Time for a new van need opinions

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Jerseydaze

Senior Member
It's Time my 4.6 e250 is more headache then it's worth .Im between the Transit and the NV .not sure about tall roof getting ladder on and off.Would like opinions .
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
It's Time my 4.6 e250 is more headache then it's worth .Im between the Transit and the NV .not sure about tall roof getting ladder on and off.Would like opinions .

Boss has a Transit and a Sprinter. Huge pitb getting ladders on/off the Sprinter. There is supposedly an electric ladder rack accessory; I would plan on getting it on any vehicle with a high roof. Other than that, not sure what I'd get - probably the smallest vehicle that could do daily things and tow a trailer for larger jobs.
 

JoeyD74

Senior Member
Location
Boston MA
Occupation
Electrical contractor
I'm not quite in need of a new van yet but I'm leaning towards the Ford transit with the low roof. The taller roofs are just to tall for ladders and pipe. I can't stand the look of the NV
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
The company got us Transits last summer.

We have what's called the mid height roof, I can stand up inside and with the ladder rack it's just under 10' high.

We have ladder racks that are manually operated and drop the ladders down to the side so that is no problem at all. However you can only do one ladder on each side, no way to stack ladders if you want to do that.


I like the truck so far, a bit underpowered but comfortable to drive.
 

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
It's Time my 4.6 e250 is more headache then it's worth .Im between the Transit and the NV .not sure about tall roof getting ladder on and off.Would like opinions .
First off, I'd just like to commiserate with you on the Ford E-250. I had a 2005 and just this summer had to unload it. It kept blowing coil packs. In fact the first time it blew one it burnt the spark plug so badly they had to tap the engine block and install a threaded sleeve. In addition I had to replace the transmission 4 times (approx. every 35K miles). After going for the 5th transmission, one week later I blew the head gasket. So, needless to say, I'm not Ford fan.

Having said all that, I happened to see one of my associate contractors last night who had the tall Ford Transit. He had two of those retractable ladder racks from American Van installed on the truck and mentioned that it was well worth the $2K. It brings the ladder down on the side of the truck for easy on and off. I can't speak to the performance of the vehicle but Iwire gave a good summation.

I'm not sure where you are in NJ but if you want to save a few $$ and buy a used truck this summer I purchased a 2014 GMC Savannah with 7700 miles on it from Encore Motors in Pine Brook, NJ. They're right at the intersection of Rt 46 and Change Bridge Rd. They purchase all types of vans from leasing companies and, in most cases, they're in good shape and have relatively low mileage on them.

Good luck.
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
First off, I'd just like to commiserate with you on the Ford E-250. I had a 2005 and just this summer had to unload it. It kept blowing coil packs. In fact the first time it blew one it burnt the spark plug so badly they had to tap the engine block and install a threaded sleeve. In addition I had to replace the transmission 4 times (approx. every 35K miles). After going for the 5th transmission, one week later I blew the head gasket. So, needless to say, I'm not Ford fan.

i've still got a '06 E-350 diesel, and it's the last ford product of any
sort i will buy. ever. and i've been driving fords since i was 16.

a powerstroke 6.0 will make you swear off anything ford got
within 1,000 miles of.

Note to Ford Motor Company:
Routine maintenance of a diesel engine should not
look, feel, and cost like the effort needed to get
Apollo 13 home.... just sayin'.....
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
If it makes you feel any better the GMC Durmax van I had needed to have the body lifted to do any real work on the engine.
 

JoeyD74

Senior Member
Location
Boston MA
Occupation
Electrical contractor
If it makes you feel any better the GMC Durmax van I had needed to have the body lifted to do any real work on the engine.

I have a Duramax van too, what did you need done they had to lift the body? I've had an injector and turbo go but they were easy enough to do.
 

hbiss

EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
Location
Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
Occupation
EC
i've still got a '06 E-350 diesel, and it's the last ford product of any
sort i will buy. ever. and i've been driving fords since i was 16.

a powerstroke 6.0 will make you swear off anything ford got
within 1,000 miles of.

Note to Ford Motor Company:
Routine maintenance of a diesel engine should not
look, feel, and cost like the effort needed to get
Apollo 13 home.... just sayin'.....

Well, I'll just say that that engine wasn't one of their best efforts, pretty well known if you do any research. But I wouldn't condemn Ford just for that.

-hal
 

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
If it makes you feel any better the GMC Durmax van I had needed to have the body lifted to do any real work on the engine.

Ford now makes the pickup bodies easy to lift to work on the diesels as they know it's virtually impossible to work on it in the cab.
 

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
i've still got a '06 E-350 diesel, and it's the last ford product of any
sort i will buy. ever. and i've been driving fords since i was 16.

a powerstroke 6.0 will make you swear off anything ford got
within 1,000 miles of.

Note to Ford Motor Company:
Routine maintenance of a diesel engine should not
look, feel, and cost like the effort needed to get
Apollo 13 home.... just sayin'.....

The 6 liter was a bonafide lemon as was the 6.4 after it. Now the Ford built 6.7 is having problems though not nearly as bad as the previous two (non Ford) diesel engines.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Ford now makes the pickup bodies easy to lift to work on the diesels as they know it's virtually impossible to work on it in the cab.

The GM mechanic mentioned pick ups where easy to remove the cab entirely but vans he could just lift the front some and he spends his time split between working under the hood and from the cab.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Im glad I had four bad ones when my truck was still newish, replaced all 8 and used never sieze

The van was not that old and we took it to the dealership when it had the glow pug issue figuring they could handle it. Well the $500 job became a $3,000 job and someone broke into it while they had it. That required replacing both back doors / paint / lettering.
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
The 6 liter was a bonafide lemon as was the 6.4 after it. Now the Ford built 6.7 is having problems though not nearly as bad as the previous two (non Ford) diesel engines.

there's a funny thing about that engine.... if your water in fuel light
comes on, it sets a persistent counter in the ECU that can't be overwritten.
so lets say you get three or four of those notices.... and you drain
the separator, and move on... and next year, the injector pump goes
out, as can happen... and you go into the dealer.... and they say

"Mr. D, it seems you have had 4 instances of water in the fuel, and
that voids the fuel system warranty..."

the fuel system is replaced in toto on that engine, as the working pressure
is not 3,000#, but 30,000# and they aren't letting factory parts changers
near a rebuild on it....

the price of that assembly is about $16,000, exchange. does not include
labor.

when my 6.0 blew headgaskets at 93k miles, fixing it right amounted
to $10,500. i'm at 170k now, and all seems to work well, but i'll never
buy another ford product again.

this one should roll a fair bit of distance, and so i will drive it till it drops,
and then look around for whats next.
 

mshow1323

Member
It's Time my 4.6 e250 is more headache then it's worth .Im between the Transit and the NV .not sure about tall roof getting ladder on and off.Would like opinions .

Get yourself a JetPack from American Van and load your ladders inside above the shelving units on either side. Keep you ladders out of the elements and you won't need to clean them just to get them into a customers house. And ice cold pipe sux, keep it warm and toasty inside.
 

John120/240

Senior Member
Location
Olathe, Kansas
Get yourself a JetPack from American Van and load your ladders inside above the shelving units on either side. Keep you ladders out of the elements and you won't need to clean them just to get them into a customers house. And ice cold pipe sux, keep it warm and toasty inside.

Here is a picture of the above ladder rack. 4' or 6' foot ladder may be fine not sure how 8' would work ?
 

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