Price: $10,000
Location: Beverly, MA
VIN # 1GKEL19W1V8534280
The site says most of my photos are too big to upload, so pictures can be found in the gallery in this listing: https://www.astrosafari.com/threads...for-sale.153046/?post_id=1648976#post-1648976
For sale is my 1997 GMC Safari AWD with 173,000 miles and extensive modifications. The van is in very good shape mechanically, and everything in the camper is working well as well. The camper needs some finishing by the end buyer however.
I am the second(ish) owner of the van (it was passed from a father who bought it new to his daughter before we bought it in 2017. I purchased the van with around 119,000 miles on it.
When I purchased the van, the goal was to use it for hauling for a renovation, but it turned into more of a camper van pretty quickly. I originally did a bunch of maintenance upon purchasing, and over my years of ownership I have been over or replaced just about every part of this van.
In preparation for selling, I also made sure everything was set mechanically and there were no leaks – I’ve spent around $6500 on repairs in the past calendar year. At this point I feel it is very mechanically reliable and is in shape go on long trips, like the trip to Montana we took it on a few years ago.
Recent fixes include:
Along the way the van has been extensively modified to be a micro-camper with off-road chops.
Some of the main mechanical mods are:
What needs work?
At this point, with the steering box replacement it handles as well as it ever has for me – fairly responsive and not too “boat like”. Sure, it could benefit from a rear sway bar as many have done to their Astro/Safaris, but it’s fine as is. Because I replaced the body mounts, leaf spring bushings, and shackle bushings with polyurethane ones, you can really feel everything while driving – I would not call it a smooth ride. The polyurethane components let more vibration and noise up into the body than rubber mounts for sure, that’s the price for them lasting theoretically forever. Also, at this point the camper build part is relatively vibration/noise free while driving except for the poptop frame and actuators. The pins attaching the linear actuators to the poptop frame especially can rattle if you’re driving a less-than-smooth road, and I just haven’t been bothered enough to try to quiet them down. Finally, the AT tires make much more noise while driving than a set of street tires would.
Why sell? Well, it was my wife’s daily driver to work for the past 2.5 years, which honestly doesn’t make any sense for what it’s built for and the mileage (13-15 mpg). Now I am commuting by train so we don’t really need a second car either. Most of all, I would love to see it go to someone who will finish it up, or just get it out on adventures more than we can! We have invested A LOT of time and money into this, had some great adventures, and learned a lot along the way, but it still hasn’t reached the final product we dreamed of – and we aren’t going to have the time to get there anytime soon.
What else? Included with the van will come:
Like I said, the van is in pretty great shape mechanically, but as noted it has things to finish up on the interior and several little things, especially cosmetically, that the buyer may want to take care of. It is 27 years old at this point, so random stuff will keep popping up over time. You should know that having some level of DIY skill/mechanical ability or at least the willingness to learn (that’s what I did!) will be pretty important in owning a vehicle like this.
Finally, everything I have done to the van and adventures it has been on are documented in my build thread at https://www.astrosafari.com/threads/lesafari-1997-awd-build.129802/#replies
And again, tons of pictures can be found in the gallery in this listing: https://www.astrosafari.com/threads...for-sale.153046/?post_id=1648976#post-1648976
I am located in Beverly, MA. Feel free to ask questions.
Thank you!
Location: Beverly, MA
VIN # 1GKEL19W1V8534280
The site says most of my photos are too big to upload, so pictures can be found in the gallery in this listing: https://www.astrosafari.com/threads...for-sale.153046/?post_id=1648976#post-1648976
For sale is my 1997 GMC Safari AWD with 173,000 miles and extensive modifications. The van is in very good shape mechanically, and everything in the camper is working well as well. The camper needs some finishing by the end buyer however.
I am the second(ish) owner of the van (it was passed from a father who bought it new to his daughter before we bought it in 2017. I purchased the van with around 119,000 miles on it.
When I purchased the van, the goal was to use it for hauling for a renovation, but it turned into more of a camper van pretty quickly. I originally did a bunch of maintenance upon purchasing, and over my years of ownership I have been over or replaced just about every part of this van.
In preparation for selling, I also made sure everything was set mechanically and there were no leaks – I’ve spent around $6500 on repairs in the past calendar year. At this point I feel it is very mechanically reliable and is in shape go on long trips, like the trip to Montana we took it on a few years ago.
Recent fixes include:
- New y-pipe and catalytic converter
- Exhaust manifold gaskets
- Timing cover and seals
- Steering box
- EGR
Along the way the van has been extensively modified to be a micro-camper with off-road chops.
Some of the main mechanical mods are:
- Upgraded suspension all around
- 30” AT tires w/full-size spare
- 2” lift with pucks in the front and heavy-duty springs in the rear
- XL all-aluminum radiator upgrade
- Volvo e-fan swap
- Interior access hatch for fuel pump
- 5,000-pound trailer hitch
- Front lightbar, rocker panel lights, roof lights
- 12v system with 100ah Battleborn self-heated camper battery, Renogy 700w pure sine wave inverter, Renogy BT-2 Bluetooth module, Renogy 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT, battery monitor, and more.
