ford transit connect (4x8 option?)

[artbot]

this weekend i am going to go check out a ford transit connect. earlier, i wrote the van off because it couldn't carry a 4x8. but after a closer look it seems that the substrates can be stored over head(?).

if anyone has one of these, could you do some quick measuring according to the diagrams? otherwise, of course i can haul myself down the highway. but i hate dealing with car salsemen, etc. ...be nice to avoid the whole ordeal.

legend:

green - veritcally stored 4x8 between front seats
red - 4x8 stored over head
purple - 4x10 aluminum curled downward, stored over head
blue - tilted 4x8 (terrible option)

 

[signmeup]

Looks like a minivan would hold way more than one of those.

 

[Bradster941]

Can't help with your question, but I would think where your green line rest it would cut your field of vision and be illegal.

 

[artbot]

i've got a grand caravan with sto and go seats. it's great but the roof is very low coming in. when needing to store four or five large pieces they get stacked.

also you can hold a 4x8 no problem. but it leaves no place for my daughter to sit if pick her up while out on business. she has to cram in the front seat with my girlfriend. horrible one hour trip home like that.

this is the only small vehicle that it seems can cary very vertical (59" roof height) and also carry 4x8's while seating five people comfortablely. plus my girlfriend "HATES" minivans yet loves this van (she has an scion xb... figures)

 

[WrapperX]

Yeah but a mini van doesn't get a rated 35 MPG - even the newest ones are, at best, 25-30 MPG.
That's the big sell on these hideous looking vehicles. For local delivery that can hold alot - you can't get anything that gives you that kind of MPG.

 

[Gino]

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[artbot]

oh yeah... the green is a terrible option. i digging around and it seems there are some over head sleeper upfit kits for this van. just not sure if with all the interior moulding and visor storage area the 96" fit up there. i'd like to fab' some horizontal removable rack bars so that i could travel to buyer's locations carrying ten or so large pieces. with the caravan i end up looking like a fool dragging them all out diagnolly and or having them piled and covered. it's just unprofessional.

 

[artbot]

the "hideous" is debateble. i think they are uber-nerdy. hideous would be the new nissan nv2500. it's barfbag ugly.

 

[Border]

My friend is a carpenter and has one and has tried all the options but no dice. He says the roof narrows too much at the front for the overhead storage option. Says he can stand a piece of drywall on end between the seats and bend it enough to close the doors. No way on multiple pieces though.

 

[WrapperX]

the "hideous" is debateble. i think they are uber-nerdy. hideous would be the new nissan nv2500. it's barfbag ugly.

I guess it maybe debatable but you are spot on with NV - It looks like an updated Milk Truck from the 40's and 50's.

 

[artbot]

the nv concept van was sweet... but then something went horribly wrong.

also attached is an insane mod with sleeper, plus diy modified home depot racking. i'm gonna go do a ford business vehicle dealer and check it out. gas at $5 a gallon over the next five years eliminates full size vans as an option.

 

[royster13]

I saw a glass shop put a rack on the right side......

 

[Mike Paul]

Buy it and get one of these...
http://www.harborfreight.com/1195-l...tility-trailer-with-12-inch-wheels-90154.html

 

[John L]

roof rack. its an easy reach.

 

[GAC05]

roof rack. its an easy reach.

+1

Roll your own or get one something like this.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[John L]

Also Google "Rack Straps". I have these on 4 trucks and wouldnt be without these little guys any more.

 

[signmeup]

Yeah... I was gonna suggest a trailer. You can pull a trailer with pretty much anything. It gets great mileage when not in use. Lots of room for a logo if it's a covered trailer too.

 

[artbot]

i can't strap a $20,000 piece of art to the roof. plus i can only imagine what a piece of acrylic would look like after being baked in the texas heat and then rained on then covered with pollen from all my pine trees before i finally unstrap it. i did the trailer + suv thing for 15 years. trailers make me mental. isanely packed errand runs through houston followed by going on a day with the girlfriend.... dragging a trailer, it's awful.

i'm gonna go investigate. see if all my substrated can't be nicely strapped down in the over head raised ceiling area. the only thing that might kill it is the "b" pillars in front of the sliding doors. there's usually a strong support arch on vans at that point.