Any advice for the perfect camper van ?

[karimik]

I would like to live out of a camper for 6mo/year while driving across the US and Canada into Alaska. I had originally planned on buying a VW Westy and learning how to work on it but have since decided it is way too unreliable. I love the size and interior of the '77 Westy with poptop so looking for something similar. I also love the look of them but that has to be sacrificed for reliability.

I will be traveling alone and don't need a lot of sleeping room. I'm pretty set on a van, don't want a truck/shell combo.

I am not a mechanic.
Safety is a factor. Alarm system would be nice.
Good gas mileage.
RELIABLE. Newer.
Smallish.
Under $10k

Thanks for any advice!

 

[spencyg]

Your trip sounds like it could be easily done in a 2WD Astro sized van. If you are at all handy with basic woodworking, you could easily outfit one for life on the road for the time period you have in question. To spend under $10k you'll have to buy something that then needs "conversion" for your requirements, especially if you want something new-ish (i.e. mechanically reliable).

Spence

 

[UHAULER]

T.Low has a nice awd astrovan. They always pop up on craigslist for decent prices.

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23847

 

[laylow]

Astro for sure I'd say.

 

[karimik]

unfortunately no woodworking skills but spency if you want to build it for me i'll build your website for you

i need the whole thing ready to go, with poptop. what sort of pricing should i be expecting? thanks for the help. driving and traveling is my thing, but mechanics are not. and too bad they don't make anything with as much character as the late 70's Westys anymore. those guys are photogenic.

 

[spencyg]

The pop top is going to be a problem for you....a very difficult order to fill. It would be a fully custom job, and fully custom = $$. Any reason you couldn't just pick up some 80's Winnebago Class C or something along those lines? Or maybe you need a Toyota Tundra with a slide-in camper in the bed? With your budget and requirements the van is probably out.

Spence

P.S. Checked out your website...you do some beautiful work.

 

[fisher205]

Provan/Tiger made a nice conversion for the Astro. Also look for a two wheel drive van conversion from Sportsmobile or RoadTek. Used two wheel drive models are priced from reasonable to cheap right now. If you can find a diesel version it will get better mileage than the Volswagen. You shouldn't need anything more for your proposed trip. I just completed the trip http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34534 and never needed 4 wheel drive. Good luck and I liked your website. - Brad

 

[1leglance]

there are a bunch of used sportsmobiles out there especially if you don't need 4wd.
do a national craigs search, look here and sportsmobileforum.com

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Its not a pop-top, but how about a Toyota previa? Its RWD, reliable as hell, and gets good gas mileage.

 

[karimik]

thanks for the compliments on my blog! i hope to travel forever.

a camper that i can stand in is very important to me as this will be my home for a year. i also do not want to have to go outside to get into it. so, extended roof or poptop is ideal. 4x4 would be nice. full kitchen would be great. short size is nice.

is this way too many miles to be a deal?

http://boulder.craigslist.org/cto/1488126357.html

hey! thanks for the help. i really do appreciate it.

 

[elysium]

Wow, that's a pretty loaded van. I recall that some of the ford V10 tritons had the sparkplug issue (aluminum head had too few threads to hold in the plugs). Not sure how prevalent that issue was. Google "ford spark plug blow out". I did not have any issues during the brief time that I owned a 1998 ford with the V10.

Otherwise, that looks like a nice van. Yeah, mileage is a little high, but worth checking out if you are local.

thanks for the compliments on my blog! i hope to travel forever.

a camper that i can stand in is very important to me as this will be my home for a year. i also do not want to have to go outside to get into it. so, extended roof or poptop is ideal. 4x4 would be nice. full kitchen would be great. short size is nice.

is this way too many miles to be a deal?

http://boulder.craigslist.org/cto/1488126357.html

hey! thanks for the help. i really do appreciate it.

 

[naterry]

Vanaru

My Dad had a similar request and budget last year so I did one of those Subaru swapped westy conversions for his birthday. It took 8 days and came in well under 10k. The trick would be finding a mechanic you trust to do it affordable or finding a decently priced example. The thing will break 100mph and gets 20mpg. Not bad for an old VW van..

 

[elysium]

Just for comparison, there's an older 1990 provan GT for $10.5k.

http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/1479468356.html

The listing does not have a photo (not a good sign), but I think the GT was the pop top. Here's a generic image I found on the web (not sure what year).

I'd probably take the 2001 ford van you listed over the GT (this was just for comparison purposes).

 

[gmcpimpin]

I would like to live out of a camper for 6mo/year while driving across the US and Canada into Alaska. I had originally planned on buying a VW Westy and learning how to work on it but have since decided it is way too unreliable. I love the size and interior of the '77 Westy with poptop so looking for something similar. I also love the look of them but that has to be sacrificed for reliability.

I will be traveling alone and don't need a lot of sleeping room. I'm pretty set on a van, don't want a truck/shell combo.

I am not a mechanic.
Safety is a factor. Alarm system would be nice.
Good gas mileage.
RELIABLE. Newer.
Smallish.
Under $10k

Thanks for any advice!

Cool idea for a trip, I'm planning something similar NY to Alaska.

On topic, one of your requirements was good gas mileage, and that V10 van is just not going to give that. Maybe give us an idea what you consider "good gas mileage"? An Astro with the 4.3 V6 is going to give you around 16 mpg, Possibly find one of the rare 4.3 5 speed combos, I hear they give slightly better MPG. Otherwise a diesel might be better for you. A well maintained chevy van with a late 80's 6.2 N/A would be well in budget and get around 20 mpg.

 

[rynosurf]

I'm thinking the V10 4x4 van that is 9' high wont get the best gas mileage! How about an AWD element with the an Ecamper. Tha pop up is expensive but you should be able to get a used element for a good deal.
http://www.ursaminorvehicles.com/camper.htm

Wow, nevermind I just found the price list for the Ecamper! Looks like it is going up in cost and it was a lot to begin with.