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Originally Posted by klockw243
(Post 286243)
I'm much less concerned with parking it in the garage than I am with all the stories I keep hearing in the news about 1-ton vans rolling over on the freeway and killing all the passengers when the roof sheers off. Seems to happen a lot here in California. I really had been eying a Nissan NV for this reason (and the high-back reconfigurable seats) but the resale price on those are still way outside my budget. I also looked at some Ford F150 passenger vans but ultimately decided on the more modern Express.
I really appreciate the feedback/advice about the tires; my experience is with 4x4 trucks so I didn't realize changing the wheel/tire combination on a 1-ton commercial vehicle would affect other things so much. (Heck, half the used Express vans I looked at had custom, non-spec tire/wheel packages so it seemed pretty common to me to switch things up.) For the record, my van is also sitting around 81 or 82 inches in height. You can switch things up, but the overall diameter/load range of the wheel/tire needs to be the same. To gain an inch of clearance.. you would need a much smaller tire.. its just not worth the risk. The tires are designed that size to carry the load properly. I would give your 3500 some time.. check you tire pressure buy what it says on the door jamb sticker. (80 rear, 50 front, I believe) Make sure the tires aren't old and are load range E. Check over the suspension and brakes... this will all be of better safety value rather then worrying about ride height. A lot of these accidents are cause by tire problems. (Such as church vans that have 10 year old underinflated tires on them) Sorry for going on and on in your post... its just one of those topics... |
Originally Posted by greenfire
(Post 286260)
Sorry for going on and on in your post... its just one of those topics...
I realize one reason I feel like my van is so tall is due to all the Explorer conversions out there that sit so low. I don't know if they actually lower the vans, or just always use 1500 cargo models (which I assume sit lower) but it's a pretty obvious difference, and I honestly see as many conversions as I do stock passenger models. Below is a picture showing a 2007 that sits really low to the ground. http://lockwoodconsultinganddesign.com/images/van.jpg I know the body kit makes it look low, but even without that, you can tell this sits pretty close to the ground in comparison to stock vans. |
It is the body kit that makes it appear lower. I bet if you park your van next to a conversion van they will be similar in height. Most conversion vans are 2500s.
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I ended up talking to the van's owner and he said it's a 1500 AWD. The funny thing is he wanted more ground clearance because he wanted to take it off road.
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I guess it's time to stop complaining about the height of my 3500. It could be a 5500 like this one:
http://bangshift.com/wp-content/uplo...1/bigvan21.png |
the thought that the 3500's are more prone to rolling is crap IMHO. The thing that makes a 3500, a 3500 is the heavier duty drivetrain components. So heavier axles, heavier brakes, heavier motor, heavier frame, etc. My point is, all this heavier duty "stuff" lowers the center of gravity on the heavier truck making it less prone to rollover, not more, compare to a lighter van.
If you have that many rolling over in your area, you need better drivers. |
Originally Posted by klockw243
(Post 286596)
I guess it's time to stop complaining about the height of my 3500. It could be a 5500 like this one:
http://bangshift.com/wp-content/uplo...1/bigvan21.png |
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