Anybody using one of these as their Survey Vehicle?
I looked at one, price was high for my anticipated use, so I bought my third used Jeep Cherokee.
A former neighbor of mine is in the A/C business and had used full size vans. His helper now has a Transit and he loves the mileage.
Paul in PA
My only concern would be that it doesn't look too rugged. I see them around the City and it seems a lot of contractors are putting them to good use, it would be interesting to see it perform in a more rural setting.
We have a transit as our primary survey vehicle. Have had it for almost 3 years now. The mileage is very good, there is plenty of headroom, and the doors on both sides of the vehicle are a nice feature. I built a custom, multi level bin for the back and it works very well for us.
It's a city vehicle however, and is not good for any "off road" use. Working mostly in residential neighborhoods, this isn't a problem for us. We have another truck for use in the woods. I think we paid under 20K new, which compared to the E-Series vans, is cheap.
I don't have any pictures, but maybe I'll post some if I can remember.
-V
Had a chat with a construction surveyor the other day who said the he tried the Connect and did not find it to be heavy duty enough but I did not inquire for more details.
I remember when the Dodge Sprinter came out a Survey company in the area bought a bunch of em and made them into mobile survey battle stations with many sets of legs, a desktop computer with printer and each truck ready for anything at any moment. According to the gentleman who told me this tale the load was too much and they had to upgrade to a dually version at some great expense.
The weight that surveyors carry really seems to vary quite a bit, if I were going to try a new smaller vehicle I would consider weighing my standard payload so I had a number to compare with design of the rig.
For a urban surveyor being able to park in garages with no issues from lights on the top would be pretty sweet compared with the full size vans.
Great Points Gentlemen,
Thank You
Ralph
I haven't seen any recent posts regarding Transit Connects used as survey vehicles (City use). Does anyone use one, or a comparable model (i.e. Ram Promaster City) ? If so, do you recommend or not?
I current operate out of a compact SUV which suits my needs for the most part, but the need for a mobile work area has me considering a Connect or similar vehicle.
Thanks!
party chef, post: 237520, member: 98 wrote: Had a chat with a construction surveyor the other day who said the he tried the Connect and did not find it to be heavy duty enough but I did not inquire for more details.
I remember when the Dodge Sprinter came out a Survey company in the area bought a bunch of em and made them into mobile survey battle stations with many sets of legs, a desktop computer with printer and each truck ready for anything at any moment. According to the gentleman who told me this tale the load was too much and they had to upgrade to a dually version at some great expense.
The weight that surveyors carry really seems to vary quite a bit, if I were going to try a new smaller vehicle I would consider weighing my standard payload so I had a number to compare with design of the rig.
For a urban surveyor being able to park in garages with no issues from lights on the top would be pretty sweet compared with the full size vans.
I hope it wasn't us, as we did have a fleet of Sprinters all decked out in the Seattle area. We still have built in computers and a desks all made very heavy duty in our Sprinters. We never had any suspension issue whatsoever and never even thought about changing to duallys. As far as I know, we ran the only Sprinter survey fleet in Seattle. We also have a Mercedes Metris, which is a world better than a Transit Connect in my opinion.
Dumbest thing Ford ever did was to discontinue the Ranger in North America. I think it's returning 2019.
FL/GA PLS., post: 452686, member: 379 wrote: Dumbest thing Ford ever did was to discontinue the Ranger in North America. I think it's returning 2019.
Yeah, FL/GA, that pushed me right into the arms of Toyota and a Tacoma. Never looked back!
I see lots of people use Sprinters as "tiny living" houses on you tube #vanlife I think you'd have to really work at it to overload them. Surveyors LOVE to overbuild boxes out of the heaviest material they can find. IMHO.
Not to get off topic, but we went to a sheet metal shop with dimensioned plans and had them fabricate boxes. They are all riveted together and cost us about $500 a piece have held for 6 years now, still look great and are half the weight or less than wood.
I was excited that Ford announced the return of the ranger. If it weren't for the need to have a mobile work station, that would be my go-to vehicle.
Norm Larson, post: 452680, member: 7899 wrote: I hope it wasn't us, as we did have a fleet of Sprinters all decked out in the Seattle area. We still have built in computers and a desks all made very heavy duty in our Sprinters. We never had any suspension issue whatsoever and never even thought about changing to duallys. As far as I know, we ran the only Sprinter survey fleet in Seattle. We also have a Mercedes Metris, which is a world better than a Transit Connect in my opinion.
Sounds awesome! Do you have any pics you can share??
Here is a couple of gif's from 2009
FL/GA PLS., post: 452686, member: 379 wrote: Dumbest thing Ford ever did was to discontinue the Ranger in North America. I think it's returning 2019.
Did they really do that?
Down here, the Ranger pushed the mighty HiLux off it's perch, and is the country's biggest selling vehicle (of ALL types)
I road tested a Ford Ranger and it rode like a logtruck on a rural road and the cab was rather crowded and positively no elbow room.
Rebuilt my 1989 F150 because it was a great truck and was comfortable.
Ten years later I bought a Toyota Tacoma and have done regular maintenance and only replaced tires, a set of belts and oxysensor in 174k+ miles.
Still have the F150 for the woods, Tacoma has never been in any mud and is 16yrs old and very comfortable.
A van would be rather nice with all the stuff I usually carry on all jobs.
I would have to be lifted a bit and have 4WD.
A lot of the smaller expedited freight haulers use the euro style vans from Ford, Dodge, Mercedes and more recently Nissan. Not sure of the weight capability, BUT I think the longer wheelbase ones can hold three skids of cargo loaded with a forklift. I know at least with the Sprinters, dual rear wheels are an option. While they look top heavy, and kind of wimpy compared to what we historically called a van in the USA, I do think they must be more capable than they appear. A neighbor who owns a plumbing business just went from a full size Ford E van to a Ford Transit as his new work vehicle.
For a survey truck, I expect off road performance to be about on par with traditional USA vans, in other words very poor, PLUS most of these newer vans are taller, you can stand up in them, meaning branches, etc. would beat the heck out of it off pavement.
SHG