best transportation van or truck

D

David Strausberger

Freshman
Mar 20, 2014
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Looking to get a new van or truck with hitch for the business. I've normally stuck with a van so it can be taken out on small jobs without a trailer as well. Anyone feel like sharing their experiences with the best make and model you have used. Trailers towing size ranges between 12 to 18 ft.

I just moved this post to the basement. Posted it in the wrong section, my bad.
 
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best transportation van or truck

Looking to get a new van or truck with hitch for the business. I've normally stuck with a van so it can be taken out on small jobs without a trailer as well. Anyone feel like sharing their experiences with the best make and model you have used. Trailers towing size ranges between 12 to 18 ft.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

There are pros and cons to everything. Without any details of what you're trying to do, it's pretty hard to give any meaningful information.

FWIW, I don't do trailers. If I can do the show in my Chevy Express, I do that. If not, I rent a cube van.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

What are you specifically asking? Best towing vehicle? How much weight and what kind of trailer? Do you own a specific trailer or do you rent them? What part of the country - snow? hot? hills?

The best kind of trailer is probably a gooseneck, but that's going to be hard to tow behind a van.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

I myself would consider either a Sprinter or Nissan NV high roof. The Nissan looks to be built on the Titan pickup truck platform or very similar-full box channel steel ladder frame and the V8 is the same. As I've been driving a Titan for the past year and a bit, it is a very nice set up.

Best regards,

John
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

John Halliburton said:
I myself would consider either a Sprinter or Nissan NV high roof. The Nissan looks to be built on the Titan pickup truck platform or very similar-full box channel steel ladder frame and the V8 is the same. As I've been driving a Titan for the past year and a bit, it is a very nice set up.

Best regards,

John
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+1. I opted for a 12' box truck over a van for the sole reason I didn't want to feel like a coal miner trying to load it. Being able to stand up when loading makes things way less miserable.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

John Halliburton said:
I myself would consider either a Sprinter or Nissan NV high roof. The Nissan looks to be built on the Titan pickup truck platform or very similar-full box channel steel ladder frame and the V8 is the same. As I've been driving a Titan for the past year and a bit, it is a very nice set up.

Best regards,

John
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Yep, the eurovans are very nice. The Sprinters are known for getting embarrasingly high fuel economy, while the Nissans (at least the standard size one I ended up with as a rental) get the typical van fuel economy (low teens). On the other hand, every Sprinter I've seen in salt belt states that's more than a couple years old has pretty significant rust/paint issues, so unless they've fixed that, the longevity may not be all that great.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

I have a 5x12 trailer, 5'6" interior height. I chose that size because the #1 criteria for me is that I'd has to fit inside my garage so I can leave it loaded. The trailer fully loaded weighs around 3,300lbs. I used to pull it with my 03 Dakota that had the V6 engine, but it really wasn't happy pulling the trailer, so it was time for an upgrade.

I ended getting a 2010 Ram 1500 Laramie Crewcab. It had everything I was looking for, things like:

10,000lb towing capacity
Class 4 hitch
Built in 7 pin wiring
Oil cooler
Transmission cooler
Backup camera

I could have gotten away with a plain Jane one, my Dakota had manual windows, manual door locks so I thought what the hell and treated myself to a Laramie. Heated leather, powered everything. It pulls my loaded trailer like it's not even there. I went for the V8 Hemi, and thought damn the mileage, I never want to be underpowered again. The funny thing is, I get the same mileage as my Dakota, if not better. I'm real happy with my purchase.

FD78F7D3-9033-41A1-A0D5-30FAFFE74918-27481-00001225FA255CA0_zps8ef34cff.jpg
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

Rob Timmerman said:
Yep, the eurovans are very nice. The Sprinters are known for getting embarrasingly high fuel economy, while the Nissans (at least the standard size one I ended up with as a rental) get the typical van fuel economy (low teens). On the other hand, every Sprinter I've seen in salt belt states that's more than a couple years old has pretty significant rust/paint issues, so unless they've fixed that, the longevity may not be all that great.
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Sprinters are the most common vans i see in berlin. There are others from various european makers, including iveco, but when I've had gear delivered, it has generally been loaded out of a sprinter. I don't drive and certainly do not own one, so cannot comment on its handling or operating costs, but it loads generously, and at 6'2", have no problems working in one. Rust isnt an issue here.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

Randy Pence said:
Sprinters are the most common vans i see in berlin. There are others from various european makers, including iveco, but when I've had gear delivered, it has generally been loaded out of a sprinter. I don't drive and certainly do not own one, so cannot comment on its handling or operating costs, but it loads generously, and at 6'2", have no problems working in one. Rust isnt an issue here.
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Going OT for a second, we use a phenomenal amount of salt to immediately melt the snow down to bare pavement, which is a big contributor to rust. How do you handle the snow in Berlin? Of course, it could be a different build of the van in Europe - IIRC, certain years of the VW van were much more prone to rust than others. Maybe that is the same with the sprinters.

Back to the topic...
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

frank kayser said:
Going OT for a second, we use a phenomenal amount of salt to immediately melt the snow down to bare pavement, which is a big contributor to rust. How do you handle the snow in Berlin? Of course, it could be a different build of the van in Europe - IIRC, certain years of the VW van were much more prone to rust than others. Maybe that is the same with the sprinters.

Back to the topic...
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Here in Ohio they pour so much salt on the road it's crazy, we get a dusting of snow and there putting a 1/4 inch of salt down.
If I'm not mistaken some of the states in the North West don't use salt during the winter.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

frank kayser said:
Going OT for a second, we use a phenomenal amount of salt to immediately melt the snow down to bare pavement, which is a big contributor to rust. How do you handle the snow in Berlin? Of course, it could be a different build of the van in Europe - IIRC, certain years of the VW van were much more prone to rust than others. Maybe that is the same with the sprinters.

Back to the topic...
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no salt here - some sort of sand and gravel mixture
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

Love my trailer, I leave it loaded in my garage. Saves an easy 2 hours per gig, because I don't have to load and unload it. I just latch on and go.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

A trailer wouldn't work for me. The garage at Chez Brenkman in the Oakland hills is at the top of a driveway with a 12 degree grade off of a narrow road. NO way could I back a trailer into it, especially after a long gig day.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

Randy Pence said:
no salt here - some sort of sand and gravel mixture
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I'm a big fan of using abrasives on snow more than the salt. While the snow is melting from the salt, the slush is practically un-driveable. The main problem with the abrasive trick is the cleanup in the spring (before the motorcycle season)

I'll bet all your vehicles last longer there. (sigh)
frank
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

I've got 4+ years in a Chevy Express Cargo Van it has the Duramax diesel and is the Extended length... I love it.

I last summer I had to get the trans rebuilt (so I upgraded it), this past winter added a Bully Dog Triple GT Tuner... and the best part is that I average 16.5 MPG! WITH the Gear (I'm estimating the gear to weight around 3k#). Last weekend, PA turnpike said that my sled weighed in between 7k-15k.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

Overall, I would say that a truck would be better. It depends what you are looking for. The trucks have the greater ability of being able to use a wide variety of trailers, while the van is much more fuel efficient.
 
Re: best transportation van or truck

Jake Lutz said:
Overall, I would say that a truck would be better. It depends what you are looking for. The trucks have the greater ability of being able to use a wide variety of trailers, while the van is much more fuel efficient.
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So a truck can use a wider variety of trailers than a more aerodynamic van body built on the same chassis? And fuel economy tends to be pretty similar between models built on the same platform, in my experience.
 
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