Cargo vans - Ford vs. Chevy?

I'm looking to replace my aging '88 Chevy 1/2-ton pickup with a cargo van. Due to budget, I'll be in 10-15 year old range - but I want to buy the best maintained van I can find. It will see minimal use, no more than 5kmi/yr, but I need it to haul and tow reliably.

My Chevy has been in the family since new, and the two negatives about it are a.) The 305 is anemic, and b.) The 700R4 is a POS without spending $$ for a rebuild with all the mods.

I did drive a 98 E350 cargo van with the 5.4L at my last job, and other than eating coil packs about every other oil change, a heater valve that broke, and a DOA radio, it was rock-solid despite receiving plenty of abuse and minimal maintenance.

So, for a limited use van that will primarily be used for towing/hauling, is there any reason to pick one vs the other?

Does the spitting spark plug syndrome apply to the 5.4 Ford van engine? Do the newer Chevy transmissions hold up any better? What other problems am I likely to encounter?

And before anyone mentions it - I've had way too many problems with Dodge to even consider one.

My work van is an e250 with a 4.6 and 24x,xxx miles. It still drives very well. I drive it very gently as well, as its older, but I think it does well.

Joey

After driving both the E250 and Savana 2500 for company vehicles, I like the GMC better. I am more comfortable in the Cab and there are little things in the GMC that I like more than the Ford. I also felt like the Fords steering felt numb.

I don't tow with it, so I can't give you an opinion on that.

I use to take care a a small fleet of cargo vans for a construction company. We had E350 and chevy 3500. All the guys prefered to drive the chevy, but they required more repairs. If you tow or charge them a lot (like we did) they kept destroying their diffs and eating brakes no matter which discs and pads we tried. Plus the other random repairs. Never had any problem with the transmissions. The 3500 have the 4l80e I beleive, which seems tougher.

The Fords didn't give us any problems (except the random stuff) as long as you kept gas in them. But the guys kept complaining that they felt weaker, less comfortable, harder shifting, more truck like.

I guess it depends how much of a working truck you need. For hardcore stuff, I'd go Ford. If it's for a bit of work once in a while, you'd probably be happier with the Chevy.

Chevy 3500 or 2500 w/8600 GVW pkg (look for 8 lugs) 1996 or newer. These will have the 4L80E trans. 2500 could be had with a V6, but I wouldn't go there. Long wheelbase model is a bonus if you want extra room. Drove one with a 350 for several years as a delivery truck, very comfortable compared to the Ford and better on gas. Never had any issues to speak of.

I'm happy with my 2001 Dodge B2500, just to confuse things, though I don't tow, and have just been using it for building supplies and dump runs. It sure drives a lot more nicely than the '91 F250 4x4 it replaced, even with completely shot shocks and in need of ball joints and tie rods...

ransom wrote: I'm happy with my 2001 Dodge B2500, just to confuse things, though I don't tow, and have just been using it for building supplies and dump runs. It sure drives a lot more nicely than the '91 F250 4x4 it replaced, even with completely shot shocks and in need of ball joints and tie rods...

If dodge is an option, the 318/5.2 will run forever

A buddy had an E-250 with the 5.4. It was worked hard enough that it needed its first oil change before its first payment. It seemed to last very well, but, yes, it did spit out a spark plug at least once. (It drove home fine on 7 cylinders, though.)

Personally, I always thought the previous van he had (a Chev 2500) was tougher and better to drive, but if you're looking at units that are 10 or 15 years old, condition is more important than nameplate by a factor of ten.

Cool, thanks!

Yes, I'm certainly looking for the best condition of either I can find, and it sounds worthwhile to find one with the HD/Towing package.

Here's a question - I found a Chevy that looks like a good candidate, but it was ordered new without A/C. That's not a deal-breaker for me, as the A/C in my truck and car are both out, and I've never felt the need to fix it. However, I could see the lack of A/C being a problem at some point, so would it be relatively simple/cheap to get an RV roof A/C unit and install on the van, if I did go this route?

Doubtful on the air con, I rarely run it in my work van('03 2500 express XL 6L) I haven't had any issues with the chebby, other than the fuel level never goes above 3/4 tank when full and the door handles are made of paper machet .....you'll want at least a 5.4L or 5.7L for towing though.

Chevy.

The Fords are tougher, but I've replaced several of the 5.4 engines. The Chevys just keep going.

The E-series has something like 80% market share, if that tells you anything. The modern Express will get better mileage, though.

Personal experience, Fords drive WAY better then the GM's, but the mod motor is a POS. Interior/exterior is Ford all the way. Never have been a big fan of the cheapness GM displays.

Osterkraut wrote: The E-series has something like 80% market share, if that tells you anything.

Same reason the tow companies all use Fords despite the "wonderful" 6.0 engine.

Ford has great incentives. One fleet manager mentioned that the incentives made it cheaper to get a Ford and dump it at low mileage than it was to get a Dodge or Chevy and keep it.

I like the Ford vans, but if it were my money then it'd be a Savanna/Express. The drivetrains are nigh bulletproof and the rest of it is a wash.

Stealthtercel wrote: but if you're looking at units that are 10 or 15 years old, condition is more important than nameplate by a factor of ten.

