Survey rig - cargo van

It depends. I personally can't stand vans because there isn't enough access especially on the side without a door.

I have an F250 crew cab with 7' bed, 4WD, which is about ideal. It has a steel shell. The shell sticks up above the cab; I would personally avoid that (get a shorter shell) to gain a little MPG. It is in no way an off-road vehicle (too large, heavy and long) but the 4WD ground clearance is useful on rough roads and the 4WD helps with slightly marginal situations. I have to be careful; the tires aren't aggressive enough to climb steep wet clay roads but otherwise it's pretty good.

35 years ago we worked out of an long Ford van. Could carry virtually everything we might ever need. Trying to keep stuff near the easy access was a pain. Invariably ended up crawling around and over stuff to get to other stuff. Drove like a boat and drank like a camel finally finding a watering hole. No 4WD and the length between front and rear wheels lead to high centering potential when offroad. Would not be my first choice for a survey rig unless staying onroad at all times and having a need for lots of supplies and wide variety of equipment/power tools.

When I was doing a 2 week reserve stint with a CB unit, the Surveyors had a Ford 4WD van. It seemed to be OK on construction sites but would probably have had the same problems every Suburban had in mud, side hills and snow, to heavy along with high centering problems. Never took long for the lower edges of the body of a new Suburban to get beat up from stumps or rocks while negotiating narrow and rough roads.
jud

I have surveyed out of a cargo van. It sucks. Even with racks and boxes it is hard to get to everything. They are uncomfortable to travel in. They are hard to drive and park. From my experience the best vehicle for a 2 man survey crew is a full size 1500 pickup truck with an extended cab - we like Chevy. Crew cab is nice if more than 2 men but overkill for just 2. Regular cab is too small to keep electronics out of the bed. We do not buy camper shells anyone, we have found that the light weight tonneau cover works the best - Undercover Brand in particular.

At my previous job we had a 1999 GMC 3500 van with a Quigley 4WD conversion. That thing was terrible. All the disadvantages of a 2WD van (high center of gravity) magnified. One of my co-workers (a Mining Engineer) called it the "locomotive on roller skates". Again it was not really an off-road vehicle. The roads to the back country where the boundaries are located are terrible and that van was a real handful especially when I buried it a few times. Too heavy, too long. We also had a 1988 4WD GMC pickup (standard cab-8' bed) which was much better and we had an ATV in the pickup. Personally I would dump the ATV and pickup for a Jeep and park the van down by the highway; use the Jeep for off-roading.

We had the retired Senior who purchased the van with us in the field one time (he was working as an expert on a boundary lawsuit). I asked him why they purchased it (which took a lot of extra red tape because the vehicle program didn't want to allow an after market modified vehicle which I think they were right)? He said, and I quote, "crew cab pickups weren't available back then." Me and my co-worker looked at each in puzzlement? WTF? They just always had vans. Pickups to them weren't adequate because pickups are only short cab with bed. They couldn't imagine an alternate, better scenario.

The F250 isn't much better in marginal situations such as greasy roads with an outboard slope; it can be a challenge keeping it on the road. However the Forestry department has much better roads and they close the greasy roads in winter to keep them in decent shape. But the F250 handles way better on the highway and is just better all around with 3 access doors on the shell (rear and sides).

I am sold on the 3/4 ton after driving one for three years. 1/2 ton is okay for local only work, though. The 3/4 ton pickups just handle the load better especially if you started adding heavy boxes and shell. I grant you, though, you can keep the weight down significantly by purchasing a lightweight organizer. I have an extended cab F150 for my personal work truck and I just built a small box out of 1/4" plywood plus 4-8" diameter low head pipes so the weight is not a problem. Some surveyors would build a 500 lb box and put it in there.

The crew cab is useful for us because we travel and I use every cubic inch of space for luggage, equipment and ice chest with my meals in it. I prefer to cook my own meals and have found a low cost motel in Fort Bragg (CA) with a kitchen in the room; it is extremely clean too which is unusual in low cost motels in the USA.

F150, 4X4, regular cab, 8' bed, Silver Shield cover and organizer.

Works great but I really can't use the truck for much else without removing the organizer, which is a chore.

It came with a V8, average mileage is 10 mpg.

I have worked out of vans but much prefer the pickup.

T.W.

Van is okay if your work is construction site work or the like. I agree with David for off pavement type work.

One advantage of a van is that the whole cargo area is heated, to dry out equipment. The disadvantage is that the whole cargo area has to be heated by a puny heater that isn't intended to throw that much heat. Or cool in summer.

The 3/4 ton rigs have bigger brakes and bearings in the drive train, at least they used to. Hauling heavy loads in a half ton required replacing the brake shoe replacement and needed rear wheel bearing replacement every few years.
jud

What is the weight of the "Silver Shield"?

Surveyed out of one for several years. Short answer in my opinion is NO! The visibility of the driver and passenger is limited. A windowed van would be better, and an old 4x4 3/4 ton suburban, back when they were actually trucks not pimped out "I got more gas money than I know what to do with" luxury mobiles.

They are very light weight. Riveted aluminum with a wooden vineer on the inside.
We love them. Total accessability, because you can open them from either side or put both sides up. For being so light they have lasted for years and years and still look good. Will they keepout a thief? Nope. They have a lock on each side, so your insurance will cover theft because they had to break through to get inside. Priced reasonably. There are some real nice bed covers out there that are much more resistant to theft and much, much more expensive.

Well, guess I gotta weigh in on the other side of the fence. Best damned survey rig I ever worked out of was a van. E350 Ford, 4wd, extended, bubble top. Had the gear box set up we could get to everything, wasn't that great off road, but that is what 4 wheelers are for! Next best was th Suburban. I used to have a Mazda MPV 4x4 van that got around off road like a billy goat. Pickups suck, in fact, I have a suburban on the barge headed to Nome to replace the POS F250 I'm using now.

IMHO!

-JD-

I always liked the Chevy G-20 vans the best and whatever they called the next generation of Chevy vans as a distant second.

For city surveying it can't be beat, I have always hated working out of a truck except for the added range of 4WD.

I haven't got a clue but it lifts open with out any problems.

T.W.

Thanks for the comments - good stuff.

A quigley 4x4 & high clearance from ground might not be that bad of a set-up.

> What is the weight of the "Silver Shield"?

Don't know the figure - guess at around 100lbs. I do know that all three truck boxes I have built of plywood used 6 or 7 sheets of 3/4" ply - which probably weighed +/-400 lbs in total.

Silver Sheilds don't come cheap- you can easily spend several thousand dollars.

I used one.

Trust me-awful, terrible, horrible, worst vehicle I was ever inflicted with.

why do people in grocery store parking lots insist on walking behind the huge backing up van with poor rear visibility?

some kind of Darwin thing?