Hi-Top Conversion Vans?

I know we have van threads pop up here from time to time, but I'm just curious about conversion vans, especially Hi-Top ones.

Just really playing around with my automotive ADD, I think they would be a good road trip vehicle, especially for camping. I just wonder how much worse they are on mileage than a regular conversion van. I'm seeing these things around 150k on the odo under $5000 that look to be in really good shape. I'm a tall guy, so the Hi-Top would be better suited for me, plus I kind of like the idea of a TV and dvd player.

The only thing that bothers me about vans are servicing the engine.

Conversion vans drop their value faster than almost any vehicle I've seen. You can pick them up for a reach-around and a beer these days.

Servicing the engine isn't terrible. If you think about it, the common maintenance stuff is just as easy; oil changes, radiator flushes, tranny fluid and filter, etc. Spark plugs can be a challenge, but most modern ignitions only need them every 60-100k.

If you don't plan on going fast or towing, many of the luxo-conversion vans have tall rear gearing and V6s. They can often get 20 mpgs pretty easily. The high-tops are nice for passenger entry, but they don't offer much more than that unless you plan on camping in them. I'm 6'1" and sitting in my regular-top van I have nearly a foot to the headliner.

Don't worry about maintenance with a van. You may have to worry about engine repair but maintenance is not an issue. Changing oil or a fuel filter isn't an issue. Its stuff like replacing a head gasket or an intake that will kill ya.

not a hightop, but not bad

http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/ctd/3826321709.html

http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/cto/3786201609.html

Honestly, depending on how fancy you want them, $5K for 150 thousand miles is seems kinda pricey. But I am a bottom feeder on this.

They dont hold value for squat and I have no idea why. I had a 94 Dodge factory converson that went to damm near 300 K before it let go. My 94 Econoline club wagon was just awesome. I slept in it, hauled bikes, towed cars and we would use it as our anti DUI car. Leave it downtown and cab it home. No one messed with it. Put almost 200K on that one and sold it to GRMs resident Candian welder. He drove it from OK to Canada. He did replace the transmission in it.

Vans are kinda like pickups, you'll find a use for them. More bad ideas have come home attached to my van than my F150.

Now, niether of these were hightops but it never mattered to me. Mileage was not good in either, but better than my Disco now.

Curtis is dead on about the service. Take your care and protect the carpet, but I could get to anything I needed when I wanted to. But if it was a serious issue, they both were almost disposable.

Dont rule out the church vans either. Lots of space back there and the stuff from the conversion vans can be found in the junkyard. Usually they have big engines.

Had a customer with one a while back. The only difference between it and a regular van was the added 2' or so of height on top.

The downside is that he was married to the thing. IE - He liked having a high top van, which aren't easy to find (at least not around here), so when it required major repairs, just dumping it and getting another one weren't really options. That's when I got to find out how fun it is to do a 5.4 in an Econoline. (It's a tight fit)

If you ever walk into a hi-top van, you'll be hooked. Even if it's not set up as a conversion van, just a big open top. It is so much easier to move around in them.

You do have to have a different mind set for working on them through the doghouse. Some have it, others don't. I do not. I hate it with a passion. Yes, the back of the engine is now clearly accessable. But you can't touch anything with your greasy paws, and you can't put your tools down anywhere.

I like hi-tops but wont fit in the garage.

I just picked up a '94 e150 "regular" conversion van for $1700, 200k, and its not all rusted out and interior is pretty good, most window shades even work.

I had an '02 Ford high top. I ordered it the way I wanted it. Well, almost. There were a few things I wanted, but Mrs RMD thought otherwise.

If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't get a high top. Parking structures are impossible, couldn't use the local car wash, fuel economy was worse, etc. Unless you're five foot nothing, you're still hunching over to move around in it.

foxtrapper wrote: You do have to have a different mind set for working on them through the doghouse. Some have it, others don't. I do not. I hate it with a passion. Yes, the back of the engine is now clearly accessable. But you can't touch anything with your greasy paws, and you can't put your tools down anywhere.

Remove the seats and lay down some old carpeting and stick some old couch cushions on the floor to lay down on.

I much prefer doing major work on vans over pickups for just this reason. It doesn't make sense to do all that if you're just doing, say, plugs and wires on a Chevy, or even an intake gasket, but for anything more in-depth than that, it's awesome.

RealMiniDriver wrote: I had an '02 Ford high top. I ordered it the way I wanted it. Well, almost. There were a few things I wanted, but Mrs RMD thought otherwise. If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't get a high top. Parking structures are impossible, couldn't use the local car wash, fuel economy was worse, etc. Unless you're five foot nothing, you're still hunching over to move around in it.

