My Chinook

[Manitou]

Haha.. The surfboard was just sitting there while I waited on my buddy. We were headed out to surf. So it's not attached at all, just struck me as picture worthy for whatever reason.

[Concourse]

Yes, I stand on the ladder to put items in and take items out of the Thule. The lid lifts itself mechanically and the lid is super light to close. Here's a photo of the pod with a backpack (in the green garbage bag...just cautious), two folding cloth recliner chairs, and firewood in the pod and there is plenty more vertical storage height left plus more floor space.

I'm up on the roof a few times a season to wash the RV and check on maintenance items. You can step on the between the curbside of the Thule and the refrigerator vent to move forward on the roof then walk around where you normally would without a pod.

I found a photo of the left front shorter foot too.

[Blue~Go]

Thanks for the additional info. I now think I may consider this - being able to stand on the ladder would make a big difference in the ease of getting things in and out, I think.

If nothing else, I'll try to leave that area "blank" when doing my solar panel setup.

[1998chinook]

Rocky Mountain National Park

[Concourse]

1998 - I like the paint scheme and colors on your rig. What color is the interior?

[1998chinook]

1998 - I like the paint scheme and colors on your rig. What color is the interior?

Blue/gray upholstery laminate floor.
I'll post pics later.

[sandriver]

What type and mounting to use for storage box on roof

[Jermanitor]

Here is a photo of my recently acquired
chinook glacier

[cjkdigiacomo]

Nice rig. As far as 4x4 I recommend that you go with a legit company (maybe ujoint or something). I made the mistake of buying a salvage 4x4 quigley Rv and hired some backyard guy to swap the parts thinking I would save money. Don't do that. I'm now over 10k into the 4x4 and still have steering issues. I'm on my second mechanic and still not finished. Do it right the first time.

[Blue~Go]

I think that's sound advice. There's nothing more frustrating that taking an approach that you think should save you money, and in the end spending more and knowing it would have been easier to take the "more expensive" approach in the first place. I bet we have all done that at one point in time (or more than once for some of us ).

There is one DIY way that seems to work out well, which is that U-Joint (who do full conversions at their shop as well) does have DIY kits (with support) if one is a DIY-er. U-Joint is in North Carolina and seems to lean toward "rock crawling" type 4WD (although that doesn't mean it can't be used for other things).

Otherwise, I have had a very good experience at Quadvan (I had a brand new 2014 front end put on - still 2WD but massively better brakes and re-designed suspension parts over my 1999). His work is impeccable. From what I have read, Quadvan's 4WD leans slightly toward someone who still wants "better" highway driving but also wants to do 4WD. So it's not a massively high rock-crawler focus. He's in Portland, OR.

Agile Off Road is in the San Diego area, and his leaning seems to be long stretches of rough gravel road, i.e. Baja type 4WD work.

I doubt I will convert to 4WD, but if I did I'd go with one of the above three companies.

Side note on your conversion: If I remember correctly you used an E-450 donor - how did that work out vis-a-vis the fact that the E-450 rear axle is a bit wider than an E-350 rear axle? I'm not planning to do that, so no need to go into great detail, but I was curious.