toyota vans for snowy covered roads?

[theizzardking]

sooo here's the deal guys, i vw fan and love camping in my 1971 bus, but since i live in Washington and love to be out in the snow as well i need something that can get me up into the mountains during the snowy months, i'm not talking anything crazy just up the steep passes to the ski resort parkinglots and camping there for the night and riding all day the next day.not any back country winter trips in the van.

what i really want is one of those ford e350 4x4 conversion vans, but alas i only have maybe 4-5K to put into this thing, i already have left over parts from other vw buses i put together for an interior for any other van i buy, things such as dual battery relays, power inverters,propane heat,propane stove,beds,storage cabinets and so on and so forth.

that said what is the model of toyota 4x4 van that is the most capable?
and are they true 4x4 or more like awd? i've seen them cruising around look to be 80's-early 90's maybe even have brushguards for them and such.

let me know what i'm looking for and what i need to know about them and how much i should be looking to spend for real. remember i have everything i need to flush out the inside, i just don't want to and can;t afford axle t-case and other swaps.


here's some pics of my bus i have now

 

[CJ3Flyr]

What's a Previa AWD go for? I kind of liked those... The only drawback I know of is they don't score very high on the crash test but I don't expect the VW does either

 

[Tornadom]

I know it is a Toyota site, but why not look into a VW Westfalia Syncro if you like your VW so much? I know there is a Westfalia group here locally (in Central California) who take them out and do trail runs on 4wd trails, albeit very slowly and with lots of them getting stuck.

The Westfalia is already equipped to be a camper, the syncro version is 4wd and there is a decent after-market out there to make them even more capable.

Random image from a Google image search

 

[Jeffrey_VB]

My wifes '07 FWD Sienna did great in the Blizzard the week before Christmas 2010. Our normal 3hr trip from Va Beach to DC took 8hrs. Most of the delay was due to other drivers slipping, sliding and spinning out.

 

[theizzardking]

What's a Previa AWD go for? I kind of liked those... The only drawback I know of is they don't score very high on the crash test but I don't expect the VW does either

i've been looking at those they go for around 2-4K depending on condition for a early 90's, these are the ones i think i'm wondering about...i could be wrong though....

 

[theizzardking]

I know it is a Toyota site, but why not look into a VW Westfalia Syncro if you like your VW so much? I know there is a Westfalia group here locally (in Central California) who take them out and do trail runs on 4wd trails, albeit very slowly and with lots of them getting stuck.

The Westfalia is already equipped to be a camper, the syncro version is 4wd and there is a decent after-market out there to make them even more capable.

Random image from a Google image search

lol wish i could afford one of those, even one in need of serious a restore starts at about 6-7K for one thats ready to roll your looking at 10-15K, i've been flipping vw's for a few years now, picking them up for $50-300 and fixing them up and selling them off for 2-3K trust me before the 4runner i was pretty plugged into the vw scene here, and if i could afford or even find one of these i would be really stoked.

 

[theizzardking]

My wifes '07 FWD Sienna did great in the Blizzard the week before Christmas 2010. Our normal 3hr trip from Va Beach to DC took 8hrs. Most of the delay was due to other drivers slipping, sliding and spinning out.

good to know, so it held the road pretty well then? my main concern is the gripping capability of the awd system, i hope is would be as good as a suburu or say any other awd car i see up at the pass, i have only bought and driven true 4x4's so have no clue how good awd in something like a van would be.

what do you guys think? or should i hold out for say somethig like this i've been finding these guys anywhere from 600-8K

again i'm not worried about clearance just road gripping ability as some of the roads to the passes here are pretty narrow,steep and icy, mt.baker esp.

 

[brian2sun]

We used to have an '84 4x4 Toyota van when I was a kid. I think it was based on the pickup's chassis. If I recall, it had a solid axle in the front too and I know it had normal 4x4 with hi and lo. I remember it doing pretty good in the snow and even being pissed at it as a kid becuase it got us to school when our other vehicles couldn't, haha.

