Why Vans went out of style is something I'll never understand...

G-man
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G-man
Edited Date/Time 6/8/2018 9:15pm
Here's a guy and his van down by the river with his dog.

The most practical vehicle out there, of course that might be my biased opinion as I'm on Van number six. Cool

https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/sports/2018/05/10/inside-look-…

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MR. X
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MR. X 5/13/2018 11:32am
5/13/2018 11:32am
I'm considering a van build for bow hunting state land.
colintrax
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colintrax 5/13/2018 11:54am
5/13/2018 11:54am
Van's arent cool to most people, and I'm doing the same thing as him with an SUV.
They're useful though, the vans at my old job were great. Could toss the tools in and not worry about sticky fingers and rain.
Andy_Greenney 5/13/2018 12:10pm
5/13/2018 12:10pm
Vans are all that get used over here for the most part, probably down to the mix of weather, nothing is more practical.

The Shop

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G-man
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G-man 5/13/2018 9:44pm
5/13/2018 9:44pm
colintrax wrote:
Van's arent cool to most people, and I'm doing the same thing as him with an SUV. They're useful though, the vans at my old job...
Van's arent cool to most people, and I'm doing the same thing as him with an SUV.
They're useful though, the vans at my old job were great. Could toss the tools in and not worry about sticky fingers and rain.
Don't see how you can do the same out of a SUV without much more inconveniences.

Here's Whitey....Woohoo

https://youtu.be/V2U8mWREjok

NorCal 50+
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NorCal 50+ 5/14/2018 11:57am
5/14/2018 11:57am
The minivan killed vans, and unless it's a work van, vans look shady for some reason.
Around here we got a ton of old Prospector dudes driving ancient trucks with gnarly looking campers on the back that look like they should be in a landfill. They are all over the place. Walked by one dude in the hardware store parking lot and he was reading a nudie magazine in the middle of the afternoon- nice!
GuyB
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GuyB 5/14/2018 3:44pm
5/14/2018 3:44pm
I'd say it was the gas shortage back in the day.
JPT
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JPT 5/14/2018 6:13pm
5/14/2018 6:13pm
GuyB wrote:
I'd say it was the gas shortage back in the day.
And they weren't much fun in the snow.
EZZA 95B
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EZZA 95B 5/14/2018 11:03pm
5/14/2018 11:03pm Edited Date/Time 5/14/2018 11:08pm
Got most of my cars back from my nephew and this was one of my favourites. Laughing
Motocross83 5/15/2018 1:17am
5/15/2018 1:17am
As mentioned above you can't go anywhere here without seeing a van, they're just so damn useful. I keep intending to get one myself at some point, not just for MX but for any other job really - you can potentially make money from them just on that basis alone (people wanting to move stuff etc).
GeorgiePorgie 5/15/2018 8:40am
5/15/2018 8:40am Edited Date/Time 5/15/2018 8:41am
Love my van. Initially built it for moto. But find myself using it all the time. I sleep in it. If the army calls me for some wierd training I can hop in it. Drive 10 hours. Claim mileage and live out of it for a few days. I go to Home Depot. I haul all kinds of shit. And it all stays dry.....if I gotta pull a trailer I do it. I might just sell all my vehicles and get a new van for a daily driver. Gas mileage isn’t horrible. These newer vans getting 20-28mpg.
Homey55
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Homey55 5/15/2018 9:29am
5/15/2018 9:29am
Photographer's name in the article is Giberson...
peelout
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peelout 5/15/2018 9:30am
5/15/2018 9:30am
i thought you were talking about the shoes and was like, "what the fuck is this bro talking about"

i love vans shoes



1
dsmith
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dsmith 5/15/2018 11:21am
5/15/2018 11:21am
shoes is what I thought of after reading the title... I love vans
Ebs
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Ebs 5/15/2018 2:16pm
5/15/2018 2:16pm
Holding out for a deal on a used Nissan NV2500 for bike/camping/down by the river duty.

Pit Row

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G-man
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G-man 5/17/2018 9:18pm
5/17/2018 9:18pm
That van is badass I had one like it back in 1977. Cool

Wish I still had it thanks for the link that's pretty cool.
Cygnus
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Cygnus 5/18/2018 10:23am
5/18/2018 10:23am
My dad and uncles started and owned one of the biggest custom van businesses in the 70’s. San’s Vans. I have owned lots of dodge vans over the years. My favorite was actually a Plymouth voyager with a 440 big block that was a passenger van a bought for my wife’s day care. Thing was super bad ass. She would
Pull up To the grade school to pick up and the other moms just got out of her way. It had headers and side pipes. So mean.
Shiftfaced
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Shiftfaced 5/18/2018 4:08pm
5/18/2018 4:08pm
I picked up a 2000 Chevy Astro van, and have been working on the conversion. It gets decent gas mileage; is AWD; and cost me $2,000 (100,000 miles). No, it is not a Sprinter. I call it my Jogger.

