THE VAN APPRECIATION THREAD

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Russ Walling

Social climber

from Poofters Froth, Wyoming

Oct 11, 2013 - 07:48pm PT

Cool side note to Billy photo: I think that is a jumpsuit from the Yos jail!

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Oct 11, 2013 - 07:49pm PT

Love my twenty year old Sportsmobile!

Russ Walling

Social climber

from Poofters Froth, Wyoming

Oct 11, 2013 - 08:04pm PT

guyman

Social climber

Moorpark, CA.

Oct 11, 2013 - 08:10pm PT

Russ, a closer look....

Is the bumper held on with perlon?????

And up thread... the blue van with me "sleeping" in it... I bought it from Lechlinski. He junked the brown one in the pic of yours and got the 87 water boxer, put 100,000 on it and sold it to me.... that was a climbers van till the end.

Russ Walling

Social climber

from Poofters Froth, Wyoming

Oct 11, 2013 - 08:21pm PT

Hammer might be a Stubai... Grossman would know.... too light anyway. I got it from Lynn Hill (name dropper!) to do the NA wall. Somebody stole my sh#t from the talus after fixing.

I remember that blue van... and his brown one before that... and the red panel sided one before that. He had a few! I think I drove that blue one to the valley when he first got it since he had a broken ankle and was in a cast. Bumper thing is a bungy cord... no idea what it is doing.

How about the Bullwinkle 56 VW bus? Something like that anyway. Faded green with macrame in the back window? Ha! And the Dave Evans bus that he put a real motor in... something like 2.0? There have been a few, that's for sure. I still have mine, the same one. Needs a motor... big surprise!

Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber

Old and Broken Down in Appalachia

Oct 11, 2013 - 10:21pm PT

Good to see that I'm not the only one who spent a large proportion of his life at the back end of his VW.

RyanD

climber

Squamish

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 11, 2013 - 10:47pm PT

Serious van envy going on here. Killer stuff everyone.

That Baja approach shot & some of Russ' photos crackin me up.

And a whole bunch of the rest of ya are seriously lucky to have/had some killer vans!

F10

Trad climber

Bishop

Oct 11, 2013 - 11:00pm PT

Nothing better than a van

BITD

Now

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MisterE

climber

Oct 11, 2013 - 11:06pm PT

drljefe

climber

El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson

Oct 11, 2013 - 11:08pm PT

Stand by your van.

MH2

climber

Oct 11, 2013 - 11:17pm PT

Sportsmobile! Envy.

But the right van must be chosen like the Dalai Lama is. It must be The One.

ionlyski

Trad climber

Kalispell, Montana

Oct 12, 2013 - 12:01am PT

2008, the year we took off.

SCseagoat

Trad climber

Santa Cruz

Oct 12, 2013 - 12:16am PT

Sportsmobile! Envy.

They have just come out with an "Ultimate Adventure" model which they did a bunch of road testing on the Moab trails.
What I wouldn't give for one..,,maybe not this color but certainly tricked out like thus one.
White Rim Trail here I come....

Susan

Edit: ionlyski....NICE use of a Sprinter....very!

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Oct 12, 2013 - 12:34am PT

It's not tricked out but it does have all wheel drive. I love it. A home away from home.

I've looked for a better ride for several years. Hard to replace this one. If anyone has suggestions, I'm open.

mechrist

Gym climber

South of Heaven

Oct 12, 2013 - 01:07am PT

I had an'83 Econoline for years. I miss that rig. Vans are far, far, far better for road tripping than ANY other option on the market... FAR better.

MisterE

climber

Oct 12, 2013 - 01:17am PT

This was a pretty fun night in the van...

crøtch

climber

Oct 12, 2013 - 01:26am PT

Apogee -

It's a mid-2000s E-350 V10 that lived its first life as a passenger van for children judging by the remnants of crayons and jolly ranchers that we found in the upholstery. We got it with 14K miles.

I pulled out the seats and trim, cleaned it up. The 4x4 conversion was done by Advanced in SLC. Then brought it to Van Specialties in Portland where they installed the high top, insulation, LED lights, bed platform, solar panel, sink, stove, refrigerator, rotating passengers seat, table, batteries and inverter.

I built some cabinets and shelves, added insulation to the refrigerator, installed a faucet and foot pump, and plumbed it to accept standard blue WalMart 7 gallon cubes. I added some interior lights, an extra 12V plug, and a third brake light.

We had a set of lockable drawers fabricated to fit under the bed so that we could keep our laptops and cameras reasonably secure, but still have tons of room for multiple bins under the bed.

My wife and I lived in it for a year in comfort and without any problems. It's a fantastic road trip vehicle. It gets about 11 mpg so we try to stay in one place for a while when possible.

4WD wasn't necessary that often, but on a couple of occasions it made all the difference.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Oct 12, 2013 - 01:28am PT

Think you nailed it, Mister E. Vans provide Fun! (Or provide enough room for fun) Smiles in your pic are the proof.

Nice. Maybe I'll just keep mine.....