Who uses a half ton van?

[vincent]

And why?

Is it strong enough to lug around all the weight we carry for day in and day out operation?

And if you were to buy used, what would be the highest mileage you would consider?

 

[Ross Buettner]

If you tug a porty and a 5 gallon bucket

 

[Able 1]

I'm over weight with my 1 ton... :shock: I really don't think a half ton has any place in our industry(well maybe for a porty cleaner).

 

[bob vawter]

i used a half ton for close to FORTY years....
i can't even guess how much money i saved on brake parts tie rods shocks and all the other parts that are so fricking expensive on a one ton............of course i had a 500 lb Direct Drive an' dumped in Mrs Phiffts gardenias...........

 

[truckmount girl]

I used a half ton Chevy extended window van. used a TM and a ton of equipment, tools and chems...never had an issue with it. Great van. What was really coll was because it was a 16 passenger van, it was non-commercial registration.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[Connor]

The pre '92 Fords were more dutiful than the latter.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

And why?

Is it strong enough to lug around all the weight we carry for day in and day out operation?

And if you were to buy used, what would be the highest mileage you would consider?

I have about 20,000 on a 99 ford half ton with zero issues with the van. I bought it with around 100,000 miles on it.
I have a large tm, with hose reel and a 3 tier shelf. Along with various equipment. The engine is a 5.8 liter and the shocks have held up great. So yeah a half ton does work in this industry on a daily basis.

 

[Connor]

And why?

Is it strong enough to lug around all the weight we carry for day in and day out operation?

And if you were to buy used, what would be the highest mileage you would consider?

I have about 20,000 on a 99 ford half ton with zero issues with the van. I bought it with around 100,000 miles on it.
I have a large tm, with hose reel and a 3 tier shelf. Along with various equipment. The engine is a 5.8 liter and the shocks have held up great. So yeah a half ton does work in this industry on a daily basis.

What about fresh water and waste tanks?
What kind of heater?

 

[kingjoelking]

I have an 06 chevy 1500 express with the 4.3 v6. It has had a truck mount on it for the first 120K miles about 2 thousand miles ago I pulled the TM and have been pulling a trailer with a TM in it for the last 2k miles. with a bunch of other equipment in the back of the van. I still get about 16 miles to the gallon. Dont have a fresh water tank. Im in Arizona I dont need one. would have been usefull for about 4 jobs in the last 4 years. I really have done nothing to it except change oil and tires.

 

[Art Kelley]

[
What about fresh water and waste tanks?
What kind of heater?

My 87 WM is a 1/2 ton GM with 100 fresh, 150 waste, HX unit. She would sag under the fresh tank when full until I had additional leaf springs added. Beat the crap out of it and still runs excellent at over 200k miles. The Express 2500 (3/4 ton) I use now has a much more solid feel to it, everything is beefier, but the 1/2 can certainly be used.

 

[ayetti]

I did the half ton thing, with no fresh water tanks, it works but it is undesirable. It really doesn't take that long to figure out that bigger is better. I don't think I even saved much fuel with that setup. Going down grades with a full waste tank was....interesting.

 

[truckmount girl]

I'm in SoCal, so I never needed fresh tank much. I had a 75 gal. waste and it was never an issue.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[renegade_cowboy]

And why?

Is it strong enough to lug around all the weight we carry for day in and day out operation?

And if you were to buy used, what would be the highest mileage you would consider?

I have about 20,000 on a 99 ford half ton with zero issues with the van. I bought it with around 100,000 miles on it.
I have a large tm, with hose reel and a 3 tier shelf. Along with various equipment. The engine is a 5.8 liter and the shocks have held up great. So yeah a half ton does work in this industry on a daily basis.

What about fresh water and waste tanks?
What kind of heater?

I don't have a fresh water tank, but I do have a 100 gallon waste tank with a 3HT LG. I have the TM mounted on the side, even with my van packed and a full waste tank it does not sag and the engine pulls it just fine.

Bigger is always better, just ask all the vortex owners. !gotcha!

 

[Out of Character - 0]

We've got a few 1/2 tons. We don't have tm's in them but they are each loaded with 50gal fresh water, a portable, 2 chemical shelves, 2 buffers, and some misc stuff. They handle fine on most city streets but are more dangerous at freeway speeds. Having to swerve or stop aggressively at 55+ is scary compared to how well our 3/4 and 1 tons handle with tm's and a full load.

We also have a 1/2 ton with extra leaf springs as Art mentioned. Usually it's empty but when it is fully loaded it handles much better than stock. Stock 1/2 ton brakes warp out really easy, switching to Brembo cross drilled rotors fixed that though.

 

[Giorgio]

A half ton isn't heavy duty enough for what i haul.

Here's some shots of both busted leaf springs on my e150.

 

[Jim Williams]

I've used a 1500 chevy for 138,000 miles with no problem with a 80 gallon fresh water tank and TM and porty. My first brakes lasted 80,000 miles. No problems here. The 1500 is rated at 2300 lbs. cargo.

If I needed to haul air movers and drying equipment I would be over the limit and would probably go with at least a 3/4 ton.