 

[theizzardking]

We used to have an '84 4x4 Toyota van when I was a kid. I think it was based on the pickup's chassis. If I recall, it had a solid axle in the front too and I know it had normal 4x4 with hi and lo. I remember it doing pretty good in the snow and even being pissed at it as a kid becuase it got us to school when our other vehicles couldn't, haha.

lol sweet thats what i'm looking for do you know what the model was?
was it the Previa ? i'm looking at those right now...

 

[brian2sun]

It was just called the Toyota 4x4 van which was later replaced by the Previa in the late 80s if I remember correctly. Here's what our looked like (until it got stolen on my 10th birthday in a K-mart parking lot). The theives used it to rob a May Co. clothing store!...

 

[theizzardking]

yeah thats the one i'm looking for!

 

[theizzardking]

are all of these vans 4x4?

 

[brian2sun]

I think they were all 4x4s, but I'm not certain. I remember that thing turned around on a dime (and looking at it now it has a very short wheelbase so that explains why). You sit directly over the front tires/axle and the engine (22R) is behind the driver in the middle of the vehicle.

I remember playing army with my friends in grammar school and the van was always the "helicopter" because it had the side door like a Huey.

 

[Tornadom]

lol wish i could afford one of those, even one in need of serious a restore starts at about 6-7K for one thats ready to roll your looking at 10-15K, i've been flipping vw's for a few years now, picking them up for $50-300 and fixing them up and selling them off for 2-3K trust me before the 4runner i was pretty plugged into the vw scene here, and if i could afford or even find one of these i would be really stoked.

My apologies, I had no idea they cost that much! For some reason I pictured them selling for dirt cheap.

 

[theizzardking]

My apologies, I had no idea they cost that much! For some reason I pictured them selling for dirt cheap.

lol no worries, no they are pretty major collector's items and given the choice i would probably go for a unimog or a quigley conversion when i start looking at that sort of money, lol

UNICAT® - INDIVIDUAL

or one of these

 

[theizzardking]

I think they were all 4x4s, but I'm not certain. I remember that thing turned around on a dime (and looking at it now it has a very short wheelbase so that explains why). You sit directly over the front tires/axle and the engine (22R) is behind the driver in the middle of the vehicle.

I remember playing army with my friends in grammar school and the van was always the "helicopter" because it had the side door like a Huey.

good to know it's running the 22R those engines are mad cheap to fix up, i found one in seattle for 1600, so we'll see if i can find a few more, i really don't want to buy the only one on the market thats for sure! no bargaining power! and not choice in quality!

 

[Jeffrey_VB]

good to know, so it held the road pretty well then? my main concern is the gripping capability of the awd system, i hope is would be as good as a suburu or say any other awd car i see up at the pass, i have only bought and driven true 4x4's so have no clue how good awd in something like a van would be.

what do you guys think? or should i hold out for say somethig like this i've been finding these guys anywhere from 600-8K


again i'm not worried about clearance just road gripping ability as some of the roads to the passes here are pretty narrow,steep and icy, mt.baker esp.

Ours is a Front Wheel Drive (FWD) and yea, it gripped really well. Had a few slips, but nothing major, no sliding at all. I was very impressed with how well it handled.

 

[Ron Helmuth]

look for an 88-89 4x4 Yota Van

Brian2Sun is pointing ya the right direction. I had an 88 Van with the 4wdrive and 5 speed and it was an outstanding vehicle. Previa model came along after it and the S/C Previa also a great choice in all wheel drive.

I used it to off road -it had low and high 4wd and it's only limitation was the small 14 inch tires.

Great grip in the winter snow and ice.

A local auto shop here in Denver (Buchtel Motors) still has mine and uses it as a shuttle van. It has over 300k miles on it and still runs like a top. They helped me to buy it back in the day (when my boys were boys) and then bought it off me when I was ready to move up to 4x4 trucks. I had it from 110K-140K miles and it's a bit complicated to work on with the engine under the drivers butt.

They are going to be hard to find however-and probably not many of them have been kept up as well as my old one.