GrooveChampion

At this point I just want to clean out my patio. Is anyone interested in this? Just pay the cost in shipping and I will send it to you. Otherwise I am going to recycle it.

I was supposed to receive the rack last night but it didn

Never mind. I just realized that you didn

Where did you get your angle iron? It looks like Lowe

I decided to follow your lead and go with the Smittybilt rack. While the t slot aluminum would have been a fun project, it would be more expensive after the fasteners are included. Have you looked at ladders? I have tried the no drill ladder that goes on the door from Advanced. It feels super solid. Unfortunately it is also about $450. Prime Design has a no drill ladder as well but it isn

I think that the 500 lb load limit from Nissan is the dynamic limit and not the static limit. The dynamic limit is related to the shift in center of mass of the vehicle and the likelihood of tipping over under evasive maneuvers at highway speeds. I have no doubt that the static limit is significantly higher. I know I have seen several racks out there that claim to have capacities of 750 lbs.

That looks great! I had similar thoughts regarding the Aluminess rack. I was looking at the Smittybilt but decided against it when I realized just how much of the roof capacity would be taken up by the rack. I was about to build my own using t slot aluminum for Fathers Day but I just dropped $2400 on my wife

So who made the roof rack? How much did it cost? I’ve been looking at getting a safari rack but would rather not drop the $2400 for the Aluminess rack. I have been thinking of building my own using t-slot aluminum. https://8020.net/?SID=m46f9qo1viinbsn7r43f2g33q7 I estimate that I could put something together for around $1000.

I was feeling a little envious of the electric transfer case in the Tim Dahle conversion. The mechanical lever on the Advanced conversion can be a press into my leg if don’t position it correctly. I new that Tim Dahle offered a 4x4 conversion when I bought mine from Ken Garff. I assumed that they were offering the Advanced conversions, just like Ken Garff. After hearing your experience with Tim Dahle, I am even happier with my choice to go with Ken Garff and Advanced. They have both been great.

I bought mine through Ken Garff, which is located just a few blocks away from Advanced. I live in New Mexico, so the process was a little involved. I knew that I wanted a full size van and wanted to convert it to a 4x4. I test drove the Ford, Chevy, Mercedes, and Nissan vans down in Albuquerque. I decided that the Nissan was the van for me. Then I started calling Nissan dealerships all over the west to see who would give me the best deal. Ken Garff gave me the best quote right away. No runaround. No haggling. I checked with other dealerships in the region that also stock Advanced conversions and confirmed that Ken Garff had given me the best deal. The lack of transportation cost to and from Advanced undoubtedly helps a lot but even before the transportation costs, they gave me the best quote. I worked with the folks from Ken Garff and Advanced remotely through phone calls and emails and finished the transaction before I flew up to pick up my van. All in all, I had a great experience.

Where did you see the 2 year / 24k warranty for Advanced? Their website indicates that it has a 1 year / 12k warranty on the parts and labor for a conversion of a used NV. It only states that new NV conversions maintain the full factory warranty and does not specify any other terms. http://advanced4x4vans.com/4x4-van/nissan-4x4-van-conversion/

I have a 4x4 conversion from Advanced with a 2” lift and 34” tires. I love it. I didn’t notice a significant difference in the ride from the stock NVP that I test drove.

I had always heard that Quigley didn’t include 4 low. The Tim Dahle all Nissan part conversion looks a little more polished than the Advanced conversion since it uses an electronic switch for the transfer case. You can check it out on YouTube It looks nice but that is a significant increase in price. I would have thought that it would be cheaper since it doesn’t require the labor involved in the cutting the frame and floor from the Advanced conversion. Over all I have been happy with my 4x4 NV from Advanced.

Anyone interested for $150 plus shipping?

ASD Dad, have you considered adding a second tank? I’ve heard of people adding them but haven’t looked into it too deeply.

I suspect that they just haven’t updated their website yet. I saw an NV with a 6 inch lift when I went to their shop just before Thanksgiving.

