New Owner of Overland Vans

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IrBear
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
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New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by IrBear »

Hello Everyone,
Dan at Overland Vans asked me to post a notice to introduce myself.
I'm Gerald and am pleased to say that I now own Overland Vans. I hope to endeavor to maintain Overlands good name and reputation with all of you.This site and those of you involved in it are largely responsible for my decision to purchase the company, so your feed back means a great deal to me.
Your passion,enthusiasm and willingness to share knowledge are refreshing to say the least.
I certainly won't claim to know all the ins and outs of Astro and Safari vans. If I get stumped on a question I'd rather say "I don't know." then to give false information and have to deal with the mess that creates afterward. Dan has spent a lot of time though, trying to cram everything into my head over the last 5 months and two visits to Michigan. He is still available to me as a resource and I fully expect to be calling him for the first bit.
I hope to serve you in the future and will continue to update the Overland site so check in once in a while.

Thanks,
Gerald
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CaptSquid
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by CaptSquid »

Welcome, Gerald, and abandon all hope, all ye who enter here, our private inferno.
Mike, Billings, MT, 'MERICA!
92 Safari SLE w/Z Motor (sold to a good home)
98 AWD Stro LS
93 Suburban Silverado 4x4

Look for the MISSING Alien in the Right Seat. AL, PHONE HOME!!!

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Smiliesafari
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by Smiliesafari »

Welcome Gerald. One thing we here at ASV pride ourselves on is the willingness to help. This is a great bunch of people. Congrats on the purchase. You can bet this bunch of hoodlums will keep an eye on you.
1996 Safari SLX Hotair balloon transport vehicle

astrozam
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by astrozam »

Welcome Gerald :cheers:

Good to see Dan was able to sell to another AstroSafarivan enthusiat, thanks for the update as to what transpired.
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1Gary
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by 1Gary »

Welcome to ASV and congrats on the purchase.I hope to be contacting you for some purchases soon and will do so on the web site.I look forward to working with you.

Gary
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


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rlsllc
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by rlsllc »

Welcome G!

I have a suggestion for you, add V8 swap items to your site. That is the only thing that is missing, other than the 'in the works' solid axle swap kits.

I am doing a 5"-7" (we'll see where it comes out) lift on my Safari now, using a slightly different method, and I lifted the engine (TPI 350) and trans (SM465 4 speed), etc, 2.5" in the frame to kind of even things out.

I would offer mounts that move the engine up as well as swapping to a v8. It has really worked for me.

LiftedAWDAstro
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by LiftedAWDAstro »

Congrats on the purchase!
Current rides:
2013 Toyota Tundra DC 4x4
2008 Dodge Nitro 4x4
2005 Nissan Sentra 1.8S Special Edition

Mileage spreadsheet

Vans owned:
1986 Safari 2.5L 4 speed manual - scrapped
1995 Astro 2WD conversion 4.11 posi, shift kit, DHC rock rails - sold to Skippy
1998 Astro 4x4 D44, D60, NP231, full hydraulic system with 9k# Milemarker winch and snow plow - sold to Lockdoc
2003 Astro AWD all stock - traded for a 3/4 ton truck
2005 AWD, 4.10's - sold to skippy

Lumpy
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by Lumpy »

I'd just like to know when he's going to be up and running.
Get busy fabricating. We need lift kits!.. :rolleyes:


Lump
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T.Low
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by T.Low »

Congrats on taking the plunge.

So the company will be moved to Calgary? Will that affect shipping to the US at all? Will Iginla be a spokesman? :-k

As far as web marketing goes, put this in your file of possibilities: there is a fairly active van group.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/f ... y.php?f=58

Best of luck with the business.
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Topic author
IrBear
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by IrBear »

I couldn't read all the responses or answer everything. But I do want you to know that most of the products are made in the USA and will be drop shipped from the manufacturers. So for the customers in the States the only thing that changes are the brackets and things I ship from here. The heavy stuff still gets shipped the same way. Alaskan Canadian and Hawaiian orders will still have to pay the additional shipping.
And no Iginla will not be the spokesman, he needs to work on his game.
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dunedog
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by dunedog »

and my 2 cents......Gerald welcome and congradulations !!! I have been happy with all the products purchased from Dan.
For a long time most of us have known of Dan's health issues, and selfeshly have hoped for someone out of our group to take the plunge. Again best of luck, and thanks for keeping these products available!!
and therories or therorists :-k :sick: ..........well, oh this is when I really miss Peter. :smurf:
1999 LS AWD 3" Lift,4.10's,Snowplow,9500lb Ramsey winch

astroturf
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by astroturf »

Welcome Aboard...

Jim
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LaGrasta
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by LaGrasta »

Congratulations on the new business.
My suggestion is take time and research many of the existing items created for similar vehicles. The cross-over parts must be many and with some time and research, you could sell many more parts repurposed for the Astro/Safari. One example is the larger brakes intended for the full size pick-ups. One specific new product suggestion is solve the expensive fuel pump issue with an affordable, dependable aftermarket external pump. You'd sell them like crazy.
1998 Astro, 246,000 miles

K&N air filter
TruCool trans cooler
2" Overland lift & 15" BFG Terrain, 3.73 gears
JET Performance SCU-2000 (Speed Control Unit)
Gabriel Ultra shocks, rear AirLift bags & sway bar
Draw-Tite Dual Port Hitch System, hitch-mounted bike rack (4), hitch-mounted cargo tray, Thule roof-mounted cargo box
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Herbie
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by Herbie »

LaGrasta wrote:One specific new product suggestion is solve the expensive fuel pump issue with an affordable, dependable aftermarket external pump. You'd sell them like crazy.
Ditto this for me.

I'll add my "welcome and congrats!", and say that I hope to be ordering my lift kit very soon, as soon as I clear a few more hurdles on the rest of my project!
"My minivan is cooler than your bro-truck"
2003 Astro AWD Astrolander/ZMB - GTRV Top Transplant, 4" OLV Lift, NP233 T-case, evolving interior
1995 Safari GTRV Organ donor - gutted and gone.
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Patrol2620
I am merely driving my van
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Re: New Owner of Overland Vans

Post by Patrol2620 »

Hi G and welcome, I think I bought my latest item from Dan Bro I wish best of luck for both of you
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