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Camperized Astro/Safari - Share your pictures

228K views 348 replies 103 participants last post by  bithebay87 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hello!

I am looking at Camperizing my Astro soon, and will certainly share pictures, but if you have done it already - post your pictures here so we can check out your great job.

This will also help other members like me to decide how should I approach it :)

Cheers!

:ty:
 
#77 ·
#78 ·
Low Range Offroad seems to be a little pricey. I checked the items in their "garage sale" tab and every item that I checked (and they were all used) were at least the suggested retail price for the same item new. Not complaining, just pointing it out.
 
#79 ·
grond said:
Low Range Offroad seems to be a little pricey. I checked the items in their "garage sale" tab and every item that I checked (and they were all used) were at least the suggested retail price for the same item new. Not complaining, just pointing it out.
It might be true, I don't really buy much stuff from them. In this case I just couldn't find a better price for ARB 2500 awning.

I don't have much preference in company that I buy stuff from really, especially if it's something sold by other 100 companies...
 
#85 ·
#87 ·
Curtains: to cover the rear windows I used Walmart sun shades, cut to fit and held in place with double-faced tape. For the back and side windows I use Walmart bath towels with Velcro sewed onto the corners and a mating piece of Velcro stuck onto the trim around the windows. They can be hung in less than a minute. For the driver and passenger windows I use more sunshade cut to fit the windows. To install, I lower the windows an inch or so, push the sunshade into the upper slot for the window glass, and hit the button to raise the window. To cover the windshield I use a sunshade installed upside down with a slot cut for the rear view mirror. The visors hold the shade in place.
The whole deal sets up in about a minute and provides a high degree of privacy. I probably spent 20.00 on materials.
 
#88 ·
MrBob said:
Curtains: to cover the rear windows I used Walmart sun shades, cut to fit and held in place with double-faced tape. For the back and side windows I use Walmart bath towels with Velcro sewed onto the corners and a mating piece of Velcro stuck onto the trim around the windows. They can be hung in less than a minute. For the driver and passenger windows I use more sunshade cut to fit the windows. To install, I lower the windows an inch or so, push the sunshade into the upper slot for the window glass, and hit the button to raise the window. To cover the windshield I use a sunshade installed upside down with a slot cut for the rear view mirror. The visors hold the shade in place.
The whole deal sets up in about a minute and provides a high degree of privacy. I probably spent 20.00 on materials.
How long did you have had curtains attached with velcro, just wondering how good it holds on to the surfaces in the summer and heat... :ty:
 
#89 ·
Tegnus said:
MrBob said:
Curtains: to cover the rear windows I used Walmart sun shades, cut to fit and held in place with double-faced tape. For the back and side windows I use Walmart bath towels with Velcro sewed onto the corners and a mating piece of Velcro stuck onto the trim around the windows. They can be hung in less than a minute. For the driver and passenger windows I use more sunshade cut to fit the windows. To install, I lower the windows an inch or so, push the sunshade into the upper slot for the window glass, and hit the button to raise the window. To cover the windshield I use a sunshade installed upside down with a slot cut for the rear view mirror. The visors hold the shade in place.
The whole deal sets up in about a minute and provides a high degree of privacy. I probably spent 20.00 on materials.
How long did you have had curtains attached with velcro, just wondering how good it holds on to the surfaces in the summer and heat... :ty:
Since last September, and they've been used almost every day since then in temps that ranged from 15 degrees F. in Colorado to 98 degrees F. in Florida. I had to add more adhesive to some of the velcro tabs mounted on the interior window trim during the coldest weather.
I'll probably post photos when I build a platform for Burning Man soon.
 
#90 ·
Tegnus said:
How long did you have had curtains attached with velcro, just wondering how good it holds on to the surfaces in the summer and heat... :ty:
I spent 2 years driving my van around Mexico, Central Am, and parts of Colombia. My Velcro was constantly coming off, with glue streaking down the sides of my windows. I finally ordered some heavy duty high temp velcro online similar to whats on an easy pass, and have not had a problem since, that stuff is probably permanent, I am not sure it will come off if I wanted!

I used normal velcro on my reflectix panels, and the super strong portion on the glass windows, that way it is still easy to separate the two pieces without ripping the reflectix.

If anyone is interested I can probably dig up the part number, keep in mind it wasn't necessarily cheap, but it solved the annoying problems I was having.
 
#92 ·
There's been talk of treating windows for privacy and this is the setup I've used for about 6 months. It gets used every day. The sunscreens are Walmart cheapo deluxe. The two rear windows also have panels of the stuff mounted on double-sided tape that remains in place.
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IMG_3379.JPG

IMG_3377.JPG


Set up is pretty simple, the way I like it. The windshield piece fits better upside down so I made a notch in the screen to fit around the mirror stalk. The sun visors hold it in place. To install the side panels I lower the window a few inches and fit the panel into the groove for the window glass and then raise the window. It clamps the panel in place. One full-sized windshield screen should provide enough material for both front windows. Total cost for all panels was about 20 bucks.
 
