VANS -which full size van to choose

[wildhorses]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

GMC's extended body vans use a longer wheelbase (155", versus 135" for regular) and are extremely stable and very strong tow vehicles.
I have used a G3500 extended van with 6.0l gas for many years as my trusted tow vehicle and have pulled a 34' and currently a 30' widebody. Foiled Again's 25' would be a breeze for that type of van.
In 2017 they discontinued the duramax diesel model.

PeterH makes a good point, older Ford vans tends to be extended by adding overhang at the rear, but GMC/Chevy adds it to the wheelbase. We use the G3500 Extended Express van as well. I am not familiar with newer Ford Transit vans.

FWIW: I also have an '85 G30 Chevy Beauville van that is a unibody design and towed my AS with it. Don't worry about the frame vs unibody for rigidity. Here is a picture of the G30 towing my 24' 10,500lb car trailer weighing ~7500lbs - with no WD hitch (but I do need to move the car further back in the trailer to reduce tongue weight) - I tow with this setup regularly and have no issues.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Be careful of what you call a "large van". I would not put the Ford Transit into that category. It's more a "Euro Van" medium sized van. I'd focus on stuff that has a frame ....I believe the Transit is a unibody.

Bob

[slowmover]

Unit body is stronger and lighter. Better TV, almost always. (See second half of comment above yours )

That said, some vans may not be suitable. Same case for pickups. Trade offs not always worth it.

[uraljohn]

Full frame is way more capable than unibody. Example, when ford redesigned the explorer from full frame to unibody, tow rating was cut almost in half. I have driven heavy duty trucks for 40 years and all of them were full frame. in a car application, a unibody may make for more torsional rigidity and less body twist. it will not stand up to rigors of towing. most, not all, unibody suv's will not take a weight distributing hitch for just that reason. the new ford transit is unibody. as a result the tow rating is way less than the E150 full frame van it replaced.

[OTRA15]

Echoing earlier comments, towing with a van is great. Tons of storage for coolers, camping and road gear, and back-up sleeping. Freedom to wander to remote areas with the AS parked safely somewhere.

The new Ford Transit 350 vans still have some pretty decent tow ratings FYI.

http://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/...de_r5_Mar3.pdf

Check the Airstream on PDF p. 2/39, and Transit ratings on p. 27. We recently got a 2017 Transit 350 with the 3.5 EcoBoost engine, and it handles our FC20 just fine [max weight of 5,000]. 3.73 rear end, and GCWR of 12,600, yields max trailer weight of 7,100 with the low roof 130" WB. Thus a slightly larger AS would work too.

Nothing like our old Econoline Club Wagon 350, however, nor the E-250 before that.

As someone said, compromises . . . this niche works for us . . .

Cheers,

Peter

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by uraljohn

Full frame is way more capable than unibody. Example, when ford redesigned the explorer from full frame to unibody, tow rating was cut almost in half. I have driven heavy duty trucks for 40 years and all of them were full frame. in a car application, a unibody may make for more torsional rigidity and less body twist. it will not stand up to rigors of towing. most, not all, unibody suv's will not take a weight distributing hitch for just that reason. the new ford transit is unibody. as a result the tow rating is way less than the E150 full frame van it replaced.

Body on frame is cheap to build. That's the only reason for it. We were hauling 7k trailers with unibody cars fifty years ago. Unibody is more expensive after a certain point. We had custom hitch receivers built. Factory provided schematics.

"Tow rating" is a fairly meaningless marketing term.

Will the van otherwise suit? That's the real question.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Echoing earlier comments, towing with a van is great. Tons of storage for coolers, camping and road gear, and back-up sleeping. Freedom to wander to remote areas with the AS parked safely somewhere.

The new Ford Transit 350 vans still have some pretty decent tow ratings FYI.

http://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/...de_r5_Mar3.pdf

Check the Airstream on PDF p. 2/39, and Transit ratings on p. 27. We recently got a 2017 Transit 350 with the 3.5 EcoBoost engine, and it handles our FC20 just fine [max weight of 5,000]. 3.73 rear end, and GCWR of 12,600, yields max trailer weight of 7,100 with the low roof 130" WB. Thus a slightly larger AS would work too.

Nothing like our old Econoline Club Wagon 350, however, nor the E-250 before that.

As someone said, compromises . . . this niche works for us . . .

Cheers,

Peter

Did you happen to scale it with driver and full fuel only? That pair of numbers along with axle/tire/wheel ratings would finish off your recommendation nicely.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Did you happen to scale it with driver and full fuel only? That pair of numbers along with axle/tire/wheel ratings would finish off your recommendation nicely.

No I did not do that, as the nearest scales are quite far away.

On the registration the weight is 4781. We added a bench seat, so I am guessing the total with driver and gas is going to be at least 5500. The van's GVWR is 9500, and GCWR (as stated earlier) is 12600.

I want to do a full weigh-in with and without the trailer eventually, at which point the axle ratings will come into play, depending on load distribution in the van. With the FC20 maxing out at 5000, there is some room for tools, camping and road gear, a small Yamaha tri-fuel 1000 generator, and so forth. At least a comfortable margin of error I hope. When I get to this stage of gearing up for serious towing, the additional numbers you suggest will get filled in. I have relied on Ford's representations about the overall towing capacity for now. [and our previous Transit's performance, see below]

The Transit tows the FC20 very well, as did our 2015 Transit which got totaled in a rear-end collision last fall.

