Respect the Van

I bought this today. So in keeping with tradition I might as well start a thread almost 2-weeks before I pick it up. 

I need it for a few reasons:

• Hurricane evacuation. We’ve fortunately not needed to evacuate yet, but we will sooner or later. With our critters(4-sugar gliders, 3-cats, 1-rabbit & 1-turtle) we needed something big enough to haul them, their cages & supplies. This likely means we’ll be hauling them all the way back to IL, since finding a hotel for our traveling circus is unlikely. So I’ll be hauling all their supplies too.
• Random around-town use when I don’t feel like taking the Miata, and/or it’s too hot/cold/wet to drive it. Walmart trips a couple times a week, etc. Fortunately I work from home, so commuting & fuel-mileage aren’t a concern. 
• Random hauling/towing. No, I don’t own a trailer or have any plans to buy one soon, but there will be occasional times I need to borrow/rent a trailer. 
• Hauling people. Yes, I realize this is a cargo van. Tom currently has it outfitted with 2 additional seats in the rear, and he’s including 3 additional seats. I just need to figure out how many I can fit & where to mount them. 
• Possible band/gig use, depending on how far we’ll be traveling for shows. 

Is the van where the cool kids will hang out at the Challenge?

I just tucked it into bed! I have a strict "don't leave anything already sold to chance" policy, so the van gets to squeeze inside for a few weeks just to make sure it doesn't get struck by a meteor. 

And it was a tough conversation with my wife today when I told her you'd bought it:

"Hey Pete just bought the van!"

"Awww, you're getting rid of it already? I'm going to miss it. Do we have to get rid of it?"

"We haven't driven it once since I bought the truck, and we just bought a camper so we're not going to camp in it anymore. No sense keeping something we never use."

"I know, I'm just going to miss it I guess. It was the best car we've ever had."

Gentlemen, get you a woman that can appreciate a good van! 

Approved. 

Stampie said:

Is the van where the cool kids will hang out at the Challenge?

If I have the a/c on I’d expect so.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I feel a bit guilty now! Sadly there’s zero chance my wife will become that attached to it. I’m just hopeful that with the backup camera she’ll at least be willing to drive it occasionally. 

Congrats Pete!

Looks like a GREAT van.

Nothing like buying a car that has a build thread huh?

Looking forward to seeing you at the Challenge.

In reply to Pete Gossett :

Mine never had any issue with it, all 5' 4" of her. Slide the seat up, trust the mirrors and away she went. Pretty funny to see her driving it but she did fine. I've never seen a more mismatched vehicle/driver combo. 

The title arrived today & I got it registered. $43 for the year. I added it to our insurance yesterday - going from the 2006 P71 to the 2006 E250 was actually cheaper, despite the van being worth more. So much so that I was able to get full-coverage on the van for only $150-more annually than what I was paying for liability-only on the P71. 

Mission accomplished:

According to the scan gauge I managed ~13mpg at 75mph into a slight headwind. Unfortunately I couldn’t compare that to actual fuel consumption because apparently my debit card has a $50 limit on fuel purchases. That wasn’t quite enough to fill it all the way - from just over 1/4-tank. 

I’m also not sure I’ll be able to fit it into the garage to work on, but I’ll get a flying start & try it once. 

In reply to Pete Gossett :

Air the tires down (a lot) and it'll slip right in there. 

Pro tip: the antenna is exactly as tall as the van, so you can use it as a height gauge. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

That's really smart! All the trucks I've owned had antennas that were slightly taller than the cab. If I heard it ping, I knew I was close and started to panic.

Yeah, lots of clever engineering in these. They are also exactly 7' tall, so fit in most standard garages as long as the driveway hasn't been repaved or the door re-trimmed. 

Pete Gossett said:

I’m also not sure I’ll be able to fit it into the garage to work on, but I’ll get a flying start & try it once. 

I'm not sure what the Ford Version of Dajiban is but this seems like the only option for you at this point.  It's a logical solution.  A 4" drop and 17*12's with 335's all around should help it slip right into the garage. 

In reply to nocones :

Lowering the Twin I-Beam has be done, but to do it properly (safely) is not cheap.

Congrats on the van!  

I'm jealous Tom.  My ex- hated the van I had when we started dating.  

I picked up a cargo partition today. It was pulled from a Chevy van, but a quick measurement shows it should fit fine. 

Im definitely going to cut out the 3rd “window” and replace it with expanded steel mesh. I may do the same to the existing 2 also, just to ensure good visibility out the back windows. 

The positioning is going to be a bit unusual. The wall will go where the end of the tape measure is. That’ll leave just over 8’ of room behind it, but also allow me to flip the rear seats so they’re facing forward. Of course the passenger edge of the partition will be in the open doorway of the left/rear side door, but so be it. 

Pete Gossett said:

Mission accomplished:

 

According to the scan gauge I managed ~13mpg at 75mph into a slight headwind. Unfortunately I couldn’t compare that to actual fuel consumption because apparently my debit card has a $50 limit on fuel purchases. That wasn’t quite enough to fill it all the way - from just over 1/4-tank. 

I’m also not sure I’ll be able to fit it into the garage to work on, but I’ll get a flying start & try it once. 

Nice find Pete!

Glad to see this as  I have been looking at the very same for a tow vehicle. I wanted something I could nap in on long road trips to the tracks and that seemed to fit the bill. 

In reply to Ben_Modified :

Thanks Ben! I’ve already added your sticker to the collection on the back. 

In reply to VegasNick :

If you can live with the fuel economy & over 20’ of total length I’d definitely recommend one. Once you configure it to suit your needs they really make great multi-purpose utility vehicles that can still provide DD function if needed. 

Plus they’re a blank canvas for whatever wizard/unicorn/landscape/sci-fi mural you want on the side. 

Filled the tank all the way full for the first time today. 208-miles total, about 100 of those in-town. 15.564 gallons pumped, for an average of 13.36mpg which is pretty consistent with what the Scan Guage shows. 

My truck gets 14-16 around town so mid 13 is a fair trade for awesome van utility and style. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I’m not sure there’s much style in a plain white van? Though a mural may cure that. 

I briefly on Halloween night considered writing  “definitely totally not a rape van” on the side & going for a drive, but decided that might not be a good idea.