#93 ·
Wiley said:
Tegnus said:
How long did you have had curtains attached with velcro, just wondering how good it holds on to the surfaces in the summer and heat... :ty:
I spent 2 years driving my van around Mexico, Central Am, and parts of Colombia. My Velcro was constantly coming off, with glue streaking down the sides of my windows. I finally ordered some heavy duty high temp velcro online similar to whats on an easy pass, and have not had a problem since, that stuff is probably permanent, I am not sure it will come off if I wanted!

I used normal velcro on my reflectix panels, and the super strong portion on the glass windows, that way it is still easy to separate the two pieces without ripping the reflectix.

If anyone is interested I can probably dig up the part number, keep in mind it wasn't necessarily cheap, but it solved the annoying problems I was having.
Here is that Velcro part number just in case...again only use it on the glass itself, use normal velcro on the reflectix otherwise you probably wont get it apart as I suspect the reflectix would rip, the velcro is like the stuff used on Easypasses.

3M Dual Lock SJ3550
 
#94 ·
Hi I got started on my camper build and thought I would share where I got to already. I started with the bed/table. This is my own design basically culled from a lot of other ideas out there. I haven't finished it all the way, so I hope that it works out. So first of all I set up my parameters. I needed to keep one bench seat in place for transporting pets (they like to see out the window) and kids (ditto) with functioning seat belts. I looked at building a rock 'n' roll bed and taking out all the benches but decided I wouldn't be happy with the level of safety provided, so decided to stick with keeping one of the bench seats. Parameter #2 I wanted an open living area when the bed was stowed away. This would be good for wet weather and times when you just want to hang out in the van and play cards or whatever. I like the set up of the VW weekender vans with the rear facing seats and the pop up table. So I decided on removing the front bench seat to leave that area free. Then I decided to fold the middle bench seat down to create the middle of the bed, and extend it towards the front of the van with a plywood section resting on the headrests of the bench seat. Parameter #3 I wanted a table. I saw someone else did this idea of resting the bed section on the headrests and then folding it back behind the rear seat, but I also had the idea of making that section easily removable so it could be converted into a table. The rear section of the bed will be the top of the kitchen box that I'm going to construct for the area behind the rear seat. Haven't done that yet. Hope my limited woodworking skills are up to it. We shall see. So here is the bed extension towards the front:
WP_20141129_011.jpg

And a close up view with bored canine:
WP_20141129_009.jpg

As you can see I used the seat belts from the middle row seats to attach to the bed extension. I had thought that I would have to also attach somehow to the headrests but it seems that the belts keep the extension pressed against the back of the rear seat in some kind of cantilever fashion and it is not necessary :eek:bscene-drinkingcheers: I secured the belts with c-clamps for now. But hope to find a more permanent solution, probably seatbelt locking clips. Now, I wouldn't jump around on this extension but I think it will support feet or heads just fine with the main weight of the sleeper being borne by the folded seat section. I reinforced the board (3/4") in a couple spots. The seat belt clips are secured on the underside by carabiner clips.
Once the carabiner clips are removed you can remove the bed extension and attach it to the side of the van with velcro to make the table like this:
WP_20141129_004.jpg

The legs are 3/4" pvc plumbing pipe attached with a male threaded adapter that I screwed into holes drilled out of the table top. This was a purely serendipitous solution that happened as I was trying out another idea but I think it works pretty well. I put rubber table leg caps onto the ends of the pipe and fitted them down into the seat fixtures for the front bench. Again, serendipitous solution. I used a couple of 3M extreme velcro strips to attach to the van side. Which is good because it holds in place but does not grab too hard and come off when you are detaching the table. I plan on painting the pvc pipe a dark color with Krylon Fusion to make it look a bit nicer, and either varnishing or painting the table top/bed extension. So the plan is to slide the table top down behind the rear bench when on the road, in front of the kitchen box. I foresee a few issues with this but hopefully nothing that I can't work around. And that's all for now folks, will post more when I get working on the kitchen box and foam mattress sections.
 
#100 ·
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I have a 2000 AWD Astro Tiger that had 46K miles when I got it and since then I've added Firestone Air Lifts, Bilstein shocks, replaced the brakes and fluids, resoldered the ABS module, replaced vacuum hoses and found the sticky throttle was cured with a little carb cleaner down the throat. I added a small 12v compressor inside next to the house battery compartment and brought the hose and air lift nozzles in to that box to make adjusting air pressure easy. There were numerous inside improvements also.
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I found some seats out of a Chrysler Town & Country and mounted them to 1" square tubing and then the tubing to the original seat stands.
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The interior got a coat of paint and the refrigerator got a stainless panel trimmed down from a dishwasher. Struts were added to make it easy to put up the top. The tires are LT and not heavy enough to prevent a little sway so that's next. Not exactly starting from scratch like most here. We have taken it through a good portion of the US and living in Colorado we have enjoyed traversing a number of back mountain passes. Gotta watch those rocks as I don't want to pull off an oilpan.
 

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