2004 AWD Chevy Express 1500 - First Van!

[BigC]

High Top?

Resurrecting my thread as the wheels start turning in my head again...



Quick synopsis since my last post... Finished the van, (kinda) and hit the road on December 2. Been living out of it full time since then. Skid my way down through Canada spending a lot of time in British Columbia exploring the mountains there, then moved on down into Washington skiing there and in Idaho for a while before moving on further down south through Oregon, and finally running a few circuits between Las Vegas, Truckee, and Park City; skiing and rock climbing and mountain biking and just generally having a great time. Several thousands of miles on the road in, close to 200 miles of ski touring, hundreds of thousands of vertical feet - It's been a great trip so far!





Lots more to go though! Which brings me to the reason for resurrecting the thread. Head room! I'm quickly realizing the significant quality of life increase I would achieve by adding a high top to the van. I'm not interested in a pop top as I do way too much winter camping, and I want the space to be accessible at all times. So a fiberglass topper I think is the way to go. Also, I'm not planning on doing the installation myself so wherever I buy it from I would like for them to be able to install it as well. My question is, do any of you have experience with any of the major names in the game, and if so, which do you recommend? I don't want to drive all the way to the East Coast, but other than that location is not too big of a deal. The van is in Las Vegas right now, but I don't mind driving a ways to the shop. Also, I'm 6'5" so I would like a pretty tall one, (20"-30") but I know I'm not really going to be able to achieve standing height. This is ok with me.

So, thoughts?

 

[BigC]

Right now I'm leaning towards the 30" super camper from Fiberine, but I'm wondering if that's too much weight for a 1500?

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Interested in where you are headed with this. I am building up an e350 and kinda worried about head room as I am tall too (6'6"). No top currently in the budget but I also haven't lived in mine yet.

I don't think an extra 12" of fiberglass around the top would add to much weight.

 

[BigC]

Interested in where you are headed with this. I am building up an e350 and kinda worried about head room as I am tall too (6'6"). No top currently in the budget but I also haven't lived in mine yet.

I don't think an extra 12" of fiberglass around the top would add to much weight.

Yeah, you know it really depends on what you're gonna do with it. I had a quick read through of your build thread and from the sound of it you plan on living out of your rig for a long period of time? For me one of the worst things is not being able to sit up in bed, so if you build your bed lower than I did, it may help out a lot. Also, more space certainly helps out when you have a second person in the van, or third and fourth. The first time everyone on a camping trip ended up cramming into my van to hang out and cook dinner since it was so cold outside, I knew a high top needed to happen. I would say if you plan to live out of it, and you can put it in the budget, it's worth it. For my next van, it's not even a question any more. It will be a high top. In the meantime, I just wanna get this van up to spec.

Yeah, 12" of fiberglass might not be too much, but 30" might be a little bit heavier. I currently have an email inquiry into Fiberine to see how much their super camper top weighs.

 

[krh]

As another in the 5ft and 18" club, curious to hear what you do. I have been looking at Sprinters for the fuel economy of the diesel, but living in the Rockies, havig the AWD is almost a necessity.

 

[DavidAlex]

Hey BigC, I just read your comment on my thread about Express vs Sprinter. I see you're looking at camper tops for your van. If you were buying today, would you still go with the Express or would you think about a Sprinter?

Regardless, I am still jealous of your rig. Looks great.

 

[EuroJoe]

subscribing

 

[Accrete]

greetings,
Happy to read of your fun adventures in the van.
On headroom? Well we went right out of the gate with adding it to our stock chevy awd. It was actually part of the "up fit" package our chevy dealer's fleet mgr found in the year end incentives. With our 24" fiberine top i'm pretty sure I recall there being right about 6ft without any insulation. Ours has ~5'9 to 5'10"~ with the drop headliner/insulation above. We lucked out I suppose since i'm 5'8" and wife is 5'3". I would do it all over again, though I do look forward to Chevy coming out with something to compete with the sprinter, transit, and pro-master style full height setups. All that said, i'm not sure I could stomach the looks/style of the fiberine 30" top, not sure I could have talked my wife into that one. Ours? It's my wife's DD and she luvs it.



: ) Thom

 

[Mcarpenito89]

Another update here, just finished up with the stereo and hitch installs the other day. Hitch was nice and simple, super easy bolt on mod and the wiring harness went in easy as well. Got it from a local store, just the basic Curt hitch. Super solid, and I like the way it looks.

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Then here's the new radio, 6.5" LCD touch screen deck. Bought it as a kit that also came with a very nice backup camera that replaces the third break light and looks really clean. Plus it gets the camera nice and high up for a good view.

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Replaced the stock speakers with some new 6.5" Morels. In the future I may want to add in a third speaker in the rear, but until then, this is more than sufficient. Nicest sounds system I've ever had in one of my vehicles haha.

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Do you have a link to that exact kit you bought ?

Thanks,
Mike