We bought a ford conversion van and just went caming in it this past weekend.It slept nice and had plenty of room.Only thing we wish it had was a bathroom.
ARcruiser wrote: rvtraderonline lists a 2000 GTRV in Eugene - or is it Harrrisburg? ad is unclear.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN POSTING LINKS LIKE THIS ONE. I JUST SPENT 10 MINUTES GETTING MY COMPUTER BACK UP AFTER TRYING THIS LINK AND FREEZING MY '06 lAPTOP.
ARcruiser wrote: rvtraderonline lists a 2000 GTRV in Eugene - or is it Harrrisburg? ad is unclear.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN POSTING LINKS LIKE THIS ONE. I JUST SPENT 10 MINUTES GETTING MY COMPUTER BACK UP AFTER TRYING THIS LINK AND FREEZING MY '06 lAPTOP.
?????? Worked fine for me...just a link to the RV Trader Online.
Hi, I am a longtime member of a yahoo group called vandwellers. There are several people there who are living in Astro minivans. So yes it can be done. However, they are all single people, not a couple. Space for two will be a major problem. If you are minimalists it can be done. A bigger problem is weight. The Astro is built on the 1/2 ton pickup platform and gives you a cargo capacity of about 1000 pounds. I don't think you would be able to carry much water or find room for holding tanks.
Adding a high top is very costly, If it were me I would just keep looking until I found a high top conversion.
If you ask this group on the vandwellers you will get a lot of great ideas on how to do it. Just go to Yahoo, click on Groups and do a search on van dwellers.
Sorry, one more idea for you, I have a website called cheaprvliving.com. In it is a page with full descriptions and lots of great pictures of a guys conversion of a fullsize Ford van. I think it will give you some really good ideas about what can be accomplished with very little money.
Actually, the Astro / Safari chassis is apparently a tough little beast. Provan made a slightly smaller version of the Tiger CX on it for years, until GM discontinued the chassis. They cut away the body like a RT 200, leaving only the cab, and set the coach box on the rear. They made it in both pop-up and full hard-top versions (GT & XL), on either RWD or AWD chassis. No installed generator, but roof-top A/C was an option. Wet bath, sink, cook-top, full tanks, etc. Very limited CCC, but how much stuff do you _really_ need?
I've seen a hardtop one one here recenty towing a fairsized enclosed trailer with a FL tag. I caught it in a tight downhill curve on a ramp on I-240, and it was handlng just fine and moving on at traffic speed.
There are pix of both Astro models in the photo files of the MSN Tiger Motor Home Owners group. I'm pretty sure they're open without registering.
When I'm a little more awake, I'll ransack my computer's files and see if I've still got a pic of an even bigger unit on a stretched Astro.
All that to say that I suspect that the Astro can carry a reasonable amount of DIY conversion gear, and is available in AWD.
Jim, "Mo' coffee!"
* This post was
edited 05/08/07 07:10am by Handbasket *
'06 Tiger CX 'C Minus' on a Silverado 2500HD 4x4, 8.1 & Allison ('Loafer's Glory'); '07 Forester 2.5 ( the 'HANDBSKT'); '95 Toyota SR5 V-6 4x4 pickup, ARB locker, Bilsteins, Warn hubs & M8000, etc;
'94 968, M030 swaybars ('DOPPLER')
Back in '87 I put a 292 inline 6 in a 1965 Chevy Van and pulled a 24' Nomad TT and 5 passengers all over the western US. Point is, even tho it is a 1/2 ton, it did the job and it's still mine and it's still runnin'. So, I know that if you're careful about weight and make sure all running gear componets are in great condition, you could convert the Astro and be quite safe. I don't want to start another Chevy-Ford war, but Chevy's just seem to last longer and parts are so easy to find.
I've always owned Fords, so it's a big deal to me to be considering a Chevy LOL.
I'm really not sure if there's the physical room in an Astro for everything I want in it. I may whittle down my inner furnishings to the sofa/bed and a fridge with a microwave stacked on top.... forget the sinks, water tanks and stove.
Thanks for the tips towards Van Dwellers and the cheapliving.com link. Very informative! We don't plan on living in the van... just use it for camping/touring trips.
The Safari Condo SX was pretty sweet.
...no longer available since the Astro has been discontinued, but the web page is still online. Like most other poptops, it followed the Westy floorplan. They do still convert the full size Chevy chassis.
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