Which service van would be a good canidate for cd improvments?
 

Lots of discussion on cars and a few pics of modified small trucks, but nothing on vans.should I ever sell my truck for a service van, what would all of you recommend for best fuel economy? I am looking for a van that has the same cargo space as a Chevy astro van or a dodge caravan. Reliability is another big plus.

In the mean time, I own a 1980s bj60 toyota land cruiser with the diesel engine. Good fuel economy at 26 mpg. But, even can this vehicle benefit with better fuel economy numbers? It has a slightly higher spring lift. A belly pan may make a big difference in a truck like this?

Also,
Thanks

Welcome to the forum :)

I don't know much about vans, which are good and which aren't. I do know that you can get a car or small SUV/truck and achieve better numbers than 26mpg easily. The storage space will go down a bit compared to the van, but you would be suprised how much stuff you can trailer behind a car, even more with the small SUV or truck. Here (Link) is a good thread about the savings and advantages of owning a smaller vehicle with a trailer vs a larger vehicle without.

To help others (who know more on the subject) figure out what you need, here are a few questions.

What do you need a service van for?
How often do you need the cargo room of a service van?
How much gas mileage are you looking to achieve (mpg goal)?
How far do you normally drive daily?
City/Highway?
How fast do you drive?
How extreme would you be willing to get with aerodynamic mods?

I don't know too much about vans beyond the Mazda 5 and the chrysler vans, caravan, town and country.

I found the Mazda to be pretty sweet-in general, let alone for a van. The chryslers I have been in have been disappointing, and the people I know who have had them swear off of them. The only family I know who has (and likes) them is a bit thick. As much as I love them (the family), they aren't really worldly...to be as polite as possible.

I can not remark on the 5's reliability, but experience with the 3 and CX-7 has been issue free the first two years. The caravan I knew at two years old had issues bi monthly. I would just research, there are members here (and people in general) who have had good luck with the chrysler brands- it may just be certain models that have issues.

I suggest New Cars, Used Cars, Car Reviews | Cars.com then the compare option. Pick which you like, and you can compare basic to fairly detailed specifications. But the reviews are not the best- usually people just talking about how happy they are with their vehicle- not a real world review.

You can also browse the Garage here. The most important factors will really be the availability of a standard transmission, and driveline setup. If you get all wheel drive, it will always be hurting fuel economy and a difficult project to get rid of. Same with swapping a tranny. Aeromods and other adjustments are easy to do.

The smallest Dodge Sprinter van is going to get around 26-28mpg with diesel, it's also going to be a van that you can stand up inside of and haul full sheets of ply wood or 10 foot long lumber inside.

IF I was ever in a position to afford a vw jetta diesel wagon, I would. Yes, the idea of a trailer that is the same high/width of a jetta and tappers off to a wedge would return the best fuel economy numbers. what do you all think?

I think answering what Shortie asked would really help everyone understand how they can interject. I completely forgot about the Sprinter! I heard those are very good. Allegedly they were done entirely by Mercedes, but just branded as a dodge.

I can confirm that. Mercedes product assembled by Dodge in the US until '09 or maybe 2010 when Chrysler and Mercedes got their divorce. I don't get anywhere near that kind of mileage in my '07 Sprinter, partly because I'm fully loaded all the time, and because Dodge put most of them together that year with a different rear gear ratio (4.18 instead of 3.90 I think). My average over 5.5 years and 63K miles is probably in the high 17 or low 18 mpg range (documented each fill up since new). I'm currently working on a belly pan. I would love to get to 20 mpg average in the summer months, my worst time of year mpg wise due to high temps and full AC use all the time.

Altough I like the Chevy Astro, probably a '95-'07 Dodge Caravan would be more favorable to you.