Previa AWD Camper Conversion

Joeldc

New member
This forum has been helpful for me. There are so many great ideas out there! Anyway, I thought it was time to share my project. I picked the Previa for my build because I wanted a small maneuverable vehicle that would work well for daily driving and activities as well as camping expeditions. AWD was a requirement since I live in the snow. I considered Astros and Safaris, but preferred the huge windows in the Previa and surprisingly a bit more leg room for the driver...
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My first project was the bed. However, I also wanted to carry at least four passengers so I decided on a bench seat that slides out into a bed. I used steel angle for the tracks and some McMaster-Carr track rollers. It's great to have a living space too with lots of room to change in and out of gear.
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With a small space and complex curves, I decided to test my hand at sewing. Below are some side bags for clothes and gear. You can also see the window cover with carbon spars for support.
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Since I have a hard time hitting the road without doing some work, I put in a counter/desk for my laptop. It's made out of 80/20 extruded aluminum and the end piece can be moved for laptop use.
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Of course running a laptop required an extra battery. It's a bit cramped, but I found a smaller starter battery and put that on top of a larger accessory battery. The battery isolator is buried in the back, but everything is close so I didn't have to use much wire...
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Next was a water tank. This van is pretty small so water jugs were getting in the way. Also, since I wanted head room the bench seat doesn't have much room under it. Fortunately, it was enough for a 14 gallon tank and some plumbing. The little pump puts out 3gpm so we can even shower off after a ride. Only cold water though...
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Raul

Adventurer
Awesome work and vehicle. And it seems you are getting proper use of it.
 
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eporter

Adventurer
Looking nice. Great seeing a Previa build. I can’t quite figure out that water system pic. Can you draw a diagram?
 

Joeldc

New member
I can’t quite figure out that water system pic. Can you draw a diagram?

The water system diagram is below. Note that I have two filling options. Both use one of the outlets as a fill line. However, when I was traveling in Mexico I was always filling from the 5gallon deposit bottles so the second fill option allows you to suck them dry.
Water System Diagram.jpg
 

eporter

Adventurer
Wow, thanks for that. Ok, the option to use the pump to fill makes sense out of all the valves. Guess you can't always rely on hose pressure to fill the tank. Pretty cool setup, I might put something like that in a build. Would you change/add anything? Low point drain for winterizing?
 

Joeldc

New member
A low point drain is a good idea. Currently, I remove the pump and blow out the lines for winterizing. I recommend metal valves over plastic as I've had the plastic ones break. I've also seen some designs with a drip pan for leaks, etc. which would be nice to have.
 

Joeldc

New member
Very cool van!

As you may (or may not) know they call the Previa the Tarago in Australia. And of course there's cool stuff...

Thanks! Previa trivia! A 2" lift would be nice. With stock configuration I can only fit 4 ply tires. Looks like that would solve the problem and more... Wonder how it would affect highway driveability.
 

vintageracer

To Infinity and Beyond!
An AWD Previa is pretty cool van being a 4 cylinder mid-engine design with the engine layed over on it's side at a 75 degree angle with a "Jack Shaft" to the front of the vehicle to drive the engine options.

The AWD Previa is superb in the snow and you see lot's of em still running around with over 300K miles. The Previa really is one of Toyota's most reliable vehicles. Not much ground clearance however overall a great inexpensive van that can be had AWD with a stick shift in the earlier models.

The limiting factor on tires is the front strut. There was a guy out in AZ that was developing a coil over kit to replace the factory strut however that fell by the wayside and there is really no market for Previa parts anymore. The coil over would have allowed for much taller and wider tires.
 

nastav

Adventurer
I’ve always loved the Previa.
I personally think it is the best looking of all minivans.
Note: I do not consider the VW transporter a minivan.

Carry on with your cool build!
Good stuff here
 

mnewxcv

Observer
great build! Can you explain how you made the rear window shades and how they stay in place? Also, I see the Wagan 400w inverter. How do you like it? I had a lower powered one that chirped under load and was thinking of getting a beefier one.
 

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