First time van buyer

[Joeykayak]

I have been reading these forums long enough and now I think I might finally do this....I want to outfit a van for road Trips and some beach fishing trips here on the east coast. I think the Chevy express awd will be the best fit. Wil probably do the 2" lift and beef up the tires. These awd are hard to come by in this area I found one but miles are kinda high. I am going to check it out tomorrow. What do you guys think? Anything I should keep in mind? It is a 2007 gmc savana with 140k miles on it and asking price is 9950

 

[Jb1rd]

Take your time and use something like www.searchtempest.com to help ease the search burden. Unless you live in a snowy climate or absolutely need Awd/4wd I would look more at a 2wd and either MG or WeldTecs (can peep Camburg too) offering for a suspension upgrades. 140k does not seem like a ton of miles but it really depends on how it was driven and maintained over those miles. Good luck with your hunting!

 

[Joeykayak]

Take your time and use something like ] to help ease the search burden. Unless you live in a snowy climate or absolutely need Awd/4wd I would look more at a 2wd and either MG or WeldTecs (can peep Camburg too) offering for a suspension upgrades. 140k does not seem like a ton of miles but it really depends on how it was driven and maintained over those miles. Good luck with your hunting!

I am in the NYC area and get some snow but the awd is for some of the beaches in the area that you can camp and fish on.

 

[Backcountry Pursuit]

Look looooooooong and hard. Pass on ones you think are perfect. Look at a lot in person. Look at thousands online. DON'T skimp on anything like pw, pl, cruise. You'll regret it. Ask me how I know. I looked and read about vans for six months solid before I bought one. Flew to go get it. Had I waited just a little more patiently like three popped up in my local area over the month after I bought my van. The point is, take a good long look. Once you buy it, it's yours and that's what you are building off of.

 

[Joeykayak]

Great advice, is there any features or configurations that I should look for when it comes the express van awd?

 

[klp42]

Look looooooooong and hard. Pass on ones you think are perfect. Look at a lot in person. Look at thousands online. DON'T skimp on anything like pw, pl, cruise. You'll regret it. Ask me how I know. I looked and read about vans for six months solid before I bought one. Flew to go get it. Had I waited just a little more patiently like three popped up in my local area over the month after I bought my van. The point is, take a good long look. Once you buy it, it's yours and that's what you are building off of.

+1

I spent about 2 years researching, 8 months to find the right rig. Drove 800 miles to get it.

Couldn't be happier!

 

[boardrider247]

Great advice, is there any features or configurations that I should look for when it comes the express van awd?

G80 is the rpo code for a locking rear differential. There are also 2 options for gearing I believe, though I'm a little foggy on those details.

If you are looking for a passenger van I was finding quite a few ex government vans being sold at about the 90k mile mark. If you can find them those will have been well maintained and only driven around for shuttle duty. Some of the conversion vans are very nice as well if you can find them. I was set on a cargo van and they are hard to find on the used market with low miles.

 

[Joeykayak]

I feel stupid that I don't know this but what exactly is the locking differential and is that an option on the awd?

Also how to you find those ex. Gov. Van?

 

[Joeykayak]

I'm reading about the locking diff right now and if I'm correct (please correct if I'm wrong) there are awd's with the LD and without. Since I'm a person who plans on taking it on the sand I would say it's essential to get one with this feature?

 

[Joeykayak]

Another idea that has come to my van-obsessed mind is locally I've seen a 2003 awd with the explorer conversion package. In a lot of ways it would save me some outfitting. One thing about those conversions that always steered me away is I hate the look of them with all those ugly bumbler covers and side flares. Has anybody ever removed those on a conversion?

 

[Slapmackie]

I have been reading these forums long enough and now I think I might finally do this....I want to outfit a van for road Trips and some beach fishing trips here on the east coast. I think the Chevy express awd will be the best fit. Wil probably do the 2" lift and beef up the tires. These awd are hard to come by in this area I found one but miles are kinda high. I am going to check it out tomorrow. What do you guys think? Anything I should keep in mind? It is a 2007 gmc savana with 140k miles on it and asking price is 9950

Yeah man, be patient! I looked for months before I found the Storm Pooper. It's an '07 AWD 1500 express with only 39k miles on it for $14.9k. I had to fly to Akron OH for it but that was only a $170 flight and totally worth it. I almost pulled the trigger on something that was close by for nearly the same price and it had over 100k miles, so glad I hung in there...Goodluck man, I'll keep my eyes out for ya...

 

[Slapmackie]

I feel stupid that I don't know this but what exactly is the locking differential and is that an option on the awd?

Also how to you find those ex. Gov. Van?

That's what mine is, ATF surveillance van, that explains the low miles. Found mine on autotrader.com, Don Sitts auto sales. Call these guys up, Jason was great and they had a few more I believe when I was up there.

Jason Cook
Business Manger
Don Sitts Auto Sales
PH: 330-945-5800

 

[Joeykayak]

Slap, so the LD is not standard on all awd's?

 

[Stroverlander]

No, it's the "G80" RPO option code for locking differential you're looking for. There are services (or dealer) that can tell you all the RPO codes by VIN.

 

[Joeykayak]

So would you guys say that it's a must have for beach driving?