This is exactly what I was concerned about when I was shopping older cargo vans. I was looking in the same year range the OP was talking.

The other thing someone brought up is that the Savanna/Express is not a full frame like the Fords and Dodges, anyone know if there is some truth to that?

Anti-stance wrote: The other thing someone brought up is that the Savanna/Express is not a full frame like the Fords and Dodges, anyone know if there is some truth to that?

I'm about 90% sure the Ram is the unbody one, with the Express being full frame.

I can only comment on the two vans I have driven. Both were Fords. One was the I6 E150 and one was an E350. Both went through hell and back. The E150 was literally squashed by a falling tree and after getting paid off, the owner put a couple of jacks under the crushed parts of the body and popped it back square. and then continued to do another 200,000 miles on it. It's big issue were starters and ignition moduals

The E350 was abused when the company I worked for had it. By the time it was finally retired, it had both sides caved in at the bottom from scraping against things, one fender and hood had been replaced due to an accident, and the paint was literally falling off of it. But it continued to keep trucking along. It's only problem was a tendancy to cup the rear tyres.

Had three 99 e150's the company bought at the same time. All three went over 200k with minimal maintenance and all were worked hard. Don't remember ever having an issue with any of them except one guy pressure washed the dash and that one had some goofy electrical issues from time to time.

I would still rather have a G.M. though.

In reply to Osterkraut:

Just doing some quick research, the last couple of years the Savanna has had a full frame so I can only imagine they all have. Good news to me then.

If you are searching for a 10 year old heavy van with the long body, remember two things-

The GM vans extended the wheelbase, and the Fords just added tin behind the wheels.

There have been more small church groups flipped upside down in E350 vans than every other type of vehicle combined, due to the above problem combined with the magic of twin I beam technology.

As always, just hunt up the best one you can find of either brand. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.

I didn't read the posts, so somebody have have said this. The Chevy is the more stable vehicle because the wheel-base was extended where the Ford and Dodge just extended the body beyond the axle.

In reply to DrBoost:

Beat ya by 4 minutes.

I'd get a Ford. They last forever. My DD is a 2002 E150 4.2 V6 with over 330K miles. My son's DD is a 1999 4.2 with 420+ on it. Depending on what you tow they do just fine and get 16-18 MPG with 1000 pounds in the back. I hauled the 3700# Super Coupe 150 miles behind mine without missing a lick and haul the Abomination behind it all the time. Original engine and to my knowledge the original transmission.

My previous tow beast was an E150 with the 5.4. It pulled a 20' enclosed trailer for quite a few miles, but wasn't my favorite. It made the best power when it was screaming it's guts out and was getting 7mpg. Unless you are towing monster amounts of weight or through the mountains the V6 will probably do what you need and burn a good bit less gas doing it.

Dollars spent on a Ford will probably get you a better example because there are so many of them out there. Literally millions of them. My 2002 set me back $2500. That was 150K miles and three years ago.

My personal choice was the Ford for two reasons - 1) I wanted a diesel and Ford 7.3L wins for me on that count. A duramax van would have been fine, but too expensive, and tuned way down to not grenade the 4L80E. 2) Turning radius. This is my daily driver and the chevy's longer wheelbase made turning radius a pain.

I used to spend the summers driving 15-passenger vans to and from our theater. A couple years we had Chevys. They were a nice comfy drive with a horrifically wimpy 350. The A/C was entirely a non-entity. These were brand-new vans with 1500 miles on them that we rented from Enterprise. So, here is the scene with the Chevys:

100 degrees, 10 passengers, 15 miles of stop and go, 15 miles of highway. During the stops, enough hot air got in front of the condenser that it shut the compressor off. Every red light I had to put it in neutral and rev it so the fan (which was fully engaged) would draw air through. It only cooled the van with luke-warm air. Then, light turns green. I usually floored it because it was just that slow. The cooling fan was so massive and the engine so wimpy that as long as I held my foot to the floor it wouldn't shift. It reached 4500 rpms at which the fan put enough load on the engine that it would no longer accelerate. Since it never reached the WOT rpm on the shift map, no shift.

On the highway after 15 miles it would finally be able to get the interior of the van cool-ish. Keep in mind, this is a fleet of 30 different chevy vans over three years, so it wasn't an anomaly.

Fourth year we switched to E350s. Ice cold, plenty of oomph, at the expense of a little rougher ride.

I bought an E350 7.3L Powerstroke and I've been pleased as punch. Since you're doing gas, I would still choose the Ford. The 4.6L is a wimp, but it runs trouble-free for a ridiculously long time. I've had chevys with 350s, 4.3L, 5.3L, 6.0L... and have also had a couple Ford 4.6L. The 4.6L won't win any races, but good gosh they last forever.

I can give input to Ford's A/C systems in trucks. I have own pretty damn close to 20 vehicles of varying makes and nothing have had A/C like both of my 90s Ford trucks. My 95 F150 single cab with about 230K miles would freeze you out of the cab. I thought maybe it was because it was a single cab but my 97 F350 was a crew cab with I think 375K miles and it was cold as E36 M3 too.