Chevy & GMC Vans

Hello all. After months of lurking and research, I've finally made it official and purchased my own Astro. Now I begin the process of conversion to overland camper, much in the style of T.Low's Astro.

One big difference might be the pop-top. I'm working with a composites engineering company here in SoCal that's run by some friends of mine, and we're going to be using my van as an experiment to see if we can create a DIY-installable pop-top/sleeper top like a Westfalia VW or the GTRV top for Astro/Safaris.

First off, I'd like to use this thread to brainstorm about what people think are the most important details of this design.

Some important features we're looking at:
[*]"Penthouse" style top that raises level, rather than a "V"-angle top (more foot room in upper bunk)
[*]Prewired for LED lighting and/or solar panels (option)
[*]Design incorporates lower tub that houses lift mechanism and attaches lower tent body, making it easier to weatherproof (even for extreme sideways rain) and facilitates simpler DIY installation as we could ship a fully built/tested lifting mechanism with tent.
[*]Provision to relocate factory roof rails to the new top shell, engineered to take at least as much weight as the original installation.
[*]Minimal roof cutting required. (See below)

Secondly, I've got a poll question to gauge general interest in such a system and the one BIG outstanding question we have in our design. Rather than cutting a large access hole in the roof (like the GTRV installation), we're considering limiting the roof cutting to a smaller "access hatch" the size of a large sunroof. This simplifies installation, limits the impact to the structural integrity of the body, and preserves the factory rollover protection. The downside is that this doesn't create the large "standing headroom" area that wesfalias and GTRVs can offer when the bed system is removed or moved out of the way. Since I'm short and I don't plan on installing a kitchen in my van, I only need enough room to stand while putting on my pants, etc. and I can just duck my head when moving around the van. Others might care more about this difference.

Also, I know that final price is going to make a big difference in terms of how many people might be interested. We won't know real pricing until we get further along, but using the $7k-$9k figure from GTRV for a fully installed and complete pop-top, understand that we would aim to be significantly cheaper since we would just be providing the top mechanism, shell, and tent, leaving installation and (optional) body-color painting to the customer.

So what do you think? Are there any other details we should add to the list of design criteria? Any questions?

Herbie,this van was last build in 2005 so your marked is very limited.The Chevy Express would be a better option and is also as AWD available.

Thats a tuff call Herb. I can see the attractiveness of the cheaper version, especially in today's economy. Quicker cleaner, easier. But I do love the versatility of the standing room. I guess I'm glad I don't have to make that decision.

Looking forward to seeing it come to fruition.

With your 236 TCase idea, and now this...I do believe you are an angel sent from above [-o<

I see your point about preserving the safety/integrity of the roof. As of now, these van bodies already flex a bunch during offroad use. When I was upgrading my rear drums, I opened the rear hatch to grab a tool, then jacked up one side off my bumper with a 4x4 jack...it started raining so I went to close the hatch and it wouldn't. The body was torqued and hatch wouldn't fully close.

T-Low...does your setup have any trusses to brace the roof?

That being said, I have shelves, stove and sink (grassroots style) and would love to be able to stand up. http://s753.photobucket.com/albums/xx176/gabedanger/
Putting the axis hatch more centered (preserving roof over front seats and saving the rear roof) may be an option. Yes I like the penthouse idea, but the wedge may be more durable/long lasting. Yes it needs to stand up to high winds and rain. Yes I absolutely love the DIY idea and Yes I would buy one if significantly cheaper than others mentioned. With all of my mods, this van is a lifer for me as I'm sure is the case with many other folks.

It has a steel frame around the openning so it is indeed reinforced. The openning goes from the front of the van to about the front of the back seat. I take out the middle seat and invite all the other campers over for a barn dance. :-({|=

Oh shite! I was going to take photos and measurements of the openning.

I posted this awhile back. You might want to take a look for ideas.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=4556&p=47203&hilit ... ent#p47203

mdmead wrote:I posted this awhile back. You might want to take a look for ideas.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=4556&p=47203&hilit ... ent#p47203

Oh yeah, I'm well aware of the Ursa Minor eCamper. Their factory is about 20 miles from me and I've met John G. on a couple of occasions (once when I was seriously shopping eCamper, the second @ an Expedition Portal Meet-n-greet).

Its a good design and takes advantage of the existing sunroof. The fact that there are eCamper owners living without standing room is one of the things that gives me hope that I might be able to as well. Interestingly, when I got the first renders of the Astro top design from my friend's firm, it utilized a very similar upper/lower tray idea with quite a few similarities (and the designer had never seen an eCamper), so there must be some least-common-denominators on the simplest solution to this problem.

On the other side of the coin, I've spent a couple of days trying to move around the van as if I were camping in it, trying to gauge how important standing room is to ME. (Make excuses to move from front to back, etc. when parking @ work, for example.) Since this van is intended to be a family camper for three, its going to feel tight anyway. I'm starting to thing standing headroom will be critical for the times when we're all inside, like during inclement weather or just before bedtime.

I like your style!!!!!! Standing ovation =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> ..............but only if there's room

any new progress on the pop top?

Rotor wrote:any new progress on the pop top?

None yet. Got distracted by a sick baby and a possible line on a cheap GTRV-converted van I might steal a top mechanism from.

Further analysis of the engineering explains why a "V-top" is so much easier to implement than a "penthouse" style top. With a Penthouse top (if it isn't electrically raised/lowered), its hard to lower the top if you can only pull on the forward end, not from the middle or both ends...

Neat idea but too complicated for me. I added sofa bed , sink, stove, lights to my 94 G20 full size Chevy van.
For my 2003 Astro AWD I added 24"x36" sleeping platform behind the single fold down bench seat
I went and got inside the new Ford Transit Connect van and it is nice with the hihg top it has 4'11" of interior headroom
maybe GM will import something similar

as far as Astro based camper , I recommend a rear fabric awning DIY use round Yakima roof cross bar which has 1 1/4 PVC pipe with fabric rolled up on the tubing
then to camp just open rear doors and deploy awning
2 rather than roof pop up I would suggest slide out rear floor extension
using plywood attached to a Uni strut channel trolley roller

I will type in more from my laptop and try to post pictures of awning

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