Here are the pictures of the brush guard. Obviously this will be an issue for any van with front parking sensors.

I was looking for a grill guard and the TrailFX E0028B was the only one that I found and unfortunately it didn’t have a picture when I bought it. So I couldn’t see that it was a brush guard instead of a grill guard. I tried installing it anyway and found that it interferes with the front parking sensors on my 3500 SL. I am selling it for $200 plus shipping.

I agree. Nissan taunts us with flashy videos of the Cargo X with the Cumins turbo diesel and then doesn’t deliver. I get compliments on my van all the time. And from what I heard from the dealership, they sell the 4WD versions of the NV that they get from Advanced as fast as they make them. Of course that is in Utah, where there are a lot more big families. Perhaps the lagging sales are due to the gas mileage. Other manufacturers have shown that you can improve gas mileage without sacrificing power with technologies like Ford’s Ecoboost and GM’s Active Fuel Management. I think Nissan needs to invest more into the development of the NV if they want to sell more of them.

So I just filled up my van after a lot of 4x4 driving and an hour and a half of stop and go driving in gridlocked traffic. 8.7 mpg.

So far I’ve never seen my mileage dip much below 10 mpg. Of course that could be because my commute is about half and half city/highway conditions, so I never see full city mileage. Although my commute is only about 5 miles each way and in the mountains so the engine might never get to go into a nice steady state, so it is all “city” miles even when half of it is at 55 mpg with no traffic lights. I will be interested in seeing my mileage next time that I fill up with all the time in 4x4 due to the 40”+ of snow that we have had. Regarding the interior of the Chevy Express, maybe they changed the interior between your 2010 and the 2017 that I test drove. It just felt like the engine in the cab crowded the driver space. My right knee was jammed against the center console and my left shoulder was smashed against the door frame. Then the cargo pocket on the door stuck out super far. I cut my leg but good on it when I tried to hop out. I’ve been getting in and out of trucks and vans for decades. I shouldn’t have to think about how to do it so I don’t injure myself. The second that I got into the NV, I knew that I had found the van for me. Super comfortable. This was a van that I could drive every day and not hate.

GM engines have their Active Fuel Management technology. This allows the engine to shut off some of the cylinders under light load conditions, creating better fuel efficiency. Unfortunately, this is another case where they won’t be sharing that technology with competitors. I originally wanted to get a Chevy Express instead of the NV because they are plentiful, cheap, and also have the body on frame instead of the unibody, but then I test drove one and I just about had to use a shoehorn to get me into the drivers seat. I also injured my self just trying to exit the van after the test drive. I’m tall (6’6”), but not so freakishly tall that I shouldn’t expect to be able to fit into one of the biggest vehicles that you can buy.

Too Bad you can’t get an NV with either an EcoBoost or Diesel engine. My old boss has a F150 with the EcoBoost and he loves it. Unfortunately, Ford dropped their body on frame vans. And then Nissan teases us with videos of the Cargo X with the Cumins Turbo Diesel. Obviously Ford isn’t going to give their engines to the competition but why not offer the diesel version of the NV?

Really? The 2017 has been around for 2 years now. I’ve had my van since October 2017 and I am sure that Advanced had been doing the conversions on the 2017s long before I bought mine.

Honestly I don’t know why manufacturers put carpet in any cars. It is just a pain. It isn’t like people are driving them barefoot. No they are stomping around in mud and snow and tracking that inside the vehicle. Following what I have seen others do on this site, I bought a generic van mat, removed the carpet, and used it as a template to cut the rubber van mat to size and include all the holes for the seats. I bought mine from American Van. I originally bought the die cut mat but realized that it is intended for the cargo instead of the passenger van because it has holes precut for the cargo tie downs. It was also cut a little shorter than I wanted and wouldn’t cover all of the carpet toward the front of the passenger area. So I sent that one back and got the generic van mat and cut it myself. I love it