GMC Safari / Astro Van Interior Measurements for Minivan Camper Conversion

Posted on 23/02/2015 under GMC Safari / Chevrolet Astro Van

GMC Safari / Astro Van Interior Measurements for Minivan Camper Conversion
A couple of years ago I converted a Plymouth Grand Voyager minivan into a campervan which I drove across Canada. After being Astro-inspired by some friends I recently bought a 1997 GMC Safari (also known as a Chevrolet Astro van) while on a trip to Victoria. The plan is to leave it in Victoria til the spring, when I will fly down, spend around a week converting it to a camper, and then drive it up to the Yukon. This way I don’t have to worry about winterising it (winter tyres/engine block heater), and we can take our time road tripping/camping up north when the weather is a little warmer. This means I am not going to have access to the van while I ponder a new design. Because of this, before I departed I took loads of weird and wonderful measurements which I hope will cover most bases when putting a design together. Because I struggled finding measurements online for the dimensions important to those converting vans, I decided to put my measurements up here for all to see. This is not a complete list of every possible measurement, but I hope that if you are considering converting a Astro van or Safari that you may find them useful. Note: these measurements should be considered ‘quick and dirty’. I would not recommend anyone building anything using these measurements alone! I am also not a car expert, so some of the measurement use arbitrary descriptions. I hope the photos combined with descriptions will be enough to work it out. IMG_0432 back-row-up Floor to bottom of rear seat: 17.5cm / 6.9 inches Rear door to rear seat bottom bracket: 71cm / 27.9 inches Rear door to rear seat bottom cushion: 63.5cm / 25 inches Rear door to rear seat top: 43cm / 16.9 inches Ceiling to rear seat top: 38cm / 19.9 inches Ceiling to rear seat headrest: 20cm / 7.9 inches back-row-down Ceiling to rear seat folded top: 72.5cm / 28.5 inches Floor to rear seat folded back: 46cm / 18.5 inches Rear seat side to wall: 10.5cm / 4.1 inches back-row-down-2 Floor to rear seat folded front: 49.5cm / 19.5 inches Rear door to rear seat folded top: 114cm / 44.9 inches Rear door to rear seat folded headrest: 126cm / 49.6 inches second-row-up Rear door to middle seat bottom bracket: 154cm / 60.6 inches Rear door to middle seat bottom cushion: 151cm / 59.4 inches Rear door to middle seat top: 126cm / 49.6 inches second-row-down Floor to middle seat folded back: 45.5cm / 17.9 inches Floor to middle seat folded front: 48.5cm / 19.1 inches Middle seat cushion to front seat: 26.5cm / 10.4 in Middle seat headrest to front seat: 14.5cm / 5.7 inches Middle seat folded top to front seat: 28.0cm / 11 inches second-row-side Door to middle row bottom bracket: 56cm / 22 inches Door to middle row bottom: 38cm / 15 inches Door to middle row seat cushion: 32cm / 12.6 inches Door to middle row arm rest: 26cm / 10.2 inches Window to middle row top: 40.5cm / 16 inches width-back Rear width bottom: 142cm / 55.9 inches Rear width middle: 137cm / 53.9 inches Rear width top: 122cm / 48 inches width-wheel Rear wheel wall to wall bottom: 142cm / 55.9 inches Rear wheel wall to wall middle: 142cm / 55.9 inches Rear wheel arch to arch: 127cm / 50 inches Rear window to window: 172.5cm / 67.9 inches width-door Middle window to window: 174cm / 68.5 inches Side door to wall top: 172cm / 67.7 inches Side door to wall middle: 165.5cm / 65.1 inches Side door to wall bottom: 145cm / 57 inches width-front Front width top: 130cm / 51.2 inches Front width middle: 156cm / 61.4 inches Front width bottom: 145cm / 57 inches Armrest to armrest: 34cm / 13.4 inches Seat to seat bottom: 42cm / 16.5 inches Rear door to front seat bracket: 247cm / 97.2 inches height-side Floor to ceiling rear door at side: 108cm / 42.5 inches Floor to ceiling back at side: 117.5cm / 46.3 inches Floor to ceiling middle at side: 120cm / 47.2 inches Floor to ceiling front at side: 116cm / 45.7 inches height-middle Floor to ceiling rear door at middle: 109cm / 42.9 inches Floor to ceiling back at middle: 119cm / 46.9 inches Floor to ceiling middle at middle: 120cm / 47.2 inches Floor to light middle at middle: 115.5cm / 45.5 inches Floor to ceiling front at middle: 121cm / 47.6 inches Floor to rear wheel arch top: 28.5cm / 11.2 inches

