Looking at Astro/Safari Vans

[808Wes]

Snow in Hawaii?

Yep! We have a mountain here that's a little over 13,000' elevation. (Mauna Kea, which by the way, is the tallest mountain in the world, when measured from it's base under water to it's peak.) We get snow from anywhere in late Nov. to about late Feb., depending on the weather conditions. (Stormy weather is best and can bring down the snow level to as low as the 8,000' elevation level.)

This is one of the few places where you can go snowboarding/skiing/sledding in the morning and a little over an hour of driving later, can be surfing at one of our beaches, going from 45 degrees (F) to 80 degrees (F). Kinda like the best of both worlds.

Access to anywhere on the island, makes the AWD lifted Astrovan one of the most ideal vehicles to have here, although as far as I can tell, I have the only one. I can take the family and kids to play in the snow, fishing (fresh water and salt-water), camping, sightseeing ('live' flowing lava), hunting (Mouflon sheep, feral pigs, goats, Bighorn sheep, pheasants, chuckar, turkey, quail, duck ,et al) and obviously family picnics. And the best thing is, most of these activities are either free or very low cost activities, which really helps in today's economy.

Wes.

 

[digitaldelay]

I can take the family and kids to play in the snow, fishing (fresh water and salt-water), camping, sightseeing ('live' flowing lava), hunting (Mouflon sheep, feral pigs, goats, Bighorn sheep, pheasants, chuckar, turkey, quail, duck ,et al) and obviously family picnics.
Wes.

:drool:

Wes, will you adopt me????

Jason

 

[808Wes]

Sure. One more mouth to feed ain't that much more!

 

[intothewild]

I know this thread has been dead for a while, but I'm bringing it back. Although, I recently picked up the XJ, I can't help but keep thinking that an Astro/Safari would fit my needs a lot more. Jeeps are great for wheeling and short tent powered camping trips. But what I truly desire is something more versatile. I'm not an avid 4 wheeler. I believe an AWD van would more than meet my personal needs in a rig.

I want something that I can comfortable sleep in for multiple nights, something fairly simple in mechanical design which the Astro is. Easily repaired, many generic GM parts which are cheap and abundant. They get considerably better gas mileage than the XJ, which is important when travelling long distances.

I've actually been brain storming quite a bit in my head..The Jeep has been erased in future plans, and is basically non-existant in my mind now.

Some of the plans I have been throwing around include:

Astro Van AWD (Year to be determined)
- Elevated Sleeping platform in rear with room for storage underneath.
- Small cabinent storage with small microwave for ramen and other low budget meals.
- Fresh water storage.
- Dual Battery/High Amp alternator setup.
- 2-3" Small lift and 30" A/Ts
- Roof mounted pull out awning
- Small fridge
- Hidden lockable small storage for cash and other important papers.

There's been a lot more running through my head, I'll update when it comes to me. I'm not good at writing ideas down when I have them then to forget them when I want to remember them! I'm sure alot of people can relate lol.

I have really started thinking about saving, prepping and preparing a rig over the time frame of a year or so. Saving what I can, selling everything, travelling the country and just going where ever I want over the course of a year or two or three etc. Working odd jobs here and there to help pay for gas/food to move on to the next destination.

I'm 25, and the one thing I fear more than death itself is sitting idly and not actually living. I have never been keen on the traditional ideal of working 9-5 in a boring job, raising a family and not travelling or anything until you're 65 and retired but too old to actually enjoy yourself and push the limits. That's not to say I don't love my family or don't work hard. I do. I just need to live and experience life outside of the same stationary home, work, etc.

Moving to Washington from Arizona where I grew up about a year ago, I thought that would help satisfy my thrist at least temporarily. However, it took me a while of being here before realizing that it's the same routine, just in a different geographic location.

Anyways, sorry for the short rant, just wanted to give an idea of why I think an Astro van would be more suited for my ultimate goals/desires.

If anybody has anything to add about preparing the van that I don't have yet, or travelling for an extended time I'm all ears.

 

[808Wes]

Go for it!

What you have described is exactly the vehicle that I have. A '97 AWD Astro, lifted with components from Overlandvans. I had Bridgestone off-road, 29" tires, but swapped them for Firestone AT's when they got too annoyingly loud. I have a raised platform bed that runs from the back of the driver's seat, to the rear about 6' long. Under it, I have a size 27 Sears Deep-Cycle battery (that I got from Craigslist for $40) which is connected to into a 4-way 12v socket and power inverter (eBay $60) where on 1 of the 3-115v sockets, is a 600w General Electric microwave oven, (garage sale $20). Also under the bed are 3 storage bins. The storage bins I got from Wal-Mart, are about 12" wide, 9" tall and 14" deep. In the rear, I have a shelf that has 6 more of the same storage bins (btw, they have drawers to easily pull out an access its contents). In the storage bins I have normal camping stuff: firestarters, a butane stove, candles, kitchen utensils, cookware, etc. Under the shelf, I have a small toolkit, jumper cables, portable compressor, and my fishing gear (tackle box, nets, gaffs, bait bucket, etc.) In an over head rack that runs from the front of the van to the rear, in the middle of the 'headliner', I have a rod rack that hold the 4 - 5 rod/reels that I normally fish with. I just bought a ladder which I'm adding to the rear door, to make it easier to access the cargo rack that I have mounted on the roof at the rear of the van. I also have a 2" receiver with ball, as I plan to tow my Harley behind it on a trailer, to ride on those roads and canyons that just beg you to come. In the 10 or so years that I've had it, all I've done to it is change the plugs, rotor and cap; and had to change the water pump, several years ago. I also put new shocks and off-road driving lights, on it when I first bought it. I also installed an awning that covers the sliding door when its extended to keep the sun and rain out. It has about 120,000 miles on it and it runs fine.

If you decide to go this route, you will not be disappointed. It drives like a car, gets 16-20 mpg, goes off-road anywhere and is easy to maintain.

Good luck and remember: 20 years from now the only things that you will regret, are those things that you did not do.

 

[intothewild]

Thanks Wes...You have good taste! Do you have any more pictures of the inside of your van? Sounds like we have very similar goals in mind!

 

[808Wes]

For some reason, I can't upload any more pictures. Every time I try I get a msg stating that the administrator has to approve it or something. If anyone wants more pictures, just give me your email addresses and I'll send them.

 

[intothewild]

Chrisbintothewild@gmail.com ...I would love to see some more pics when you get a chance...thanks!

 

[Loopie]

And thats just it...with equivalent tire sizes and perhaps a 2sp transfer case swap...their is nothing an XJ can do offroad that the van couldn't....but the van has space = no more tents:camping:

 

[Loopie]

...and if 808Wes has pics...he better show'em to the forum:chowtime:

 

[ihatemybike]

Sounds like a pretty cool idea. With all the Astro and Van Living forums I know of a few people doing roughly the same. I did Route 66 in November living out the back of Grumpy, full size futon mattress on a platform had me comfortable.

I know where to find plans for rock rails and skid plates too.

 

[RocKrawler]

What kind of gas mileage are the lifted Astros getting with a 30"-31" tire?