For larger Airstreams the new Transit is probably not the right tow vehicle. For us, however, the combined rig is very comfortable, in a KISS solution after downsizing from a 25' years ago. Even a 23FB would probably work IMO.

Cheers,

Peter

PS -- Early one morning checking out the lights after the new van arrived --

[Tomzstream]

Originally Posted by bibbs

I don't understand why so many people use pickup trucks? A van makes much more sense! Room to spare! I like the window van because you can see so much more around you.

Sure, everything but LEGroom. Same reason I won't go back to a B van (been there done that), or B+ based on Transit, Chevy or the dodge thingy, although Sprinter is acceptable. My Chevy truck suits my legs.

[wildhorses]

Originally Posted by Tomzstream

Sure, everything but LEGroom. Same reason I won't go back to a B van (been there done that), or B+ based on Transit, Chevy or the dodge thingy, although Sprinter is acceptable. My Chevy truck suits my legs.

We have tons of leg room, I even added air ride seats so we can ride on a cushion of air for hours.

[slowmover]

Legroom can be as much a body shape problem. I wear a 36" inseam, but sit closer to the wheel than most. Up high.

Now, those vans designed in 1973, yeah, it was a problem. Like the Volkswagen bus, your legs were part of the integrated crumple zone.

[The Naker]

I pull my 2018 Tommy Bahama 27FB with my Sprinter 4x4. I do have a WD hitch that was set up by Andy at CanAm. It pulls beautifully.

I'm currently in Colorado near Rocky Mountain National Park. No problem going through the mountains or long days on the interstate.

[Dan_Rox]

As others have mentioned, the Transit and Mercedes are uni-body construction. Not sure about Mercedes, but Ford recommends not using a weight distribution hitch on the Transit.

For OUR needs a Chevy / GMC or Nissan NV was the only choice. The Nissan might be a great vehicle, but we couldn't get past the looks.

We bought a Chevy 1 ton about 6 months ago. It has the gas 6.0 engine. The larger 6.6 Duramax is no longer available. The power for us is adequate, but if we lived or drove in the rockies frequently we would probably want more. MPG towing averages around 10 and up to 17-18 empty. Ours has a Quigley 4x4 conversion so not sure how much that affects mpg.

We haven't been across scales yet, but with all our toys; bicycles, dual sport motorcycles, kayaks... we would be over the weight limit of the Transit or Sprinter.

We are using an Equal-i-zer hitch. Once set up properly it tows great.

Someone mentioned legroom. At 6'3" I agree that more legroom would be nice.

[wildhorses]

Originally Posted by Dan_Rox

We bought a Chevy 1 ton about 6 months ago. It has the gas 6.0 engine. The larger 6.6 Duramax is no longer available. The power for us is adequate, but if we lived or drove in the rockies frequently we would probably want more. MPG towing averages around 10 and up to 17-18 empty. Ours has a Quigley 4x4 conversion so not sure how much that affects mpg.

We have the same setup but 2WD and get ~12 towing and ~19 empty so the 4x4 didn't hurt it much. We have the extended van so we put the kayaks inside with all the rest.

[epicdetour]

We towed a 27fb Airstream with a Nissan NV 3500 high roof full time for a year. Aside from aesthetics (lots of people didn't like it's looks, and frankly we didn't either) it was an excellent tow vehicle. Lots of power, tons of room, etc. We had a motorcycle, 5 bicycles, 2 inflatable SUPs, tools, accessory AGM battery, fishing gear, ALL inside!!! It towed like a boss. 16,000lb GCWR. 10000lb hitch, transmission cooling, extendable mirrors.
We decided looks didn't matter. We felt incredibly safe and loved the handling. My husband has pulled boats and trailers forever, and drove city buses commercially...so I'm saying he is a credible judge of capability here....and he had nothing by positive things to say about the NV.
We have pics and info on our conversion at www.epicdetour.com
I also posted a review on the forums here under Nissan NV 3500

[Dan_Rox]

Originally Posted by epicdetour

We towed a 27fb Airstream with a Nissan NV 3500 high roof full time for a year.....
We have pics and info on our conversion at www.epicdetour.com
I also posted a review on the forums here under Nissan NV 3500

I just checked out your website, nice! You guys are living the dream.

[Foiled Again]

Thanks and keep those cards and letters coming. I really do need something like a ramp or low steps to get up into the cab and cargo area. A super comfortable driver's seat is also a must. Id like the front passe ger seat to also be high end. For the rest, cargo space.

I've done a little upholstery and awning work with my heavy duty sewing machine.. who knows? It might become a handy sideline.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

Thanks and keep those cards and letters coming. I really do need something like a ramp or low steps to get up into the cab and cargo area. A super comfortable driver's seat is also a must. Id like the front passe ger seat to also be high end. For the rest, cargo space.

I've done a little upholstery and awning work with my heavy duty sewing machine.. who knows? It might become a handy sideline.

http://www.chevrolet.com/suburban-large-suv

[Foiled Again]

Sadly the tow vehicle I had in 2005 was a 2500 Burb. Guzzler for sure - 12.5 not towing, 12.0 towing. It looks like I'll be keeping the 10 Metre Avion so a half ton burb is out.

Paula

[wildhorses]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

Sadly the tow vehicle I had in 2005 was a 2500 Burb. Guzzler for sure - 12.5 not towing, 12.0 towing. It looks like I'll be keeping the 10 Metre Avion so a half ton burb is out.

Paula

We had a 4WD one with the 8.2L gas engine as well, it got 10 mpg towing or not, but it could easily tow whatever you put behind it.