This.

I had a 97 Ford with the 5.4. The high top was a PITA more than it was an asset.

I had a '97 E-150 Conversion with a high-top for a while and I liked it for a lot of reasons, but when I was ready to upgrayedd, I specifically went looking for a low-top van to replace it. I can't really give you a feel for the different in mileage as the high-top had the 4.6 and my current van has the 5.4, however, they both get about 14-15 on the highway and towing an extra 4,000lbs doesn't seem to make much difference as long as you're not flogging it.

With the high-top van, there was more room to move around in the back, however, there were also two wooden ledges, one at the front of the van and one at the rear, that I was constantly rendering myself unconscious on. As I'd move from the back of the van to the driver's seat or -- even worse -- if I went from the back of the van to look for something behind the rear seat, more often than not, it seemed, I would crack my head on the wood. I don't know what it is, but you just don't expect that you're going to suddenly loose a foot and a half of headroom.

Speaking of headroom, I'm 6'3" and the high-top was not high-toppy enough for me to stand in the van. It was certainly better than the low-top, but I had no illusions that I'd be able to, say, use the back of the van for work space or anything like that. It was better for changing clothes than the low top is, though, since I could stand up if I crinked my head off to a funny angle.

You do get some extra cubby holes in the high-top that aren't available in the low top van. Since you're storing things overhead, you don't get much space and can't put a ton of weight up there, but I have missed those cubbys on more than one occasion in my current van. Speaking of bearing weight, the high-top is fiberglass, way up high, and not super-duper strong, so using the top of the van for anything isn't really possible. I'm not climbing up on top of mine on a regular basis, or anything, but it is nice to be able to have the option for a roof-top luggage carrier (with 7 people in the van, there is a surprising dearth of cargo space!) or for putting my solar shower on top of the van when camping or racing.

One of the cool things about a high top van is that you'll either have a ladder dedicated to car-wash duty or you'll get to learn all about the local truck washes. I have a couple local car washes that my low top fits in, but the old van needed a trip a couple exits down I-75 to the Walton, KY Truck Wash if I needed to give it a bath.

The biggest problem I had with the high top, though, is that my job has me going all over the place for meetings with customers and a lot of those places are in downtown areas. There are very few parking garages that will accommodate a vehicle that is over 7 foot -- in fact, I have a hard time sometimes with my low top van which needs 6'10" of clearance. In order to park at my office building every day I had to leave the high top van in a parking lot across the street and walk, since it didn't fit in the garage here. The rest of the issues were sort of annoyances, but the parking garage thing is what sealed the deal for me.

Overall, I think as a tow vehicle, a van is a great option and except for Mongo, there is nothing out there with more legroom for a long road trip. It's great with kids since I can open the side door, push all the kids into the van (and out of the parking lot and/or weather), and then worry about getting everyone buckled in or whatever. They are teh suck when it comes time to fill them up with gas, doing the spark plugs reduced me to an incoherent stream of babbling that sounded vaguely like curse words with a side of misogyny just for good measure, and most of the customizers have gone out of business, leaving you high and dry if any of the conversion parts break. My opinion is that if you're looking for something that you need to live with on a daily basis in a city/suburban setting, go for the low top.

I'm 38 and my dad has owned 2 hi-top conversion vans continuously over the last 25 years. Early on they were great to haul us kids around in (today's mini vans probably do that just as well). Great for longer trips. Great for camping and tailgating. I borrowed it once as a best man for a bachelor party vehicle. Works well for weddings too. Now dad's van makes 2 5+ hour trips to Richmond VA for a NASCAR race each year and a handful of other trips, including towing his fiberglas boat locally to the lake - and he still keeps it just for those purposes. Great for people in and out often - lots of stops, for changing clothes, sleeping in a pinch (and better with some RV type upgrades). Cons have mostly been mentioned - mileage, parking garages, spark plugs. I'll add that dad's van is fairly terrible in the snow and thus gets parked all winter, but I don't know if they can be made to do better with snow tires. Vans in general also can be sensitive to tire selection - too wide or not enough sidewall can cause some odd handling or ride characteristics. You also have to look for rust - especially at the side window locations, windshield frames, etc. - anywhere where someone put a hole in the sheet metal. I probably would look for the best physical example and stay away from rust. To me the biggest benefit with the hi-top is the height when getting a group in and out and use for changing clothes, etc. If parking garages are not an issue, I wouldn't hesitate if you want a van.

