I have been in the market for a new van for next season. I have been looking at the transit connect xlt. I see you can fit a bike in the back plus gets great milage. Anyone had experience with them? Saw the "first" gen have problems? They are very cheap from a purchase stand point.
Buddy of mine has one he uses for motocross. No head room and to fit a bike in there you have to put the front passenger seat fully forward. My buddy just ended up making the van a single seater.
It sounds like that was the short wheel base. Ford site says the LWB has 87.6 in on the cargo floor. The rear door opening is only 45.5in, so it looks like you might need to pull the windscreen to get it in there. For the price difference, I think it makes more sense to go with the full size van.
I have a second gen 2015 with 150k plus miles and it’s been super reliable. Just oil changes and tires. It’s a bit longer than the first gen that only came in one length. There is a little less height though. It’s right at 7’ from the back of the front seats to the hatch.
Yeah I have no idea what wheelbase he had. He traded it in after 6 months and got a pro master city with the high roof. By the looks of it you can fit a full size bike no issue. He likes it a lot better then the Ford. At least since I last talked to him.
I have a buddy with a drw one that loads it full of stuff and pulls a 10k lb trailer on top of it. Seems to do ok.
I have to agree on this. I have a 2017 Transit Connect Cargo Extended. I use it to transport bicycles. There's just enough headroom to fit them . I love it and and it's been very reliable. My only real complaint is that even with the extended, it's 4" too short to carry any 4x8 material without having the rear doors open.
I had 2 Caravans. Total shit. It's unfortunate that the Astro is now longer made. I had several of them also, one of the best vans I've ever owned. Except for the new one I bought in 2001. The Connect is all I need now since I'm not racing. Still have my 03 E350 diesel that's sitting idle.
Same experience here, therefor I do not own them anymore and never will again. Way too many good vehicles out there to waste time with Chrysler or anything German that's not Porsche or a 55AMG Mercedes.
What does the beeb think of the GMC Savana Cargo Van? 2500 reg wheel base 6.0L V8. 10k towing, Curb 5225, GVWR 8600, GCWR 16k. I built one on line for $37k. Thinking about pulling Grand Design Momentum 25g TH with 2 bikes.
That will be a whole lot of trailer for a short wheelbase gasser. You’ll probably be close to 10,000 pounds with just options and water in the tank.
I would consider it, but it has it's problems. Got water in the tank and chased fixing that for 2 years with algaecide. Ended up replacing the fuel tank. And replacing a bunch of other parts. Still does not run right and the mechanic that worked on it thinks it's a glow plug. I doubt I could get anywhere near what I would want to sell it for.
I guess it is possible, but in my experience a bad glow plug only hinders initial startup and not continued running?