4 Wheel Drive Van

4 Wheel Drive Van – 4 Wheel Drive Vans

Mike — Wed, 12 May 2010 19:14:31 +0000

www.4wheeldrivevan.com is the home of my 4×4 van!

Please follow the DIY progress on my 1997 Ford E250 4X4 Van Conversion w/ Solar .

Motorcycle Trailer Hitch Carrier. Don’t buy this one for a KLR 650!

Mike — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:20:10 +0000

I was a little skeptical purchasing this motorcycle trailer hitch carrier from Harbor Freight but the advertisement on their website showed them using it for the same bike that I own so I paid the $149 and ordered one. Maximum weight for this carrier is supposed to be 400 lbs and a dry KLR 650 comes in around 380 lbs.

The very first time I loaded my KLR 650 on this carrier I was shocked by how much side to side movement and up and down play there was. In my head I thought “There is no way this rack will last the 6000 miles I am about to drive”. Loading it was a two person job until I started running the engine in first gear and letting the motor do the work. Not sitting on the bike riding it up the ramp but standing next to it with a hand on the brake, clutch, throttle and kill switch. Balancing it while strapping it down by myself was also a little unnerving but not bad once I got the hang of it.

To strengthen the rack I added four cargo straps to my rear bumper which luckily had some D rings on it. After tightening them down there was very little movement in the rack, but the rack frame itself did not look strong enough to hold the 380 lb motorcycle. The front tire supports built into the frame do not line up with the KLR tires and do nothing but scratch the rims. I quit using them after the second day.

You can actually see the aluminum cycle carrier being bent by the weight of this bike. I was lucky and the rack survived the 6000 mile road trip but I never felt comfortable with it behind the van. I fully expected it to crack in half . Do not purchase this rack to haul around any bike weighing more than 250 lbs. I plan on welding two additional supports coming off the trailer hitch where it screws onto the frame of the van to help support the load.

Ford Van Steering Stablizer. Best money spent in a long time.

Mike — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:03:11 +0000

Throughout the ownership of my E250 Ford Van it has suffered from being blown around by gusty winds and passing semi trucks. The steering has always seemed a little loose and making thousands of small corrections in steering can really wear me out over 12 hours of driving. I did a little research and found a steering stabilizer that comes standard on the Ford Van Ambulances but not the regular E Series Vans. The good news is the holes for mounting the stabilizer are already there on your Van.

Installation was pretty straight forward. I’m nothing but a self taught weekend warrior mechanic and it took me about an hour to install.

Required Parts:

F2UZ-3E652A Bracket $53.90
F2UZ-3E652B Bracket $80.22
F7UZ-3E651AB Damper $60.62
I used six 3/8″ grade 8 bolts 3/4 long with lock washers and grade 8 lock nuts.

I found the parts by doing a Google search for the part numbers. The best prices I found were on Amazon.com

Van Steering Stabilizer Bracket

tapping the 3/8th inch mounting holes

Stabilizer Bracket Installed

stabilizer bolted in

Steering stabilizer attachement to drag link

I just put 6000 miles on the van driving from Delaware to California and back again and can say the Van Steering Stabilizer made a huge difference. It still does not steer like a sports car but it does not get blown around like it used to by wind gusts and passing semi trucks. The van also does not wander as much as it used to. I give this modification/upgrade an A+