18 thoughts on "GMC Safari / Astro Van Interior Measurements for Minivan Camper Conversion"

  1. Joe says:
    December 11, 2021 at 10:59 pm

    Thank you, bless your travels.

  2. Addy says:
    September 6, 2021 at 8:33 pm

    Hi,
    Nice job. Greatly appreciate the measurements. There is one measurement I was hoping for that being the opening between the sliding door and how much to the back of the passenger seat.

    Hope you get this.

  3. Ben Sevcik says:
    August 18, 2021 at 9:07 pm

    This is an amazing resource. I’m looking to buy an Astro for a moving van and the pictures with measurements are just what I was looking for!

  4. Alvaro says:
    July 14, 2019 at 10:54 am

    Geniales medidas Joe.. Me han servido mucho en mi proyecto…
    Tengi una Astro 2005.
    Gracias por darte ese tremendo trabajo…
    Saludos desde Chile
    AlfaAlfa

  5. Michael says:
    March 14, 2018 at 1:04 pm

    VERY HELPFUL !

    thank a lot for taking the time to do this!!

    Could you please provide me with the exact distance between rear seat brackets?

  6. Michael Holzfuß says:
    November 1, 2017 at 6:29 am

    Hi Joe , extra large thanx for the measurements and showing up here , wasn’t sure if my HD dragbike ( lenght about 2,30 m ) will fit into the Astro . Searched a long time to find some measures . Now i’m sure …. At last i bought an Astro ’94 , removed the rear seats , that’s all …..
    Greetings from Germany , Michael

  7. Anna says:
    July 25, 2017 at 7:57 am

    This is awesome, thanks! Is this considered a mid-size astro van or full-size?

    1. Joe says:
      July 27, 2017 at 6:24 pm

      Interesting question, I wasn’t aware that they did different sizes. Perhaps they are less common in Canada. As far as I know this is just the standard length. I hope that helps.

      Joe

    2. Ethan Morgan says:
      November 30, 2018 at 12:07 pm

      mid-size

  8. billy bob and peggy sue says:
    February 3, 2017 at 8:14 am

    thank you so much

  9. Ezekiel Willerson says:
    January 13, 2017 at 11:37 am

    Wow! Searched everywhere for this!! Great!! Thank you so much!

  10. Cam says:
    July 10, 2016 at 7:12 pm

    I love your blog and the measurements were exactly what I needed. After seeing your conversion, I’m looking forward to starting my Astro or Caravan conversion ! Your tiny house is looking great 🙂

  11. Bill says:
    January 14, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    I just finished converting a 2001 Astro van and thank you very much for all of you great measurements

    1. Joe says:
      January 14, 2016 at 3:49 pm

      I’m really glad you found them useful. Do you have any photos of your conversion online you can link to?

      Joe

  12. travis says:
    November 2, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    VERY HELPFUL !

    thank a lot for taking the time to do this!!

  13. Audrey says:
    February 28, 2015 at 10:59 pm

    Wow!
    I found your post sooo helpful ! I just bought today the same model as you and will be ”camperizing” it as well.
    Maybe our road gonna cross in the futur since the Island is my home base …
    Happy trail !

    1. Joe says:
      March 2, 2015 at 11:15 am

      Hi Audrey, I’m glad you found the measurements useful. I would definitely be interested in seeing what design you come up with for the van. I have been thinking lots about it myself.

      Joe

  14. MOG says:
    February 26, 2015 at 12:57 am

    Like the idea of you documenting your conversion.
    It might also be useful to have the dimensions of the rear side-doors; it seems to me that would allow you to get big stuff in without having to negotiate the rear wheel arches.