Clifford Turns Six

This was finally the year that very little was done in regard to “upgrades”. All the previous year’s posts have highlighted fairly significant additions (battery system, heater, etc). This was the year to really just sit back and enjoy the completed van (is it really every completed?) as-is.

Clifford the big red van — Small cosmetic upgrade

Really the only thing I did this past year was to remove a few plastic pieces from the van that came with it from the factory. The newer Wayfarer Vans builds use the same material you get for wall panels in these locations, but my 2020 build had just the factory plastic bits.

Clifford — Replaced the black plastic with wood panel

Clifford exterior lighting project — Got rid of these upper and lower plastic bits on each side too.

Vanlife — Just looks so much better to us with the wood paneling.

If I had to point to the one thing that we purchased this year for improved experience it would be this Gazelle gazebo. It does not pack down small but it does offer a nice place to sit outside if there is a potential for mosquitoes or unsavory weather.

Sisters Oregon — Less than 10 minutes to setup once you get the hang of it.

We typically setup our awning on trips where we are parked for extended days. The gazebo was purchased for our trip to Crater Lake, which can be notoriously buggy at certain times of the year.

4th Annual Bromantic Weekend — My friend Dean has the Gazelle G6 which convinced me to get one after a damp weekend on the Oregon coast.

We’re just shy of 43,000 miles on our Ram Promaster 1500 after six years. This Walter kit has seen numerous rutted out forest roads to glass smooth pavement and literally everything in between. I’ve tightened down pretty much every single fastener in the kit at least once over this time. Starting a year or two ago now, every time I get a loose one, I have applied blue loctite to the threads. I believe this is standard operating procedure on their new builds now. Also, we’ve not had any significant issues with the vehicle itself. If anyone follows any Promaster forums on Facebook or The Web you’ve probably read a couple horror stories about the windshield cowl, transmissions, etc. Knock on wood, but we’ve been quite pleased with the vehicle so far.

There are plenty of big and small trips we still want to do. Going forward I cannot think of much more to add/modify on Clifford. We’re really quite pleased with our investment in this van. Here is to hoping for many more adventures and enjoyment. Can’t wait to see what the next twelve months bring us.

Thanks for reading,

-Pete