- Inverter charges the camper battery while driving
- 200w solar “suitcase” and cables for taking advantage of sun up to 20 ft away to charge while parked
- Interior lights and outlets
- ICECO VL60 (60L) dual zone fridge/freezer
- Fabworx folding seat/bed w/seatbelts (imported from UK, they have a USA shop now though)
- Generous cabinet and drawer storage
- 8’ x 8’ Awning
- MaxxFan Deluxe roof fan
- Pop-top roof via linear actuators
What needs work?
- The camper is not done! It is perfectly functional for two people as is, and we have used it this way for over 3 years but if you wanted to sleep 4 or button up the interior you’d need to:
- Use automotive carpet, wood panels, or factory fan trim from a donor van to cover/clean up the bare/unfinished surfaces inside
- Connect the roof lights (wiring already run for them)
- Finish the rear doors and slider door storage areas that we cut out of them.
- Make and attach pop-top canvas
- If you wanted to improve the lift system, you could also redo the frame I made to lift the roof – or if you don’t think you need the pop top you could just screw the roof down like a conversion van to make a permanent high-top roof
- The exterior is by no means perfect- in the interest of full transparency, here is everything I can think of wrong with the exterior:
- I removed rust under the slider door and gas cap along rockers years ago, the ensuing DIY body work doesn’t look great, and a section is starting to crack under the gas cap area
- Gray Raptor liner around bottom edge of the van is peeling in some places (where I didn’t do a good job prepping it)
- Rear bumper has a small dent from before I owned it, also rust is starting to break through on the rear bumper mounts and bottom edge of the rear bumper
- Rear hatch has a growing rust spot on the bottom interior edge, as well as a scratched area from a bike rubbing against it
- There is a small rust spot forming on the front edge of the rear passenger side wheel well
- The grill has a repaired crack, and an existing crack at the top where the hood rests on it (not visible with the hood closed)
- Small crease/dent in the slider door
- I removed the support rods on the outside edges of the front bumper cover, so if you look at it from the side it looks a bit like it’s sagging. This was during the time when I repaired the front body mounts/radiator support where it was getting rusty.
- One problem I can think of under the hood is that the washer and coolant overflow bottle has the classic broken tabs – easily enough replaced if it bothers you, but it doesn’t affect anything
At this point, with the steering box replacement it handles as well as it ever has for me – fairly responsive and not too “boat like”. Sure, it could benefit from a rear sway bar as many have done to their Astro/Safaris, but it’s fine as is. Because I replaced the body mounts, leaf spring bushings, and shackle bushings with polyurethane ones, you can really feel everything while driving – I would not call it a smooth ride. The polyurethane components let more vibration and noise up into the body than rubber mounts for sure, that’s the price for them lasting theoretically forever. Also, at this point the camper build part is relatively vibration/noise free while driving except for the poptop frame and actuators. The pins attaching the linear actuators to the poptop frame especially can rattle if you’re driving a less-than-smooth road, and I just haven’t been bothered enough to try to quiet them down. Finally, the AT tires make much more noise while driving than a set of street tires would.
Why sell? Well, it was my wife’s daily driver to work for the past 2.5 years, which honestly doesn’t make any sense for what it’s built for and the mileage (13-15 mpg). Now I am commuting by train so we don’t really need a second car either. Most of all, I would love to see it go to someone who will finish it up, or just get it out on adventures more than we can! We have invested A LOT of time and money into this, had some great adventures, and learned a lot along the way, but it still hasn’t reached the final product we dreamed of – and we aren’t going to have the time to get there anytime soon.
What else? Included with the van will come:
- Solar panels
- Manuals for the electronics we have installed
- Factory service manuals
- Purple K fire extinguisher
- Blackout curtains/sun reflectors for all windows
- Platform and cushions for the upstairs pop-top bed
- A TPMS system we never installed
- TONS of spare parts and fluids.
Like I said, the van is in pretty great shape mechanically, but as noted it has things to finish up on the interior and several little things, especially cosmetically, that the buyer may want to take care of. It is 27 years old at this point, so random stuff will keep popping up over time. You should know that having some level of DIY skill/mechanical ability or at least the willingness to learn (that’s what I did!) will be pretty important in owning a vehicle like this.
Finally, everything I have done to the van and adventures it has been on are documented in my build thread at https://www.astrosafari.com/threads/lesafari-1997-awd-build.129802/#replies
And again, tons of pictures can be found in the gallery in this listing: https://www.astrosafari.com/threads...for-sale.153046/?post_id=1648976#post-1648976
I am located in Beverly, MA. Feel free to ask questions.
Thank you!