GMC Savana, Plus a Chevy Express Now Too

[SirRobyn0]

Having had a white Suburban and a black one, my personal preference for color on trucks that get driven a lot, is the pewter and gold colors. They don't show dirt too bad, and they are shiny when they are freshly washed (or driven in the rain).
Not gonna lie, that black Burb looked sweet and badass when it was clean...but that lasted about half an hour, and washing/scrubbing it took most of a day.

Ya, I was given a silver Toyota P/U and drove it for a couple years in the early 2000's. I didn't like the silver color at first until I realized how well it hides dirt. Oh, I like the look of black, I just don't like the heat absorption or maintenance. My square as you both likely know is I call it tan, but my wife tells me it's really beige. Regardless as it turns out that truck is pretty good at hiding dirt to. Not as good as silver, but I'm good with it.

 

[bucket]

I've put well over 3k on the white van recently, it runs and drives fantastic. My only gripe has been an exhaust system that rests on the transmission crossmember and would lightly rattle at times. And it still had the original muffler that was super quiet and had no personality. So I fixed it, lol.

Two new Spintech mufflers, 1 new clamp and a used hanger later, here it is:

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No tailpipe(s) yet. I'm either going to build some side exit pipes or use one of these tailpipes here, seen with the original van muffler and tailpipe:

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One pipe is from our '00 Suburban and already has a 2-1 merge inlet. The other one is 4 or 5 inch diameter, from a diesel Dodge. I may use that one for the fun of it, but I'd have to make a 2-1 merge adapter.

 

[78C10BigTen]

I've put well over 3k on the white van recently, it runs and drives fantastic. My only gripe has been an exhaust system that rests on the transmission crossmember and would lightly rattle at times. And it still had the original muffler that was super quiet and had no personality. So I fixed it, lol.

Two new Spintech mufflers, 1 new clamp and a used hanger later, here it is:

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No tailpipe(s) yet. I'm either going to build some side exit pipes or use one of these tailpipes here, seen with the original van muffler and tailpipe:

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One pipe is from our '00 Suburban and already has a 2-1 merge inlet. The other one is 4 or 5 inch diameter, from a diesel Dodge. I may use that one for the fun of it, but I'd have to make a 2-1 merge adapter.

Hows it sound? Never heard spintechs

 

[bucket]

Hows it sound? Never heard spintechs

A lot like the average Flowmaster or Flowmaster look a like. There is something a little different about the sound, but I'm not sure how to describe it. I left the original converters in place, I'm sure they tone things down a bunch.

I forgot to mention the weirdo setup that GM chose to use for the exhaust. At the manifold connections, the pipes are a smaller diameter, then right away they step up to 3" diameter. Each 3" pipe has a converter. Then the pipes continue on as 3", but neck down to 2.5" diameter, about an inch from the muffler. It's a dual inlet muffler, with a single outlet to a 2.5" tailpipe. Since I had 2.5" mufflers on hand already, I cut the pipes flush with the muffler case, so I could weld the mufflers on where the pipes were reduced to 2.5" diameter.

 

[Finkaire]

I used a set of resonators,(glass-packs), in conjunction with the flowmasters for better sound quality. Of course im talking non-catalytic, ‘68 Elko

 

[CountKrunk]

@bucket you'll be happy to learn my rattle can black truck is going to be blasted then painted (by me, ) a blue or purple or something to match the blue interior

 

[JamesSam]

All this van talk has me thinking about my first ride: 1988 GMC Safari. It was awesome. I could spin tires with it's V6. Carried all the peeps around and the band equipment. I must have taken out and put back in the back seats hundreds of times. It was convenient. Memories. It was nice to not have to do all that when I got my S10 single cab though LOL.

 

[78C10BigTen]

All this van talk has me thinking about my first ride: 1988 GMC Safari. It was awesome. I could spin tires with it's V6. Carried all the peeps around and the band equipment. I must have taken out and put back in the back seats hundreds of times. It was convenient. Memories. It was nice to not have to do all that when I got my S10 single cab though LOL.

