Chevy Express 2500 van 10 ply tires rattle rattle bang bang

[480sparky]

480 you give me hope, In the past I have been very outspoken in regards to how silly this looks and it always seemed like I was the minority in thinking so. Maybe we look to far into it because we need to see nice neat romex used properly in order to sleep well at night but overall I always just thought it looked unprofessional. Now I have solace.

Actually, I think it looks cheesy because it goes back to the employer not wanting to pony up for the good stuff.

Fly-By-Night Electric buys a van, and throws a bottom-end ladder rack on it. Joe Sixpack, who works for FBNE, is assigned to that van, and needs to carry some tall ladders with him. But the owners have the attitude that they've already spent enough money on the van, ladders and rack so why on earth would they want to spend $10 on a set of ratchet tie-downs? Now, Joe certainly isn't going to pay for them himself, so his only alternative is to use scraps of NM. Maybe some 10THHN.

Either 'wiring method' employed, the owners fail to see how much money they're spending to pay Joe to tie and untie the ladder every day, and all the wire that gets used over time. Heaven forbid if a $300 ladder disappears some day.

I figure my ladder rack paid for itself in the first six months. 'Free money' since then.

I feel the same way about using PVC pipe as a conduit carrier.

 

[daleuger]

But the owners have the attitude that they've already spent enough money on the van, ladders and rack so why on earth would they want to spend $10 on a set of ratchet tie-downs? Now, Joe certainly isn't going to pay for them himself, so his only alternative is to use scraps of NM. Maybe some 10THHN.

Thank you!That's sort of what I was getting at when I said an owner is sometimes a bit on the tight side earlier in the thread.

I never said it didn't look cheesy (which rope does too)

 

[charlietuna]

I have 3500 series chevy express diesel vans and outfit them with 10 ply Michelin tires and they run smooth--no rattles. I carry heavy industrial material items and know i am overweight --dealer's hydraulic lift can't lift the vans! But i get near 90,000 miles on these tires!!

 

[Fulthrotl]

I have 3500 series chevy express diesel vans and outfit them with 10 ply Michelin tires and they run smooth--no rattles. I carry heavy industrial material items and know i am overweight --dealer's hydraulic lift can't lift the vans! But i get near 90,000 miles on these tires!!

i'm running an E-350 diesel long body van, and run michelin LT265/75R16
tires on alcoa rims. i also run centramatics dynamic balancers....
http://www.centramatic.com/300.html so the vehicle rides quietly as well.

about the only thing that rattles is if the little giant ladder on the inside of the
van gets loose, and bangs around, otherwise, everything is pretty quiet.

the deal is the weight... i weigh at 10,500 lbs, with a full tank of fuel, and
two riders. goodyear air bags on front and back, with 80 lbs in those as well.
80 lbs in the tires. reasonable expectation is that the tires i am running will
last in the neighborhood of 90,000 as well. i've got 20,000 on them so far,
with no appreciable sign of wear.

the van also is quiet because of dynamat...

 

[peter d]

the deal is the weight... i weigh at 10,500 lbs, with a full tank of fuel, and
two riders. goodyear air bags on front and back, with 80 lbs in those as well.
80 lbs in the tires.

Do you need commercial plates for that? I noticed that CA plates don't have any type of designation on them, just a certain letter and number format depending on the vehicle type. :-?

 

[Podagrower]

I thought I had nothing for this post, but then, as I was riding around today, I remembered the mechanics drawer liner I used on all the shelves in my van. I'm an old school guy, so I have metal shelves, and metal boxes can make quite a racket. So when I bought this van, I went to Big Blue, bought some shelf liner, and cut it into shape. It works wonderful. Items don't bounce as much, and they don't slide under those hard stops.

 

[CopperTone]

Bah, we have a shop big enough to lock the 15 or so vans inside at night. If somebody gets into the shop stealing your ladders is the least of their concerns. Sparky's ladder rack seems like an excellent idea but our owner (not to bad mouth him) is a bit on the tight side.

your boss is such a tight wad that he either owns or pays the rent on a shop that can hold 15 vans inside overnight? what a tight wad.

