Opinions on 1989 Toyota van for camping?

snoozy · #1 07/13/10, 03:52 PM

Anyone have any experience and/or opinions?

HermitJohn · #2 07/13/10, 07:46 PM

Camping where? Just want a dry place to put a mat and sleeping bag? I think both Toyota and Nissan made dedicated motorized campers in the 70s or 80s based on their compact pickup chassis didnt they? I see one advertised with low miles every once in a while. Not sure they would have the umph to keep up with modern traffic that wants to go 90 mph.

snoozy · #3 07/13/10, 11:55 PM

Ordinary camping - nothing too exotic.

mightybooboo · #4 07/14/10, 07:18 AM

Are you asking if the 89 toy is a good vehicle I dont know.If your asking is van camping doable,yes,it sure is.Also allows for stealth camping in parking lots along the way without drawing attention,or curbside 'camping' overnight while traveling.

oz in SC V2.0 · #5 07/14/10, 11:51 AM

A Toyota van would have more room than a VW and people all over the world used to live in them for extended periods of time...saw them all over when we were overseas.

Of course they sometimes had 'pop tops' but still would have been smaller than the Toyota I would think.

My mother had a Dodge van that we used to take on trips when searching for land and apart from not having cruise control(nice on interstates) it was quite comfy...it was a 'semi-conversion' van...the roof wasn't raised but it did have captains chairs and a fold down sofa type thing in the back.

snoozy · #6 07/14/10, 04:07 PM

We're sort of debating whether a camping van is really worth the money. VW campers are really overpriced (ifn you ax me), but converting an older Toyota van would be a more economical way to achieve the same thing. But really, in essence the main advantages are in not having to put up and break down a tent, in better shelter from rain, and in being able to camp unobtrusively ("stealth" camping). Not that we've ever done that anyway. Still the idea is intriguing. I don't think the galley set-ups are really very practical, but I'm a cook and so I like a decent (though simple) set-up.

What about the reliability of Toyota vans of that vintage?

foxtrapper · #7 07/21/10, 12:33 PM

This is probably as good a read on that van as you're likely to find.

http://toyotavans.org/community/tips/real_manual.html

As far as reliability, I would say it is definately not up to the normal Toyota standard of excellence. Nor is working on the thing.

I personally think a regular van from one of the big three would be a better alternative for camping, especially if you're thinking of getting well back into things at times. The Toyota van was a very light weight, light duty vehicle.

Danaus29 · #8 07/21/10, 04:24 PM

We used an extended full size Ford van when the kids were younger. Ds slept on the back seat and dd slept in the full size bed in back with dh and me. Cooking was done on a camp stove or grill at a camp site. We got about 270,000 miles on the van before it died.