late 90's early 2000's conversion vans

Conversion vans seem to have a pretty good depreciation hit. I intend to buy one to pull my race car on open trailer. The events I tend to do are weekend long, so the van will be a place to sleep, enabling my wife and 3yo son to be there as well.

I have a modest budget, around $3k.

It seems to me, in the northeast, a large portion of what is available are dodges, like 7 out of every 10. That sort of scares me like there is something wrong with them. I just sold my 95 dodge truck with the 5.9. Transmission looked like it was rebuilt before I got it. It served me well, and was more than ample towing for my needs.

My price point seems to be right at the dividing line for the new model of the gm van(96). So I'm seeing the older style, versus the newer style. I've seen very few fords, but my price seems to put them at late 90's vintage.

Anyone care to break down what the problem areas are for each brand? Obviously if i can get the heavier duty version, I will, but you never know what the used market will bring.

I started a thread about this not too long ago. First thing to look at is the chassis it's on; you'll want a 3/4 ton or larger. A lot of these are built on half ton chassis and the conversion crap maxes out their weight before loading your equipment or trailer. Dodges are probably the most common because ChryCo was giving the things away for peanuts for years. I think the population is just larger for Dodges as a result.

If you plan on gutting the conversion crap (captain's chairs, etc) you may want to just skip ahead to a wheelchair van. They go for even less, and you may be able to sell the wheelchair lift and recoup some $$.

Chrysler had a sweet setup for the conversion guys to buy nearly-bare vans for peanuts back then, so most of the conversions were Dodge's. My Grandfather pulled his enclosed trailer with a 3/4 ton Dodge conversion van for 20+ years. It was a great, great van. 5.9L/Auto. Very comfy, tons of space, great for camping/sleeping (and changing into race suits).

I need the seats, it's the whole reason for getting rid of the truck.

At least 95% of conversion vans are built on 1/2 ton chassis. Finding one built on an 3/4 ton chassis (8 lug wheels) is like looking for hen's teeth. Finding one for your $3000 budget will be damn near impossible.

That said, a 1/2 ton should tow an open car trailer without a problem, providing you use your head. The one downside for towing is conversion vans are usually geared for highway cruising, and thus tend to run tall gearing.

The drive trains on any of them is basic American iron. Fairly reliable, cheap to fix or find parts for. Working on them is annoying. I've never met a mechanic who likes working on vans.

All three seem to be about the same. You'll find owners who will say their van is great and all other brands are crap. I'm partial to Fords, but only due to familiarity (I had one). When I can look for another van, all brands will at least get a test drive.

To me, normal used car buying applies: it should be clean with at least some service records and an interior that looks like the owner gave half a damn about it. It amazes me that as expensive as conversion vans are when new ($50K is not uncommon), owners seem to treat them like crap.

If you plan on camping in it, don't underestimate the usefulness of a raised roof version. Having owned one, a std roof van feels claustrophobic...

Seth,

I am interested in this thread as well, but have been looking at Astro/Safari. Have you looked into them? Do you need the full size van?

What do others think?

Allen Begnoche has a 95 GMC 3500 mild conversion he uses to pull his FVee. 12 MPG, dead reliable, comfortable. It was used by a kids camp to ferry campers around.

I've never met a mechanic who likes working on vans.

I am not disagreeing, just offering a caveat: When i worked in a trasnmission-ONLY shop, vans were some of the easiest vehicles to work on.

But for anything other than a $2000 trans rebuild.. yeah they're not too great to work on.

Chevy/GMC G20 vans are a hybrid of sorts, a 3/4 ton chassis with 1/2 ton rear axle and 3/4 front spindles but with 5-lug rotors (I guess van owners don't like 8-lugs wheels?).

The Chevy & Dodge engines are bit easier to work on in van format, with the distributor at the back. I hated working on Ford vans.

The astro/safari with all the conversion stuff would be borderline on tow capacity. There is a nice one on the Burlington Craigslist if you are looking. The full size ones seem more readily available.

15 passenger vans most likely have the heavy duty suspension, no raised roof but they are loooonnnnggg.

Vigo wrote:

I've never met a mechanic who likes working on vans.

I am not disagreeing, just offering a caveat: When i worked in a trasnmission-ONLY shop, vans were some of the easiest vehicles to work on. But for anything other than a $2000 trans rebuild.. yeah they're not too great to work on.

Easy access to the bell housing bolts!

I have done light towing with my G20 GMC think civic, rabbit and Cavalier on a tow dolly or flat tow with little problem. With trailer breaks I am pretty sure it could handle and open trailer but it would be in no hurry. Did head gaskets last summer and while it was a pain to lift the cast iron heads and intake into place by myself all the bolts were easy enough to reach.