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Posted by David Sherman [72.47.9.228] on Friday, March 04, 2011 at 13:10:59 :
In Reply to: Re: OT - unusual 4x4 conversion posted by AAA [216.177.165.76] on Friday, March 04, 2011 at 12:01:22 :
You're probably right. That "Vemco" thing has some large gearbox behind each wheel, whereas I think the MWWWV just has a U-joint. You're also probably right that the whole point of all this complication is to keep the stock A-arms. It might be the same chassis as my '67 Chevy 1/2 ton. I know that truck was pretty much the same from 67 to 72, and the same-year vans were similar. Still, you could order a 4x4 version of that truck stock from the factory, although they don't seem to have been very popular. I don't know how they did the front suspension on the 4x4 trucks, but surely not with this V-drive contraption. If I was converting a van, I'd be looking for a factory 4x4 front axle assembly out of a comparable truck rather than hacking in something entirely new and different. Maybe the truck axles wouldn't fit the vans somehow.
It seems like there was a definite "era" of 4x4 van conversions. I don't see it being done any more. Maybe people were just trying to invent the SUV before it had been invented, though I would say a Carryall was an early SUV. Of course that was also the era of "tricked out" vans with fancy scenery painted on them, fully-carpeted interiors with beds and high-end stereos, and a bumper sticker that says "If this van's rockin' don't come knockin'"
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