 

[Dmreed4311]

I have a 2002 chevy express 1500 with a prochem legend se with the belly tank and waste tank with all the hose reels and everything else. it has 212,000 miles on it and has never been a problem in ten years. I wish i could say the same for the TM! The only major repair was the fuel pump twice

 

[sam miller]

i used a half ton for close to FORTY years....
i can't even guess how much money i saved on brake parts tie rods shocks and all the other parts that are so fricking expensive on a one ton............of course i had a 500 lb Direct Drive an' dumped in Mrs Phiffts gardenias...........

Wieght has alot to do with it I have had a 1 ton and 3/4 ton the feel the same when it comes to driving.

The only guy I new using 1/2 ton vans went through alot of tires and brakes! Maybe not as much savings as You think when Your doing it 2x as much.

With a SS354 from sapphire thats a small lite machine.

 

[John Watson]

back in 90 we bought a used 88 Pony express 1/2 ton Ford van with a 6cyl fuel injected eng. othe odometer showed 01125. Of coarse it had a perfect body and lookd new. When we asked what the actual miles were we were told it was at least 101125 but could be as much as 301125. After we insulated and paneled it. We had prefered chem install The new Ledgend slide in unit. Had a 3 teir chem shelf, Wand,vac, and RX 20.

We use it for 5 yrs and sold the machine out of it. Still have the van, though it hasn't been on the rd the past 2 yrs. it starts right up an is ready to go. it is now a mobile storage shed.. Oh yeah, we put 150000 more miles on it. Works great as long as you don't over load it.

 

[Able 1]

Now thinking about it I guess it would work out alright for you soft water state guys, it would be nice not to haul around the water at the same time it is a time saver not to hook up. I love the way my van is set up, I can reach everything without getting in.. I think the first thing that is going to go out on me is the overdrive. I think my next van will be a diesel. I'm not even sure how some of you guys run out of a van thats not extended. I have plenty of floor space left, but I'm overweight every morning.. :x

 

[Bob Foster]

1/2 tons are for delivering flowers...

 

[Lee Stockwell]

My first six vans were half ton. I didn't know any better. In 97 got two identical vans, one an E150 and the other E250 (3/4ton). No comparison, the E250 was better all around, brakes, handling, and economy.

Since then a couple of E350 (ton) extended, and I'd hate going back to the false economy of a too-light van.

 

[steve g]

don't do a half ton!!! the tires you get with them are not that great and wear out alot faster. the brakes are not near as good and the springs suck. there normally isn't much difference between a 250 and a 350 van or 1 ton van. normally the only difference with the 1 ton is the rear springs likely will be beefier and have an overload spring. the 3/4 ton should have the same brakes and heavy duty tires as the one ton.

 

[idreadnought]

The real question is why would you use a half ton van? The price difference between a half ton and 3/4 ton is usually very little. The gas mileage you would save would be very little also after loading it up with equiptment.

The benefits to a 3/4 ton van are.... Larger transmission that will more than likely last the lifetime of the van. When I bought a van and took it to a mechanic to check it out he said that transmission usually goes around 125k miles. Then he looked at it and said oh, thats the heavy duty transmission that never wears out. You also get larger brakes that wear out less often. A larger rear end that will most likely last the lifetime of the van, and you get heavy shocks and suspension that lasts much longer.

Any purchase in this industry is an eqation of risk reward. Do I spend less now and risk downtime and extra service costs later. If this will be your only cleaning van consider how much it will cost for 1 day of lost work and costs of repairs that will be higher with a 1/2 ton van.

Last year we lost about 2kin work because of downtime.

I just checked the new price of chevy vans. Even new the difference in price between the 1500 and 2500 is only $1,500. On the used market this would be probably half that difference in price. $750 gets eaten up pretty fast in brakes and maintnance....

 

[ascrubabove]

used 05 Chevy 1/2 ton V6, 6 month of porty action and 3years 3 months of Judson TNT, upgraded tires to "E" for the extra weight and when I replace shocks I will get coil over. No problems with brakes or trany, plenty of pep!

 

[Bob Foster]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48865&hilit=scale

 

[richard]

What ever you do don't buy a 2002 Ford E350 V8. Great chassie, great handleing but blew a spark plug out of the head at about 54K. Had the head replaced. At about 85k blew another plug out of the other head. Had it heli coil repaired and sold it

Buy the way what does operating in So.Cal. have to do with having a fresh water tank?

 

[Becker]

Should set my nephew up with a brand new chem-tex and 1/2 ton or mid sized van.

3 tests all in one.

Can a half or mid work?
Has Chem-tex improved?
And does my nephew have what it takes.

 

[Connor]

Should set my nephew up with a brand new chem-tex and 1/2 ton or mid sized van.

Has Chem-tex improved?

Don't risk the investment. If you really have to ask then probably not worth it.

 

[Becker]

Should set my nephew up with a brand new chem-tex and 1/2 ton or mid sized van.

Has Chem-tex improved?

Don't risk the investment. If you really have to ask then probably not worth it.

Was not really a question..

I know a 1/2 ton could handle a mid sized TM, I know my nephew can pull it off.... Oh.. wait.. the biggest risk would be the chem-tex.. having owned one.