King of the Hammers 2012 Race Results

Mike — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:54:20 +0000

49 Official Finishers of the 2012 Griffin King of the Hammers

1 Erik Miller 4421 Cumberland MD 6:03:51

2 Rick Mooneyham 554 Lake Havasu City AZ 6:16:48

3 Shannon Campbell 5 Gilbert AZ 6:33:40

4 Derek West 4420 Springfield MO 7:20:24

5 Loren Healy 4428 Farmington NM 7:22:05

6 Brad Lovell 232 Colorado Springs CO 7:26:23

7 Brian Shirley 18 Dodge City KS 7:31:53

8 Rusty Bray 4498 Richmond KY 7:31:54

9 Mike Klensin 4431 Tucson AZ 7:40:58

10 Casey Currie 2 Anaheim CA 8:16:04

11 Ben Dinkins 4403 Annopolis MO 8:24:49

12 Jon Cagliero 27 Paso Robles CA 8:27:17

13 Brandon Watson 4488 Carbondale CO 8:32:54

14 Jeff Russell 4427 Shadow Hills CA 8:39:10

15 Ivan VanOrtwick 4466 Whittier CA 8:41:08

16 Ben Napier 4461 Sydney AUS 8:42:00

17 John Webb 4468 Concord CA 8:50:28

18 Levi Shirley 81 Dodge City KS 9:03:20

19 Jason Scherer 76 Danville CA 9:05:36

20 Alan Woodson 86 Charlottesville VA 9:20:43

21 Jason Blanton 966 Kirkland WA 9:27:33

22 Jeremy Dickenson 4419 Cedar Park TX 9:34:49

23 Harold Fijman 777 San Ramon CA 9:38:50

24 Alex Hardaway 4481 Santa Rosa CA 9:40:59

25 Nick Finch 2228 Dean Park NSW 2761 Australia 9:46:51

26 Lucas Murphy 816 Easton MA 9:47:20

27 Ritchie Keller 202 Elkland MO 9:47:24

28 Cottin Rodd 4407 Cortez CO 9:47:48

29 Scott Ward 4438 Lake Havasu City AZ 9:57:40

30 John James 28 Fresno CA 10:17:58

31 Jason Shipman 4414 Farmington MO 10:22:00

32 Hunter Sparrow 72 Arvada CO 10:23:20

33 Mat Noualy 328 Mt Albert ONT, CA 10:32:45

34 Chris Garrison 4494 Rancho Cordova CA 10:45:50

35 Dave Bovich 50 Shasta Lake CA 10:51:37

36 Les Figueroa 4478 Henderson NV 10:59:24

37 Fabio Manno 100 Rome Italy 11:21:07

38 Doug Evans 4457 Hayfork CA 11:24:58

39 Larry Anderson 742 Dixon CA 11:52:39

40 Matt Peterson 212 Colorado Springs CO 11:54:41

41 Robb Kaufman 22 RockyView County CAN 12:05:47

42 Paul Garner 4409 Queen Creek AZ 12:21:57

43 Bart Dixon 26 San Diego CA 12:57:47

44 Curtis Warner 4410 Armstrong BC 12:59:05

45 Brandon Heyes 4558 Rancho Cucamonga CA 13:02:45

46 Jesse Haines 4499 Sparks NV 13:05:48

47 Warren Thomas 257 Morro Bay CA 13:19:25

48 Tom Wayes 321 San Jose CA 13:33:45

49 Stan Haynes 4408 Ft. Wayne IN 13:38:55

Racing after dark at KOH 2012

Mike — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 05:54:16 +0000

This may look like a studio shot but it was taken on a trail named Trapdoor during the 2012 King of the Hammers Ultra 4 Offroad Race after dark. The car was stuck on a rock for a few minutes and the lighting was provided by the vehicle.

New Camera = Better Pictures

Mike — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:55:52 +0000

Nikon D90 Camera Body + 80 – 200 2.8 zoom.

A few photos from Johnson Valley CA, 2/6/2012

Mike — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:17:45 +0000

2827 more miles on the odometer.

Mike — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:53:52 +0000

Finally arrived at King of the Hammers 2012 after 5 days of driving and 2827 miles on the road.

2012 King of the Hammers Course Map

Mike — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:22:00 +0000

Here’s a copy of the 2012 King of the Hammers Course Map:

King of the Hammers 2012 Course Map

On the road to King of the Hammers 2012

Mike — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:33:32 +0000

I left Delaware at 10:00pm Tuesday night 1/31/2012 after replacing the starter motor in my nannies Jeep WJ with a flashlight in a office parking lot. It was also after a full day of work and I don’t know where I came up with the energy but I was able to drive till about 3:30am before pulling off at a rest stop to take a quick nap. Three hours later and I was back on the road heading towards Knoxville TN to pick up a motorcycle I found for sale on the KLR650.net forums Around 5:30 in the evening I arrived at the sellers house. He showed me the bike, let me take a test drive I gave him some cash and we signed some paperwork and the bike was mine. I had planned on staying at a hotel that evening but Mike and his wife Leslie were very gracious and offered me a room for the night. He recently left the Army and I have been out of Air force about 5 years ago so we stayed up late swapping war stories over a few beers. The following morning I packed up my belongings, said my goodbyes and got back on the road. Most of the drive was pretty uneventful. Around noon I stopped at a Honda dealership to have some new tires installed on the bike. Big mistake. The service department was rude and the prices were ridiculous. It cost me $161.02 in labor to have two tires (which I supplied) installed. I guess I could say I was robbed in Tennessee. Screw them. I left them negative feedback on Google Places and I hope they loose some potential business because of it. Back on the road… I drove through a good portion of the night and made it just past Little Rock Arkansas where I stopped at another rest stop to catch a few Z’s. It is now 9:30AM on 2/3/2012 and I’m getting back on the road headed through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and finally to my destination of Johnson Valley California.