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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 42,122 Likes: 8
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 42,122 Likes: 8 |
Or Suburban / Tahoe / Yukon for bigger cargo area, better clearance & true 4wd capabilities.
Paul.
"Kids who grow up hunting, fishing & trapping, do not mug little old Ladies"
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,487 Likes: 18
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,487 Likes: 18 |
If you can find a decent one, some school buses are 4x4, used in rural areas that get a lot of snow. Those can make great conversions.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 70
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 70 |
One of my buddies revamped and old 4WD ambulance just how you're talking about. I think it's an early 80's Ford. Pretty cool how he set it up. We call it the 'Campbulance". He uses it for camping, fishing and hunting all over SE Wyoming with no problems. Was a project from the get-go but it turned out very cool.
No brains, no headaches...
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Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 215
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 215 |
When I was a dealership mechanic a pipeline company brought a van in on a trailer. D3500 Dodge maxi van. 1 ton. 4 wheel drive..... Duallys............on FRONT AND BACK ! We did some electrical work. Van stayed on the trailer.....Never had a chance to crawl under it and look at the front end. Said it was used "off road only" ! LOL
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Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 17,404 Likes: 29
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 17,404 Likes: 29 |
Find a hotel in / a ski resort tow that has fallen on hard times.
They often have 15 passenger 4x4 vans for airport shuttles..
-OMotS
"If memory serves fails me..."
Quote: ( unnamed) "been prtty deep in the cooler todaay "
Television and radio are most effective when people question little and think even less.
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 42,122 Likes: 8
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 42,122 Likes: 8 |
Actually, just remembered, a customer of my shop has a 4wd Nissan NL3500HD van ! ![[Linked Image from cstatic-images.com]](https://www.cstatic-images.com/car-pictures/xl/usc80niv181c021001.png)
Paul.
"Kids who grow up hunting, fishing & trapping, do not mug little old Ladies"
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,716 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,716 Likes: 1 |
Have read a bit about buying an AWD Astro or Safari van, and swapping the fulltime AWD transfer case with a "normal" part time transfer case from an S10 or Blazer of similar vintage. External dimensions, bolting, and splines are the same. You have to rig up an actuation lever and fool the vehicle's speed sensor while in 4wd-lo somehow (I don't remember it being difficult), and you have real 4x4 capability: 2WD, 4x4 and 4x4-lo with minimum fuss and cost. Other outfits have minor lift kits which puts the van in a stance about that of a stock compact SUV of similar vintage. Such would have WAY MORE ROOM than a compact or midsize SUV, just like a full-size van has WAY MORE ROOM inside than a suburban or excursion.
Remember everyone, AWD isn't 4WD, no matter what the advertisements say.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,727
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,727 |
Look at the school busses. Truck frame, real transfer case, hubs, good ground clearance. And you can stand up to put on your pants. Some are diesel
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,407 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,407 Likes: 2 |
As Remsen noted, Mercedes Sprinter 4wd diesel 6 models.
mike r
Don't wish it were easier
Wish you were better
Stab them in the taint, you can't put a tourniquet on that.
Craig Douglas ECQC
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,745
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,745 |
The old GMC Safari & Chevy Astro vans were available in AWD.
Would be fairly simple to gut & fit out. Of course then you’d be stuck with a Chevy. 
Camp is where you make it.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 28,411
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 28,411 |
I DO NOT want to go with an aftermarket outfit. Google up Pathfinder industries. They did quite a few Ford 3/4 ton van conversions to 4wd.
The degree of my privacy is no business of yours.
What we've learned from history is that we haven't learned from it.
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Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 4,045 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 4,045 Likes: 1 |
My neighbor bought a Quigley conversion Ford transit van last year through a local dealer here. Has all the factory warranties and everything with it. I don't know what the price was but he is happy as heck with it.
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