2005 2WD GMC Work / Play Van

[riNR]

I've been lurking here lately. I'm looking to upgrade from my current 2WD to an AWD GMC van and set it up a little more for camping.
I thought I'd share some pictures of my current van. It's been one of the best vehicles I've ever owned as far as maintenance and reliability and function. It has 365,000 km on it and still drives and runs like new. She's got a nice dent in the sliding door from a parking garage pole, but other than that it's fairly clean, for a vehicle in salty Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I built the rack and ladder myself, and added lights to the rack with the wires fished through the rack's tubing.

 

[Johny5]

Nice . My next van will be a long wheel base .have you done any camperizing to the interior ?

 

[dar395]

welcome to the site! We're just a little West of you (Michigan) and travel to your area 2-3 times a year, Toronto is a great place for Urban Exploring. Hope you find the AWD Van your looking for and enjoy your travels.

 

[hyperboarder]

What'd you build the ladder out of? I really want a side ladder on my E250.

 

[riNR]

I built the roof rack and ladder out of 1 inch OD .063 wall CREW tube. I bent it all with a electrician's pipe bender...I'm a no longer practicing electrician by trade so I'm pretty proficient with the bender. I also have a Pro-Tools bender but I thought the radius of the die looked to tight. The ladder I bent with a roll bender, and I have all the tube notchers etc. for fabrication work because I used to be into off road dune buggies.

The inside is set up more for windsurfing and work since I'm a wind junky and contractor. I turned it into a crew cab when I first bought the van because my children were younger then. I took the seat and seat belts out of the back of a Chevy Astro van and fabbed up the seat brackets and seat belt mounts, and then closed it all in with plywood.

 

[arpisme]

Nice van. Is it a 2500 with the 6L V8? if you're selling, I might be buyin'. I'm east of you near K-W area.
You can't get an AWD in the extended so hopefully you won't miss the extra length.
I had a 2500 extended and never should have sold it.

 

[riNR]

4.8L V8 extended 2500 it is. I'm in Whitby, so not far from you. It's got a some cancer on it. When it started to show some rust on the bottom edges I had the thin checker plate segment bent and slathered the back with grease and screwed it on with stainless steel screws. It's doing the trick perfectly because the grease seeps out ever so slowly. The front hood and back doors are painted with white plastic dip -- works like a charm.
I think I might miss those extra 20" of the extended but I want the AWD for towing in winter, and driving on the beach in Cape Hatteras, NC. I'm debating driving until its dead in my business, or my windsurfing buddies are all slobbing over it all the time.

 

[riNR]

this was my other "expedition" vehicle...