My single cab s10 will spin the tires at the drop of a dime! Lol. 4.3 v6 is the best!

 

[DoubleDingo]

A lot like the average Flowmaster or Flowmaster look a like. There is something a little different about the sound, but I'm not sure how to describe it. I left the original converters in place, I'm sure they tone things down a bunch.

I forgot to mention the weirdo setup that GM chose to use for the exhaust. At the manifold connections, the pipes are a smaller diameter, then right away they step up to 3" diameter. Each 3" pipe has a converter. Then the pipes continue on as 3", but neck down to 2.5" diameter, about an inch from the muffler. It's a dual inlet muffler, with a single outlet to a 2.5" tailpipe. Since I had 2.5" mufflers on hand already, I cut the pipes flush with the muffler case, so I could weld the mufflers on where the pipes were reduced to 2.5" diameter.

Not a van, but my 81 came factory with something similar to that. 2 inch y-pipe into 2.5 inch intermediate, then 2.25 out over the axle.

 

[bucket]

I stayed after work today so I could mount some decent used tires onto a set of late model aluminum wheels, then put them on the white van. The old tires were just about bald, plus they had significant dry rot from being parked in grass from '17 through '21, or whenever it was that I bought it.

Front tires are not LT type tires, but the rears are, so I'll still feel comfortable pulling a 10k load. The taller rears also made the hitch hight better for my uses (when I finally bolt on the new hitch), plus they fixed the speedo calibration. It's spot-on now.

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[bucket]

I've never looked at the RPO codes yet, so gear ratio is yet to be determined. But, I did find out today that it doesn't have a locking rear axle.

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I also found out that the rear tires I installed produce a weird yellow/green smoke. And they stink, lol.

 

[bucket]

^ I forgot to update, it's a 3.73 gear out back.

So I've got about 9k on the white van since I started driving it regularly (Dec I think) and it has performed flawlessly, with one minor exception, lol.

This last week I drove deep into Texas and back with it and on the way down, heading on 90 West out of San Antonio, the van simply died on me. It didn't stumble or lose power or anything, it just quit running. I coasted to a stop and pulled the doghouse cover for a visual inspection. It would crank, but not fire. I could hear the fuel pump run and there was pressure at the test port. The cap and rotor looked OK, although there was more buildup on the terminals than I was expecting to see for how old (or not old) they were. I pulled a plug wire and there seemed to be no spark. So, I was dead in the water without parts. Luckily, there was a parts store about 2 miles away, so I started walking. I came back with a new coil, ignition module and crank sensor. The crank sensor fixed it and the van was back up and running again.

-Side note. I got pretty lucky with the parts store being only 2 miles away. But doggone it, the entire way I was hoping someone had left a bicycle out at the trash... no such luck. I know it ain't far, but that 4 miles round trip about kicked my a$$, lol. From now on, I'm tossing a bicycle in the back whenever I go somewhere far away.

But anyway, here she is out at the job site:

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@82sbshortbed check out those solar panels. I know how much you like them, just had to tease you, lol.

As usual, I search out the motels where I can park right outside my door @SirRobyn0

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[Turbo4whl]

The van is okay, but I like the farm gate! Gone are the days the truck stops and you get out your nail file, dress the points and continue on you trip.

 

[bucket]

The van is okay, but I like the farm gate! Gone are the days the truck stops and you get out your nail file, dress the points and continue on you trip.

Yeah, it was a cool gate. Heavy wall steel and well built too.

 

[bucket]

Overall, the white van has impressed me. Including the purchase price, the parts to repair it, plus registration and a tag, I was in it for around 750 bucks. 9K miles later, it's only needed a crank sensor and nothing more. Well, I changed the tires too, but they were left here on the property by the last owners. They are far from new however. And it drives so nice. It actually drives better than the yellow '13 van with the revised suspension and it's fancy Stabilitrac.