Very stout looking van, good luck with your purchase. As always, leery of the miles with the older odometers that turn back to zero after 99,999. Some quick and dirty ways to check for miles - wear on brake pedal pad, worn paint on the rockers where stepped on to get into the van (the paint is gone in the pics), seat upholstery towards the doors (looks good! reupholstered?), and suspension wear (king pins - easy check, tie rods, leaf spring gouges, etc), worn lettering and paint on interior parts that get handled a lot, rock chips on exterior, etc.
A steering stabilizer is often done as a stop gap measure to cure a wobbly front end. As you can see in the pics, the front axle u-bolts are splayed.
Might send a picture to the appropriate people or municipality in Cottonwood, AZ, see what they say about it. Chances are, you can find someone that knows all about this van.
Being red, looks fire department. Maybe a fire line ambulance that didn't see many patients, but might have been driven to every large brush, wilderness, and forest fire for twenty years. Unknown history...
Price is decent on a great van though! And again, good luck with your purchase.
