I have an E250 and when I was doing my own work, the best thing I ever did was to empty it out and keep it as light as possible. There's no reason to have a van full of stuff if you keep on top of your inventory.
:thumbsup:
The guy I referred to earlier that I used to work with had just tons of extra little knick-knacks, inventory, and tools that added up to a ton of waste. Two sticks of Unistrut, 20-plus pounds. Spare battery for a generator, 20-plus pounds. Any conduit over 3/4 in, even subsections of 4 inch sleeve something, 50 plus pounds. Junk crap like blown HPS ballasts, bulbs, used Breakers, another 50 lb. 5 gallon oil drum for doing generator change outs, over half full, 25 more pounds.
Tool wise, he had, last time I saw him, got a hydraulic Punch-Out kit, could do up to 4 in knockouts. 45 lb, and he still had the original manual set on the truck, another 5 to 10 lb. Instead of having like an 80 piece socket set in a nice plastic box, he had a ton of sockets in the bottom of a metal tool box, that weighed more than a bag of Quikrete... Add another 90 lbs there.
I occasionally have pop 200 lb without a tool pouch or materials, however I think I would rather have a ladder collapse under me then have to Lug around those big orange suckers all day. The Werner blue ladders are good for 250 lb and way substantially less than the ones rated for 300 or 375. He once carried around a portable generator for a week and a half when a hurricane was supposed to hit... Not for any specific customer or job... Add about 250 lbs there. All manner of tools for digging, post hole making, trenching, Etc, add another hundred pounds there.
My point is if you do not watch the ounces, the pounds will add up tremendously.
My first work truck was a K 1500 extended cab with a camper shell. I built two wooden shelves across the wheel wells, and kept all of my materials and heavy duty plastic boxes. The truck was organized to the point I could send a green helper out there and tell him exactly where something was, and if it wasn't in that spot, it's because I did not have it. Sure there are some things I had to carry that many electricians would not, like six hundred foot of extension cord for running the drills roughing in commercial jobs, about 10 nail biter drill bits, because breaking one of those or dulling it out mid job will require you to pull off and go buy another one. I had one good corded drill, two good cordless drills, Sawzall and a few other power tools.
Getting back to the topic on hand, selection of your vehicle may depend largely on how well you can organize it. I bet a good many of us could fit in most of the essential items needed in a Ford Focus with a ladder rack. A 10-in-1, a voltmeter, a pair of dikes, and a pair of wire strippers can get an awful lot of work done.
I don't like carrying around even an extra pound in my tool pouch, and no truck likes having to carry around the extra weight. It will not complain like I do, however it will cost you more in gas and maintenance than if it was lightly loaded.
I love my tools and like being prepared as much as the next guy, however I admire efficiency of action over carrying around a rolling garage. If I am doing work that I know will require some different tools, pull them out of the garage and put them on the truck while drinking your morning coffee and going over your game plan for the day in your head.
Or just imagine having to use a six and a half foot bed in the extended cab of a K 1500 to do all your work... I did that for 4 years, the only thing I would have done differently with get a pull out slide for the bed so all my materials come to me rather than me crawl inside.
Last thought... If you cannot tell a completely green helper exactly where something is on the truck, it is not organized. If you don't know if you have something on the truck, it is unorganized. And if you have to spend more than about 10 seconds looking for something, it is definitely unorganized. I would rather work out of a Ford Focus with a ladder rack that was perfectly done then another standard electrical van that is a giant rolling cluster... truck.
I am not alone in this, I am noticing many electrical companies around here with minivans or even compact cars to do service work, estimates, and other things that do not require an entire rolling warehouse of electrical parts and tools.
Even if you go with the Ram 1500, you may find a gently used one only a few years old where the original owner has already eaten a lot of the depreciation on it. you can spend the money you save on that on another vehicle for service work, save the money for breakdowns, go to Jamaica for 2 weeks, whatever floats your boat. I can't give a thumbs up or down on that particular van, I will say that it is better than a sprinter, which seems to me worse than a boat as far as expenses go.