In reply to Ian F:
I defer to you as I have never been in an Astro. I HAVE used a Mazda MPV to camp, those had 4wd and are not too bad to drive. Sleeping length was fine too. Just need to take all the seats out.
My wife had this very van (Color and all, though this is stolen from Wiki).
Edit: This is the 4wd model.
In reply to singleslammer:
That's essentially the same as the Grand Caravan I have now, only it's a bit larger. Still sucks for camping - simply not big enough.
IIRC, the first MPV's were based on the Mazda truck chassis and the 4WD version aftermarket bits would work. I remember seeing a few back in the day with lift kits and bigger tires.
Edit: it's funny looking at those vans and noticing the lack of the driver's side rear door. After almost two years with my GC, going to a van with only three doors would drive me nuts. I use that door all the time.
Those 4x4 forward control vans from Japan in the 80s would do nicely.
Ian F wrote:curtis73 wrote: I would think a 4x4 van is as suitable as its pickup counterpart. I thought long and hard about homebrew-Quigleying my E350. Its basically an F250 chassis with a toaster on it instead of a bed.Sort of. The truck frame doesn't really work at all under a van body. I researched the crap out of 4x4 vans a number of years ago and read that statement a number of times - then they tried to actually do it and found out the mounts don't line up at all. Much easier to swap/adapt the 4x4 bits onto a E250/350 van frame, which is what Quigley does. I've found a number of DIY build threads/pages over the years. A fairly well-travelled road. Granted, when all is said and done, it'd be cheaper to just buy one that's already done and maybe needs some work although IIRC you have a diesel van and 4x4 diesel versions are rare and don't come up for sale often.
True... I wasn't suggesting its a bolt-in frame, but it is essentially a 3/4 ton vehicle from the frame down; axle bits, tie rods, springs. I was speaking more from capability standpoint. Built like an F250, not built from the same parts as an F250.
In hindsight I should have done it because now I'm considering buying a 4x4.
http://www.gtrv.com/models pop tops for midsize vans.
http://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7799
You can also look at an E-camper Honda Element.
http://www.ursaminorvehicles.com/campers.html <-- looks like they do 4 door jeeps now as well.
http://www.camperize.com/poptops.html
I guess I don't understand the point in spending thousands of dollars on what is essentially a hard-roofed tent on top of your vehicle.
If I'm camping in a vehicle I want hard sides.
In reply to PHeller:
I don't really either but then I would have bought the camper in the first post and had a portable beach house.
You could easily get a diesel class-B Econoline based motorhome and do the same thing, and not have it be so huge.
In the future I think we'll see this being done with Sprinters as well.
The future is now:
I'm saving my pennies to get a bobbed 5 ton army truck and dropping a small Airstream on the back.
ZAV/Camper? How do I get one of those "free" MRAP's? Seriously.... this would make a killer offroad camper:
sportsmobile or nothing.
I'll take nothing.
I'll be putting bumpers/tire carriers on this rig and cutting the rear for departure angle improvement soon:
In reply to jamscal:
One of my day dreams is a "Super C" built on a Ram 5500 Cummins 4x4 extended chassis... with a manual transmission. Dodge sells the truck... just need to find the money and a builder... lot's of money...
You guys are thinking way too big.
You can even do 4WD if that's what you're in to.
In reply to Bobzilla:
They make Chevy versions for the f-series challenged. You buy the 4x4 chev from quigley and ship it to sportsmobile. Or you could call tiger4x4 in South Carolina for a Chevy version.
Later chevy express vans with the 5.3 were available with AWD for a few years, iirc.
Having driven one many, many miles as a company vehicle, I will second that Astros/Safaris really suck to drive. The left fender well is your dead pedal. And it goes all the way to the brake pedal area. There's almost no place to put your left foot, so it then falls asleep, gets gangrene, and drops off. And then you're stuck driving automatic transmission cars for the rest of your life. All because you wanted a crappy AWD camper.
Is the Sprinter, Econoline or Dodge Vans any better?
In reply to PHeller:
From my experience, the E-series is better. Having a bit more nose, the front wheels are farther forward and allow for a bit more foot room. It's still a van, so it won't be as roomy or comfortable as a truck, but that's some of the price you pay for the additional space per wheelbase. The new Transit I recently rented was about the same. Definitely more "van-like" than my Caravan. I get the impression the Sprinter and new Ram vans are similar. Older GM and Dodge vans tend to have the wheel wells cut into the cabin space like an Astro.
I honestly dont mind being over the front wheels, and I enjoyed driving the cab-over Fuso and Chevy/Isuzu 3500HD cab over.
Personally, I still think a cab over would make the best camper if they got better MPG.
All the engine access you could ever want. Shaded too.
Here's mine. The Baja bug in my avatar is it's "mini me" 
In reply to Cotton:
Any updates on that beast?
petegossett wrote: In reply to Cotton: Any updates on that beast?
Nothing new really. I just go out and play video games in it from time to time. Also some friends had their kids birthday parties in it and that was a big hit. I did buy a huge air impact gun like the semi truck mechanics use, so I can pull the wheels off and fix the brake wheel cylinders. I had been waiting for cooler weather and it looks like that's finally here, so I will see about tackling that job next month. If I get the brakes fixed a buddy that helps organize the local cars and coffee wants me to bring it out, so that should be interesting! With the generator I have now I can run all the TVs and consoles easily, so that's how we'll set it up at C&C.
In reply to Cotton:
Kick ass! 
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