Motovan

I've been down this road a few times before. We checked out a bunch of vans but for now the truck is more practical. Idk what your kid situation is, but if you have any small ones or planning on having any, there wasn't any real affordable and legal option with a Chevy or Ford E. you could buy a cargo version and deck it all out but most likely the extra row of seats will not be legal, if they are legal they won't be cheap. Upfitters were like $5-$7k for the kit I looked at.

Best option we looked at was a Ford transitPassenger medium roof and remove a few rows and black out the windows. A transit low roof with seats just didn't have enough rear door opening room or headroom for a bike comfortably. A passenger Ford E or Chevy was doable but required seat rails to be removed and then headliner and AC ducting to come out to make it have good space. That was all more work than I wanted to take on for a newer van. I'm running a trailer for now as it was $2.5k and has tons more room than a van and I get to keep the versatility of my pickup.

If it's just you and your wife I'd deck out a Chevy cargo vanity transit medium roof is even better that's a few years old and rip it!

Pirate421 wrote:

I've been down this road a few times before. We checked out a bunch of vans but for now the truck is more practical. Idk what your kid situation is, but if you have any small ones or planning on having any, there wasn't any real affordable and legal option with a Chevy or Ford E. you could buy a cargo version and deck it all out but most likely the extra row of seats will not be legal, if they are legal they won't be cheap. Upfitters were like $5-$7k for the kit I looked at.

Best option we looked at was a Ford transitPassenger medium roof and remove a few rows and black out the windows. A transit low roof with seats just didn't have enough rear door opening room or headroom for a bike comfortably. A passenger Ford E or Chevy was doable but required seat rails to be removed and then headliner and AC ducting to come out to make it have good space. That was all more work than I wanted to take on for a newer van. I'm running a trailer for now as it was $2.5k and has tons more room than a van and I get to keep the versatility of my pickup.

If it's just you and your wife I'd deck out a Chevy cargo vanity transit medium roof is even better that's a few years old and rip it!

Thanks for the info yea we don't plan on having kids unless there's a miracle or we adopt unfortunalty and yea my truck works great but after working all week lifting things the truck is a pain inn the was to load the bike as I'm still recovering from a back Injury last November lol probably shouldn't be riding but that's not going to happen , I can load the bike by myself but just figured the van would be easier to load the bike since its not as much of a step up, and also like the part that I can build a section into a sleeping area as we go to alot of sports car races and sucks when it's a rainy or hot weekend and your stuck in a tent lol, I have thought about a trailer , but storing it will be re issue as we don't have enough room for a trailer along with 2 vehicles , so if we got a van the old reliable 99 Toyota corolla would be getting sold

We had a 98 GMC Savanna 3500 extended with a 454 gasser. Big, comfortable heavy van that got 14 mpg highway and had tons of room for 5 passengers, fold down seat/ bed. Loved it. Had 200k plus miles on it when we sold it. Very reliable and a real steal , imo. I sold it for like 3500 and that was close to what i paid for it. I wouldn't hesitate to look at a ford or Chevy with a few miles on em.

I have a 06 Sprinter. 5 cylinder diesel. Get 22-25mpg. Not the best around town van though. It's getting pretty old and clunky.

Depending on your budget, the newer 4 cylinder sprinters get great MPGs and are fun to drive.

I had two motovan before moving to a toy hauler setup and now RV+enclosed trailer.

Without kids the motovan was my favorite setup by far. The chevy is my besr choice. The handling is way better than the ford. I never tried the new ram promaster but I’m not to sure about the long term reliability if it’s like the sprinter.

With the motovan you can add a small travel trailer for cheap. I had shower with hot water whan I used only the van and it was good for mx or mountain biking. Quick loading, good sleeper to sleep anywhere for free and not to hard on the gaz (comparable to a 5.0L in a F-150 dependint on the motor you choose).

charley586 wrote:

I had two motovan before moving to a toy hauler setup and now RV+enclosed trailer.

Without kids the motovan was my favorite setup by far. The chevy is my besr choice. The handling is way better than the ford. I never tried the new ram promaster but I’m not to sure about the long term reliability if it’s like the sprinter.

With the motovan you can add a small travel trailer for cheap. I had shower with hot water whan I used only the van and it was good for mx or mountain biking. Quick loading, good sleeper to sleep anywhere for free and not to hard on the gaz (comparable to a 5.0L in a F-150 dependint on the motor you choose).

Yea I have the 5.0 in my f150 x4with a little work done to it right now I get between 11 to 14 mpg depending on traffic and what kinda mood I'm in lol we found a nice gmc 3500 that was barely used as a work vehicle which already has built in toolboxes for $8500 Canadian but has 2000000km on is kind weary that it has alot of k on it already but the body and frame look solid and it says it gets 14mpg which is about the same as my truck

I have a ford e150 2006 with 80k miles. Runs like a dream and had zero issues with it. I live mostly in a highway and the roads are all flat (FL for you) so I get 17 mpg at best and that's fully loaded with 3 bikes and on top of the wood I have added to the van which is a lot.
I love my set up, the bikes are safe inside, after I wash they don't get dirty or anything, don't really have to unload after a track day and if I do unload it's the bikes to do maintenance for the next day. The gear, grill, and coolers all stay inside of it. The bed I made is better than my regular bed and I can park the van anywhere and sleep. No issues with parking garages or parking at all because it's the size of a f150 realistically.
Either way you cant go wrong with a van. They can haul ass, even tho you already got a wife.
I built it with my girlfriend and we had lots of funny and good times. I don't know your wife but if she can get her hands dirty you can convince her it's like building a tiny home like the DYI network shows.











This is what I currently have going on in the back. To build the chevy is easier, the walls are flat. Ford makes the ecoline like a bubble so it's hard to shape walls without taking to much space

ab wrote:

I have a ford e150 2006 with 80k miles. Runs like a dream and had zero issues with it. I live mostly in a highway and the roads are all flat (FL for you) so I get 17 mpg at best and that's fully loaded with 3 bikes and on top of the wood I have added to the van which is a lot.
I love my set up, the bikes are safe inside, after I wash they don't get dirty or anything, don't really have to unload after a track day and if I do unload it's the bikes to do maintenance for the next day. The gear, grill, and coolers all stay inside of it. The bed I made is better than my regular bed and I can park the van anywhere and sleep. No issues with parking garages or parking at all because it's the size of a f150 realistically.
Either way you cant go wrong with a van. They can haul ass, even tho you already got a wife.
I built it with my girlfriend and we had lots of funny and good times. I don't know your wife but if she can get her hands dirty you can convince her it's like building a tiny home like the DYI network shows.











This is what I currently have going on in the back. To build the chevy is easier, the walls are flat. Ford makes the ecoline like a bubble so it's hard to shape walls without taking to much space

Haha yea man she likes working on my bike with me so thats not an issue and your set up is exactly what I want to do

suzukirmz250 wrote:

Haha yea man she likes working on my bike with me so thats not an issue and your set up is exactly what I want to do

Here is a picture of my last trip. 2 full bikes and 1 100f plus gear and stuff for 5 day road trip.
On the way to the track it rained a lot and non ornate our stuff got wet which was the best part.