90 And 4oz Of TuffOil And A New Diff Cover Will Be My Next Project. Mike Had Some Crazy Problems. A Great Guy Willing To Do It Right Himself and A Story About When You Bring It To The Pro's And They Ruin Your Truck And Blame It All On You, $3,000.00 And You Get a 90 Day Warrantee Tells You How Much They Are Confident About Their Work. Thanks To People Like You Guys, I Just Watch Videos And If I Think I Can Do It I Do and Save Thousands! Subaru Rear Wheel Hubs $900 Each Dealer Price Installed My Price $159 Each.
Oh!, I Forgot To Mention About Why I Needed To Replace My Lower Ball Joint In My AWD Astro Van! I Removed The Ball Joint And Took It Apart To See That Whoever Worked On The Van Prior To Me Buying It Pumped Sand In All The Fittings Never Cleaning Them Off Prior To Putting The Grease Gun On Them! I Figured They All Had Sand And Sold The Van Because Of It. All Vans I Have Owned I Do It Myself And Clean Them Surgical And Unlimited Miles They Never Need Anything Greaseable In The Front End And I Bought Grease Zurk Rubber Boots For All The Fittings As Well. Do You Think Someone Working At Jiffy Lube Cares About Your Ball Joints? Your Better Off Not Greasing Them Than To Pump Sand In Them Thats Why The Put The Rubber Boots To Keep The Sand Out.
The amount of money you can save by watching RUclips videos and just winging it is crazy. A mechanic shop will probably charge at least $150 an hour, which unless you're making the same, those bills will quickly outpace your time investment. And like you said, a lot of times they aren't even doing that good of work.
I also remember trying to do 2 jobs on my old 4runner one day, but after the first one I was half cut on Hey Y'all hard iced teas, and the 2nd job was brakes and I couldn't trust myself with that and quit😂. I'm a little more sober when I work now lol.
I Am Selling A 2002 AWD SLT, All Leather, With Tow/Haul, Front/Rear AC/Heat Etc. Always Garaged And Everything Works On Craigslist Massachusetts, Elderly Owned If Any Van Life People Are Looking For One! Needs Nothing. $11,500 I'm Keeping My 1995 LT AWD. My Father Passed Away And This 2002 Was His Van, He Had Been Retired For 33 Years And Never Took It Out In Bad Weather, He Bought A Honda Pilot in 2012 And Hated It And Only Used This Van For His Local Shopping Stuff. I Kinda Like The Pilot But I Took It To The Dealer Looking at What A Trade On a New Honda Passport Would Be? Both Service And Sales Said Never Trade The 2012 For The New Trash They Are Selling. Hybrid Is Just A Way Of Saying That In 7-10 Years The Batteries Cost 4-12 Thousand To Replace Depending On How Many Cells Are Bad? These Old Vans Are Looking Better All The Time! Change The Oil And Drive Them, They Are Not Off-Road Engineered.
I Sold a 1998 AWD Astro LT For $2,500 Totally Rusted out But Looked Mint With Over 400K Miles To Get My Non-Rusted 1995 LT 18 Cans Of Undercoat And 6 Years Later the 95 Has Cost Me Really Nothing! Any Money I Spend Is Preventative Maintenance Knowing How To Get The Most Out Of These Vans!
Window Motors Last Much Longer If You Silicon The Window Tracks. Sometimes The Life Of The Van Or You Can Buy Aftermarket Motors That Last 5 Days From Brand New To Save a Few Bucks. My 95 Is All Original Other Than Tires So To Save Lots Of Money Just Leave It Alone And Drive It So Mileage Is Not The Problem! It's Neglect And Worst Of All Shit Mechanics! Nothing Worse Than Paying Some Douchebag To Ruin Your Van. Ask Mike Z