Pay attention to the different chasis available, as you get a bit more length and other features, depending on what you get.

curtis73 wrote: Conversion vans drop their value faster than almost any vehicle I've seen. You can pick them up for a reach-around and a beer these days.

I think I would rather pay money.

You can get 3/4 ton heavy duty versions of most of the conversion vans. They're a little rarer than the 1/2 ton versions and most people don't list them as 3/4 ton. Just check the bolt pattern either in the pictures or email the person. Then you get a lot better towing capacity at the expense of a little worse fuel economy and a little bouncier ride when empty. If towing is something important to you, that is.

Thanks for the input guys.

My main use for the van, if I got one, is to use it for road trips and camping. I would not be using it for a DD.

^^^ then hi-top would be the way to go.

If you ever do use it as a truck or tow rig, keep in mind that a 1/2 ton conversion van is often times over its GVW with two people and a tank of gas. If you ever plan to haul with it (other than a weekend camping trip) I suggest a 3/4 ton.

Otherwise, have fun.

Never buy a hi-top! I rmember Dad's. We went through springs/shocks like nothing. Figured it out a year before he got rid of it. GVWR was 7700lbs. The van, with no passengers and a full tank of gas weighed 7100lbs. Put 3-4 adults, luggage etc in and guess what, you're overloaded. The rear springs looked like "W's" without passengers.

What's worse is the horrific driving dynamics of all that weight way way way up high. A regular top conversion van drives/handles MUCH better. THey're still heavy, but they don't have that additional weight up top.

i had a 94 chevy, low roof, short wheelbase, 4.3 V6. I seemed to get around 15mpg, 18mpg tops. fwiw.

bullet proof reliable engine. mine had a hunger for starters though, i replaced the starter 3 times in 100k miles.

They are THE BEST for road trips and camping. If I got another I would be shopping for a long wheel base high top with a 350 or something. or maybe a lwb low top. or get a non conversion super long wheel base E350 (15 passenger or cargo) or something. anything with more room inside.

RE: parking....even with a low top fullsize van...some parking garages can be a little tight. my van was about as tall as my moms dodge caravan high top conversion.

Good thread. We currently have a minivan for family hauling duty. When we bought it, it was the perfect vehicle...our oldest son was 2 at the time and my wife was pregnant with twins. Fast forward 6+ years and life is a bit different. The kids can now put themselves in our van, buckle their own belts, a TV is a savior on long drives, etc... We still love our minivan and plan to use it a few more years. But when we replace it, we're either going Suburban (wife's choice), or conversion van (my choice). Every time I go to the auto show, I drool over the new ones. I figure a nice low mileage 3 year old model sells for 1/2 what it did new. Perfect.

In reply to Bobzilla:

Well I think Curtis has the idea about getting a 3/4 ton. I know they are out there.

As far as driving dynamics, it has to be better than my Savana with the Ladder Rack. That thing sucks in crosswinds.

My mechanic (and brother in law) loves 'em. Most around here need steering rack/front suspension repairs.

DoctorBlade wrote: My mechanic (and brother in law) loves 'em. Most around here need steering rack/front suspension repairs.

In 70k, mine had the front end done three times - bushings? alignment adjusters? can't remember. Ate front rotors, too.

I loved my '90 E150 hi-top conversion van and miss it pretty much every day. Selling it for my Cummins ranks as the worst automotive decision I've made to date.

Yes, mileage wasn't great - mid to upper teens at best. And it wasn't great in the snow with no-name all-season tires (although I did DD it for an entire winter of '02/'03). Rust was becoming an issue as well and a number of things had stopped working. Still, the 5.0 V8 was dead-nuts reliable and for long trips is was incredibly comfortable. I eventually gave up on the need to carry more than 2 people so the center seats were removed. I often removed the rear folding bed/couch when I needed to haul a lot of stuff. I used it to move friends a few times.

It really depends on what you need to use a van for. I'm 5;10" and while I couldn't stand up completely, I could well enough to change in air-conditioned comfort on a hot day. I had set my van up for hauling my racing mtn bikes and camping at events. For this purpose, it was damn near perfect. A nice side effect in PA is it was titled as a "station wagon" and therefore the annual registration was only $36 vs. $153 for my Cummins.

I agree about looking for a E250 if towing is planned. They are much more rare, but out there. Right now, I'm leaning towards a LWB EB Sprinter (longest available)with plans to do a DIY mini-toy-hauler RV conversion (RV in the front w/ room for bikes, a kart or 1 dirt bike in the back).