TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Apr 01, 2025 1:40 am

Lookin' good!

Tue Apr 01, 2025 6:37 am

Brilliant! Westfalia & Winnebago folks are darn good at designing these sorts of things but surprised they didn't do the same in the factory versions!

Sat Jun 14, 2025 6:25 pm

Another van upgrade!

We got out camping recently to test out the addition, traveling to central OR and WA. These wheat fields sure have a nice view!

I added a Gary Lee rear hatch spare tire rack from evrack.com. I had a few reasons to do this.
- One, I wanted to have the spare more easily accessible instead of dropping it from below. Think about changing the spare while on rutted muddy forest service road.
- Two, and this came from an off-roading 4x4 van buddy. Imagine being way out off-grid enjoying life when you get a flat. Fine, I have a spare. Well as soon as you put that spare on you no longer have a spare. Best to head straight home and keep your fingers crossed. TBH, I don't find myself in those kind of camping locations very often, but at least now I have options available.
-Three, I now have space under the van for a larger diesel tank and more room available for a water tank, should the need arise. The diesel tank under the hood actually got warped, probably from the heat and the cap would leak ever so slightly. So, that needed a fix.

In this next photo I forgot how to van camp and brought too much stuff. I added a place to hold my tables to the kitchen cart and had 2 boxes full of stuff. When I got home I removed the table holders and everything fits into 1 box now.

The diesel tank sits in a custom holder bolted to the spare tire carrier. The white object up behind the tank is the new location for the heater pump. It is super quiet in this new location.

The tank slips out easily for refill and it has a quick release for the fuel line. Based on past experience, I will fill this tank once maybe twice a season.

Here are some rack close ups. First is how I travel around town, when not camping.

A look under the cover.

Here is camping mode. This most recent trip we stayed at multiple pack it in pack it out places so the 'trasharoo' knock off was very useful.

Of course you need to upgrade the hatch struts. In case you are wondering, changing hatch struts is very easy.

Here is something I always carry but don't use that much. A couple of tweeks by adding a small pizza stone and draping welding fabric over the top makes this work really well. Hot biscuits!

And a significant milestone for the van! Hehe, what this really means is I got a lot of fluids that need to be changed now.

Sun Jun 15, 2025 9:45 am

Excellent upgrades!!!

Sun Jun 15, 2025 11:12 am

@bigfoot -- Great rack setup. Just curious ... does that rack & tire setup obscure your license plate at all?

I've been noticing lately around where I live (NC) just how many Tow Hitch bike racks completely obscure license plates. The various European racks made for the Eurovan are all designed to hold bikes above the plate - something I think is required and enforced over The Pond.

I would assume that in states like North Carolina where only a rear plate is issued, that the plate should either be visible in its regular position or relocated to an aft position of the bikes & rack when used, but I never see anyone doing that.

Sun Jun 15, 2025 7:01 pm

bcolins wrote: Excellent upgrades!!!
Thanks! Always looking for ways to make van camping more enjoyable.
HeyCrutch wrote: @bigfoot -- Great rack setup. Just curious ... does that rack & tire setup obscure your license plate at all?
Thanks! I suppose it could obscure the license plate somewhat. The tire carrier clamps onto the 2 vertical supports, so it's infinitely adjustable up and down along the supports. In fact, I first had my spare up high covering the rear window. It made it very easy to raise the rear hatch with my old struts. But, my rear view camera is located up on the third brake light housing and it got blocked by the spare, so I moved it down and got new struts.

Mon Jun 16, 2025 4:54 am

bigfoot_ev wrote: Of course you need to upgrade the hatch struts. In case you are wondering, changing hatch struts is very easy.

I tried those struts in order to support a Gary Lee rack adapted for carrying bikes/skis. Unfortunately, they lasted a bit over a year before they lost pressure. Upon calling Lift Supports Depot to report the issue, they basically indicated 1-2 years is the expected life of the struts. The warranty period is 1 year.

Hopefully, yours work longer than mine. It looks like you have the PVC pipe hack to lock the hatch open - perhaps that will help the longevity of your supports.

Mon Jun 16, 2025 5:26 am

gesoffen wrote: [It looks like you have the PVC pipe hack to lock the hatch open - perhaps that will help the longevity of your supports.

Hadn't thought of doing this. You'r basically crating a lquasi-locking struck (w/o a spring to hold it in locked position, but it looks like gravity will do it for you). Cool hack.

Mon Jun 16, 2025 9:00 am

gesoffen wrote: I tried those struts in order to support a Gary Lee rack adapted for carrying bikes/skis. Unfortunately, they lasted a bit over a year before they lost pressure. Upon calling Lift Supports Depot to report the issue, they basically indicated 1-2 years is the expected life of the struts. The warranty period is 1 year.

Hopefully, yours work longer than mine. It looks like you have the PVC pipe hack to lock the hatch open - perhaps that will help the longevity of your supports.
Damn, that's not good news about the struts. You're right about the PVC hack, 12" long fits perfectly and gravity keeps it in place. But, I put it in place for safety not considering I would need to help add longevity to the struts. Thanks for the heads up.

I might ditch the storage box and move the spare up as high as I can stand. My rear view mirror is actually a live rear view camera so I can't block the camera too much.

Thu Aug 14, 2025 6:14 pm

Summer maintenance tasks are completed.
1. Transmission fluid and filter changed.
2. Final drive oil changed. First time ever for this van. The oil was a little brown but looked clear of debris.
3. Engine oil and filter. I updated the measuring block readings here.
4. New brake pads all around. New front rotors.
5. Brake fluid changed.
6. Cooling system update. I removed the rear heater and replaced a number of plastic fittings with brass fittings and new stainless hose clamps. New fluid. You can see what I removed/changed here.
7. Power steering fluid. This perhaps didn't need changing but the last time I did a drain and fill I saw stuff in the fluid so I figure this is as good as a flush. The fluid I drained looked much better this time so I should be good for a while.
8. And finally, a wheel alignment. Really glad to have this done. The van drives very straight and just feels better on the road. You can read about my experience using the Gyraline tool here.

I'm making plans for the fall camping trip. We should be out for a few weeks. I decided to remove the box off the rear hatch rack and raise the spare tire. Hopefully, that will ease the strain on the new hatch struts. And apparently I'm a prince and a pea when it comes to mattresses. I have yet another iteration on the upper mattress. We did a long weekend camp recently and it is the most comfortable yet. The main difference is the Klymit air mattress is now on the bottom and I put a memory foam pad on top of the air mattress and a comforter on top of the memory foam. All this padding up top means I can't store our Kelty sleeping bag up above. But it is super quick to stuff it in its sack.

Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:54 am

Is the installation of that rear hatch simple? It just clamps, right? Do you know if the installation instructions are anywhere online? I have not been able to find them.

Thanks! Rig looks great!

Sat Aug 16, 2025 2:04 pm

Abazaba wrote: Is the installation of that rear hatch simple? It just clamps, right? Do you know if the installation instructions are anywhere online? I have not been able to find them.
The installation is very simple, just 2 clamps on the bottom. Unfortunately, I can't find the instructions online either. A booklet was included with my order. Let me know if there is anything specific you want to know.

Here's a picture of the top and bottom of the rack attachments. The top is just a bracket that the rack uprights hang into. The bottom is where you tighten the rack into place.

Quote: Thanks! Rig looks great!
Thanks, I'm just trying to give others ideas on what can be done and hopefully encourage people to make changes that suit their needs.

Sat Aug 16, 2025 5:04 pm

Thanks! That is super helpful. Digging that.