Done so far:
2" lift
235 75 15 tires
2" receiver
Painted bottom portion with "Truck Bed Liner"


This bed will lift up for storage underneath, and will also extend over to the passenger side, for a "double bed" when my wife joins me.

Lastly, this is my kitchen area. I have added a sink and faucet, which draws directly out of the water jug on the left.

I also have place a "Coleman" sticker on my cooler, in hopes that it will thwart any thieves.

I wonder how many will "get it" as they pass me by? (That was a trial run.
I have a die cut sticker there now.)










Shiftfaced
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Shiftfaced 5/18/2018 4:17pm
5/18/2018 4:17pm
If you look REALLY CLOSE on the first photo, you will also see I have an APR Performance "wing" mounted up on the rear of the rig.



Why?

For shits and giggles.

I also am going to get an Idaho vanity plate.

"B TEME"


Hey, let's be honest: I am not "A TEAM" material.

(B TEAM and B TEEM are already taken, so this is the best I can muster, unless somebody else has a better idea.)

Ebs
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Ebs 5/19/2018 3:13pm
5/19/2018 3:13pm
I really like those Metris (I'm a Merc fan). They seem like the perfect size for a daily driver bike hauler.

I'm not even sure if I've seen one on the road yet, and no used ones on craigslist yet.

G-man
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G-man 5/21/2018 12:04am
5/21/2018 12:04am Edited Date/Time 5/21/2018 2:17am
Shiftfaced wrote:
I picked up a 2000 Chevy Astro van, and have been working on the conversion. It gets decent gas mileage; is AWD; and cost me $2,000...
I picked up a 2000 Chevy Astro van, and have been working on the conversion. It gets decent gas mileage; is AWD; and cost me $2,000 (100,000 miles). No, it is not a Sprinter. I call it my Jogger.

Done so far:
2" lift
235 75 15 tires
2" receiver
Painted bottom portion with "Truck Bed Liner"


This bed will lift up for storage underneath, and will also extend over to the passenger side, for a "double bed" when my wife joins me.

Lastly, this is my kitchen area. I have added a sink and faucet, which draws directly out of the water jug on the left.

I also have place a "Coleman" sticker on my cooler, in hopes that it will thwart any thieves.

I wonder how many will "get it" as they pass me by? (That was a trial run.
I have a die cut sticker there now.)










Nice work with that Van!
I'm a fan of the Astro line. Have you been on their Forum site, they would like what you have done.

I have this Silver 99 that's basically OEM with a few mods.

About 8 months ago I found Goldie, this other 99 Astro for sale for 1100 bucks with 150,00 miles on it.


I couldn't turn it down so this replaced my 1990 Astro with 210,000 miles that I sold for $900 bones.
I use this van for my SUMMER daily driver and local Bike/Lake weekend hauler.
Keep the other 99 in the garage away from the brutal paint peeler sun, keep the mileage down (90,000) and save it for road trips. Probably be my last van and I want to preserve it.

So basically I got a 9-year newer van with 60,000 less miles has more features and is in better shape for $200. Smile

When I hear guys spending between 40 and $60,000 on pickup trucks it just blows my mind. Woohoo

If it's a work truck and you can write it off then that makes more sense but just for pleasure, is crazy talk.
I don't have that kind of dough, for chrissakes that cost half of what my house did about 20 years ago!
G-man
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G-man 5/22/2018 11:27pm
5/22/2018 11:27pm
Cygnus wrote:
My dad and uncles started and owned one of the biggest custom van businesses in the 70’s. San’s Vans. I have owned lots of dodge vans...
My dad and uncles started and owned one of the biggest custom van businesses in the 70’s. San’s Vans. I have owned lots of dodge vans over the years. My favorite was actually a Plymouth voyager with a 440 big block that was a passenger van a bought for my wife’s day care. Thing was super bad ass. She would
Pull up To the grade school to pick up and the other moms just got out of her way. It had headers and side pipes. So mean.
That's a freaking cool story Cyg....Woohoo
EZZA 95B
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EZZA 95B 6/7/2018 5:52pm
6/7/2018 5:52pm Edited Date/Time 6/8/2018 1:14am
My mate saw this the other day. Still left hand drive.
He took the pic from his T5 Multivan. Edit: Identical to the one pictured below.



My brother's T5 Caravelle. Edit: There's a T4 Transporter parked behind it.

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