 

[480sparky]

I thought I had nothing for this post, but then, as I was riding around today, I remembered the mechanics drawer liner I used on all the shelves in my van. I'm an old school guy, so I have metal shelves, and metal boxes can make quite a racket. So when I bought this van, I went to Big Blue, bought some shelf liner, and cut it into shape. It works wonderful. Items don't bounce as much, and they don't slide under those hard stops.

I do the same thing with free scrap rubber roofing material.

 

[daleuger]

your boss is such a tight wad that he either owns or pays the rent on a shop that can hold 15 vans inside overnight? what a tight wad.

He inherited it when his dad died. I never met the old man but from what I understand he was a totally different critter to deal with.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Do you need commercial plates for that? I noticed that CA plates don't have any type of designation on them, just a certain letter and number format depending on the vehicle type. :-?

it has commercial plates on it... personalized ones, so the commercial
plate is not apparent until you run the registration.... my registration
is paid for total truck and trailer weight of 20,000#, so i can pull a 9,000
lb trailer, and still be legal. rims and tires are dot certified for 14,000#, and
surprisingly, that is the criteria CHP goes by, not manufacturer's gvw, so
i'm legal there.

i've not been over there lately, (thank god, the drive sucks) but santa
monica has a weight limit on many of their streets, of 6,000#... it's subject
to selective enforcement, but they've been known to set up portable weigh
stations, and get anything going by... their penalty is $1 per pound, for
overweight, which is the same $1 a pound you get cited for by the highway
patrol for being over your registered weight. it's a revinue booster, but they
don't cite local residents, just people out of their voting district...

so, on a bad day, that van's good for a $4,000 ticket, in the people's
republic of santa monica. it pays to watch the signs where you drive in
that area....

 

[peter d]

it has commercial plates on it... personalized ones, so the commercial
plate is not apparent until you run the registration....

Let me guess....FULTHROTL? No, that wouldn't work...too many letters....FULTHRTL?

 

[peter d]

I thought of a few more possibilities:

OVERCOMP

or perhaps

HACKELEC

or maybe even

IH8IWIRE

????

 

[iwire]

or maybe even

IH8IWIRE

Choking on my drink.

 

[peter d]

Choking on my drink.

I figured you would enjoy that.

 

[Rewire]

I thought of a few more possibilities:

OVERCOMP

or perhaps

HACKELEC

or maybe even

IH8IWIRE

????

Now I have to clean the coffee off my screen

 

[480sparky]

I thought of a few more possibilities:

OVERCOMP

or perhaps

HACKELEC

or maybe even

IH8IWIRE

????

What about mine?

 

[tonyou812]

I seem to have way fewer flat tires from screws with the 10 ply and they seem to last much longer.

I agree. Enjoy your ride now untill a pea nut screw gives you a flate.

 

[Mule]

I guess my van ,just, was not loaded that heavy, so the 6 ply tires ride much much better than the 10 ply. Our small town is no greater than 15 min to a supply house, so my van stays lightly loaded, and I try to keep the aisle clean and clear. I hate crawling over stuff... I have material for larger jobs delivered straight to the job...most of our work is 200amp and below.......


And for the license plate? ......my front plate says "Got Shorts?"....the guy that did my graphics made it for me....

 

[LarryFine]

What about mine?

Cute. It means "We don't do residential."

My plates are WYR NUTZ, WYR NUT1, WYR NUT2, and WYR NUT3.

For some strange reason, some people think the first one says "We're nuts."

 

[Fulthrotl]

Now I have to clean the coffee off my screen

do you have a drinking problem, or something? :smile:
hiccup and giggle at the same time?...

better watch it peter, you're screwing with your free flip flops...
not that you'll get them, but the *color* is still a variable,
based on attitude.......