Moto Vans

Bill480 said:
Personally I'm the other way around. My first van had 230k miles. Second was in the 180 range. I prefer late 90's early 2000s vehicles because they are a little simpler to work on. 08+ and it would require a lot of googling to get me going on bigger repairs. That being said you will work on an older van. I replaced a few suspension/steering parts on both E250s.

And a van should not need an engine/transmission/differential rebuild at 150k miles IMO. Front end parts go much sooner in my experience, usually around 100k. Water pumps & alternators go around the same time. (Again.. just speaking from my personal experience. I've had ~10 ford trucks/vans and I always buy used junkers)

One thing about a van vs a truck.. working on the engine can suck. Unless you need to access anything on the rear of the engine, then you have awesome access! But pulleys, belts, alternator, a/c, etc can be pretty bad.
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O yeah, I used to be an auto tech and dreaded seeing a van pull in the lot. It would be convienient having one souly with the purpose of being a moto van though, I could see one someday in the future if the kids get into moto. I don't mind pulling a trailer though other then the gas milage...
 
Then maybe an enclosed trailer is better suited to your application? One of the biggest fears I had with going that route was theft. No tongue lock is going to stop someone who wants the trailer and/or the contents inside. But then again breaking into a van isn't rocket science either. So IDK. I guess the question is is it worth ~5-10k to you to have a vehicle stricktly for moto or 2-4k to have a nice enclosed trailer for it.
 
Bill480 said:
Then maybe an enclosed trailer is better suited to your application? One of the biggest fears I had with going that route was theft. No tongue lock is going to stop someone who wants the trailer and/or the contents inside. But then again breaking into a van isn't rocket science either. So IDK. I guess the question is is it worth ~5-10k to you to have a vehicle stricktly for moto or 2-4k to have a nice enclosed trailer for it.
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True, if I were to buy a van strictly for moto though it'd prob be something around the same cost as a nice enclosed trailer. Benifet of a van, could actually use it for a work van if needed to. Benifit of a trailer, could haul street bikes and quads also if wanted or need to. As far as theft goes, I just keep really good insurance and usually search until I find what I want dirt cheap so if someone wants to risk getting shot to take my stuff and they succeed I'd prob make some profit. lol
 
So I got my Moto Van! '03 Chevy Full-Size w/ the 6.0L. It will hog gas, but it will also get the job done. For now, I am just going to install a wheel chock since I do not have partition in there yet. Do I just buy the E-Track and a couple hooks to tie down to? And do you just use sheet metal screws to go right through the floor of the van to mount that stuff?
 
That was fast! Nice pickup. If you want the wheel chock more solid I would through bolt. Or put down a wood floor. Or use riv-nuts. As for tie downs I have used the D hooks that harbor freight sells and through bolt them around the van. Sprinter comes with some beefy hooks though so i haven't done anything custom in there yet for tie downs. Hook a hole in the wall for handlebar and then same handlebar down to the floor hook.. Best way to tie down in a van imo, no chock needed. Just something to brace the front tire against (I use a large 4x4 block of wood that spans the width of the van wood screwed to the floor)

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Wow that was fast. I'd use wheel chocks for extra protection. If you crash into a semi truck (sudden stop) those bikes are going to ram you up the ass.

If you have variable number of bikes you're hauling you might want some flexibility in your setup. You can run a E-track on the floor so you can arrange the bikes differently at will. There are wheel chocks that have an E track adapter or you can just use the Etrack hooks.

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If you have money to burn you can buy some quick release gadgets. Bikes are reversed to save space.

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I'm always going to haul one or two big bikes so I bolted my chocks through the floor like a seat belt. Bikes are staggered to save space.
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Thanks guys. I found the right deal and had to jump on it. I have been looking for weeks and every time I found one that I liked, it would be gone by the weekend so I acted fast on this one! I got it for about $1500 under blue book and it has brand new tires and brakes on it. It has a couple of rust spots, but nothing I can't fix.
 

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day181 said:
Wow that was fast. I'd use wheel chocks for extra protection. If you crash into a semi truck (sudden stop) those bikes are going to ram you up the ass.
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Yeah I'll have a divider wall one day. For now we are always changing the location of the bikes back/forward and crap because the load is always changing. Final plan is to have a half or full divider wall, shelving, couch, insulation, etc.
 
My 2500 GMC Safari sold in one day. 2006 with bins package. Vans go pretty quick, especially for 3100 bucks!

you will always get most of your money back when you dump em.
 
Bill480 said:
Yeah I'll have a divider wall one day. For now we are always changing the location of the bikes back/forward and crap because the load is always changing. Final plan is to have a half or full divider wall, shelving, couch, insulation, etc.
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I have a bins package, I will check for you in the AM if I kept the bulk head...I think I have just the bins.... If I do it will go very cheap...
 
Double D said:
I have a bins package, I will check for you in the AM if I kept the bulk head...I think I have just the bins.... If I do it will go very cheap...
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For a Sprinter? Mine came with a metal bulk head, I trashed it as it was noisy and flimsy as heck. I really just want to build some overhead storage bins to stash stuff like Chuck has in his.
 
No, not a sprinter, I was not thinking. My bins are metal. My new vans have the plastic quiet system.
sorry.
 
Well, I've had my van for almost two years now and I'm thinking about making a change. I'm looking into the Nissan NV1500 or NV2500. They are built on their truck chassis in Canton, MS. The reason I'm leaning toward one of them is that I can actually work on them. The motor is placed exactly like it is in the truck, so it is not buried up in the body of the van. The belts and components are easy to get to. I can do most repairs on my Express, but some of them are just too time consuming.

So, has anyone gotten one of these yet or seen someone who had one? The half tons have the 4.0L V6 that they've used forever. They are supposedly bullet proof. I don't know though, I'm not a Nissan guy. I'm not a foreign vehicle guy altogether, but I'm willing to bend the rules. Just looking for some info if anyone has any.

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