Which late nineties conversion van for wannabe camper?

I've been having this debate for years and used to own a '90 E150 conversion van for car-camping at bike races. You definitely want a raised roof for a camper.  That extra head room is more valuable than can easily be quantified.

I don't think any of the big three are better or worse than the others.  Preference seems to be based mostly on familiarity and general experience.  I like Fords, but plan to look at GM and Dodge as I look for a new van.

I agree with seeking out a 3/4 or 1 ton version, although they are fairly rare so be prepared to look for awhile. One advantage of the 1/2 ton is they are sometimes titled as cars (station wagons), which can have benefits sometimes.

Look at the mini school buses and shuttle buses. Van based but has the height and width to make it more comfortable. 

Trying to convince the wife about getting one.

Good luck

For traveling in a 1/2 ton I like to carry at least #1500 to get the springs to work, without at least six people they ride a little truck like, well because it's a truck chassis.   If towing and  hauling a lot of weight is what you need then go 3/4 ton.

The car lot next to my shop has a 3/4 ton Quigly conversion on a chevy chassis, they want a lot for it.

In reply to akylekoz :

We have econoline e250 at work. The ride super stiff. Loaded with several thousand pounds of product the aren’t bad. All the gear I would carry I don’t think would even begin to affect them. 

Did this just work, really some please tell me you can see this image.

I can see the image and thats a nice clean looking van

The clean part is the under side, nothing but clean original paint.  

I can't see it. Neither on my computer at work nor on my phone.

Yeah link is broken now

Akylekoz van!

Oh sure post the pictures of before I washed it.

Um, I mean to say thanks, still don't know how to post pics.

In reply to akylekoz :

sorry!  Just trying to help

My brother in law was looking for a van to live out of (seriously) and he ended up getting a 97 Dodge Ram Conversion van. I don't remember who did the conversion, but it's nice. 

It's been mostly trouble free except for the cooling system, which had to be completely replaced after 1.5 years. I think he only spent 2k. He still lives out of it and likes it. It has the smaller of the V8s, he wishes he got the larger. 

I had a 97 E150 with an American Conversion. After 12 years and 160K miles, all the Ford bits were still perfect, all the conversion bits were falling apart. It left me with a decent chassis with falling apart seats and deteriorating paint on all the fiberglass parts. 

If I was going to do it again, I'd buy a factory van and skip the conversion.

Can you Dajiban a camper?

Why not?  I only came in here to say the first van the OP drove and linked looks awesome. I've been using a similar one (but SWB and not as nice) for work and planning to do some travel/camping out of and i love it. If i go to the challenge it will be there as the tow vehicle.