Find me a van then...

[weeksy]

With respect to the bigger is better argument, here's wifey with the Crafter we were living in next to our current daily driver. The only way I could have got a bigger panel van was to get the extra high top. The Crafter is the extended 7.4m version, the Transporter is a SWB. For daily use I wouldn't want any bigger than the van I have now.

It's remarkable when you put them next to eachother isn't it

[Count Steer]

It looks like you could fit one inside the other - like Russian dolls.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You can fit a reasonably sized car in the back of a big Crafter, they're huge, nice to drive, but huge

[Couchy]

One bit of advice not to be ignored, do not put any mtb stickers on it anywhere as you will only be advertising what's in it, Thieves may look anyway but will def look if there's a sticker telling them what may be inside. Also fit deadlocks and when you park up strap the sliding door shut so it can't be folded down and then reverse up to something if possible. It's all you can do even if taking the bikes out into a hotel room

[Potter]

One bit of advice not to be ignored, do not put any mtb stickers on it anywhere as you will only be advertising what's in it, Thieves may look anyway but will def look if there's a sticker telling them what may be inside. Also fit deadlocks and when you park up strap the sliding door shut so it can't be folded down and then reverse up to something if possible. It's all you can do even if taking the bikes out into a hotel room

When we were racing I think most people considered it a given that if you park a van up in a hotel carpark and it's obvious that it contains motocross or similar stuff, then it will get nicked. Thieves are pretty well organised and it's childs play for them to find out where race meetings are being held and then scout local hotels the night before. There are plenty of cases of really audacious thefts.

I'm still on a couple of the FB groups and it's only got worse, the police seem to see it as routine as well apparently and just issue a crime number over the phone.

I stupidly put a great big sign on my van, but I never left anything in it - in fact I always leave my vehicles unlocked with nothing inside, that way they don't have to break anything to get in and see if there is anything worth pinching.

[MrLongbeard]

Job jobbed, problem solved;
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282725714564
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255654891057 ... R7y85PCeYQ

[weeksy]

So onto the report.... I REALLY like it. Sure it's been used, sure it's got more marks than the Kuga has... but hey, it's a van.

Does it drive like a car, no, it drives like a van, but it does drive like a nice van at that.

Heated seat is a dream today.. air con.... DAB ... heated windscreen. Didn't get to test the Cruise out, but it's the same setup at the Kuga, so pretty familiar to me.

It goes along well, the clutch is nice, gear changes are nice. Brake pedal is a bit high, but that's van driving for you instead of cars. It's interesting with certain T junctions locally that in a van you need to re-think the approach angles etc.

Once i got it parked up i started throwing the bikes in..

2022-12-09_01-17-39 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It takes the 3 bikes, would take a 4th easily enough, with enough space for the bike washer, the riding kit, kit bags, toolbox etc.. Sure, there's not a TONNE of space other than that.... but there's 'enough' that i'd get anything else in i could consider for sure..

My thoughts are leading me towards "Do i honestly need any bigger" and i'm struggling with the 'when' i'd actually need more.

[Mussels]

Another suggestion: Measure your actual van's height as empty as you can get including* fuel. My Transit was inches lower than the handbook dimensions. I can't remember the figures now.

A singular joy of multistory car parks is having the aerial noisily twang off the beams, hanging signs and all the other clutter dangling from the ceiling.

*Should that be 'excluding fuel'?

I noticed that with my Transit Custom but also different versions were different heights. All the LWB ones looked level and the SWB ones were higher at the back. The SWB looked higher but it could be the front was lower, as my LWB was just under 2m high it's worth checking.
2m is what most height barriers are set at.

[weeksy]

load by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

40cm longer then.

[Mussels]

load by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

40cm longer then.

You can see it on the side, a slightly bigger gap between sliding door and rear wheels. It made a lot of difference to me in a crew cab but might not to you.
The extra length was rarely a problem, it has a good turning circle.

[cheb]

I'd forgotten about the heated windscreen my Transit had, one thing I miss.

[weeksy]

I'd forgotten about the heated windscreen my Transit had, one thing I miss.

HEated seat will be even better

But tomorrow morning i'm sure i'll use the screen as well.

[weeksy]

https://www.swscommercials.co.uk/cars/f ... wb/790153/


As you've seen via Whatsapp, this one is being considered after chatting with you.

I've a full size transit and it's ace. It started off as a panel van and I've added to it over the last couple of years. Cut some windows in, electrics and a diesel heater. It's nice being able to stand up to change leathers.

Either way, that one is already sold yesterday arvo. Probably to someone on MTB forum

[cheb]

I'm tempted to make a higher offer on the one you're testing once it's had a thorough evaluation.

Fripperies in vehicles, heated seats etc, aren't that important to me. I've driven vehicles with and without air con, cruise control, auto wipers etc. and I'm not fussed by them enough for it to be a deal breaker.

The most pointless for me is haptic lane warning, try that in a Luton bodied Transit on narrow single track roads.

[Yorick]

This has Weeksy written all over it

image-asset.jpeg.jpg (102.46 KiB) Viewed 323 times

[Potter]

My thoughts are leading me towards "Do i honestly need any bigger" and i'm struggling with the 'when' i'd actually need more.

I suppose only you know the answer to that, but as I said I never regretted having too much space in my van and once I started adding 'nice to have' things I ended up having to pack quite cleverly as well. I put a baffled water container in that took up a lot of side space (for the pressure washer), then the washer, generator, two or three stackable boxes of MX gear, helmets, gazebo, spares, tools, etc.

You don't have to go full camper but being nicely self sufficient with water, cooking, somewhere warm and dry to get changed, etc, was nice to have.

[Bowman]

My thoughts are leading me towards "Do i honestly need any bigger" and i'm struggling with the 'when' i'd actually need more.

I suppose only you know the answer to that, but as I said I never regretted having too much space in my van and once I started adding 'nice to have' things I ended up having to pack quite cleverly as well. I put a baffled water container in that took up a lot of side space (for the pressure washer), then the washer, generator, two or three stackable boxes of MX gear, helmets, gazebo, spares, tools, etc.

You don't have to go full camper but being nicely self sufficient with water, cooking, somewhere warm and dry to get changed, etc, was nice to have.

That's the thinking behind my van. Not full camper but sound proofed, heated and enough electric to supply most things. The bed was about storage underneath as anything else.

[Couchy]

A battery pack that charges while you drive is good for a small kettle or heater and the jet wash, I use a Bluetti one.

[ChrisW]

It looks like you could fit one inside the other - like Russian dolls.

[weeksy]

Van worked lovely on the day... Sadly my MTB never as i lost a bolt... sadly for me it was a game changer bolt which can't be sourced on the day as it's very very specific to the bike.

But anyway, the van.
It's a little lumpy when first starting at 6.30am in -3deg.... But soon gets to sounding OK in 20s. It's a fairly ticky/noise/diesel engine, but that's a Transit Custom for you.. well, it's actually a van as we know.

Everything works perfectly though.

It does have a slightly ticky/tappy noise on right handers, which Couchy tells me is CV joint potentially, but the van wasn't prepped for sale yet, so that'll get done before i collect. But other than that... no issues at all with it for me. Drives as it should 34-36mpg but a chunk of that was uppy downy back roads and through the gearbox... i think i'll see closer to 40s on a decent run.

I even provided an uplift service for the boy and his team-mate who got 3 full runs with a quick uplift in the van after they'd been sessioning the trails earlier.

Excellent