Mini Van vs Full size pickup

[Copper Head]

OK

A pick up is easy to load and easy to keep organized . If your a hunter you will have to drive slow to keep fuel MPG in reach of a mini.
& especially when loaded fuel MPG is not worse .

A mini still with roof use holds plenty & can get around faster then a pickup with out a fuel penalty . That is till you really load it up then a pick up is better .

A pickup loaded gets less odd ball looks from people

The pickup cabin can be kept clean wile all heck goes on in the cargo area



I have found the sweet RPM to be of 1000 to 2000 driving mellow at those ranges delivers fine MPG for the tasks at hand .
not worst then a mini. BUT drive like a idiot and you will pay at the pump , Wile a Mini could care less.

I Love my pick up . Thank God I have a pick up , I need a car trailer & this truck has the bumper to prove it.

[IdahoScrapper]

I scrapped out of a '96 Nissan Quest for awhile. Removed both bench seats, and the carpet from the rear, to the back of the front seats. Could cram quite a bit in there. Access from side door or rear hatch. Tinted windows so most hadn't a clue what I was hauling.

Didn't take long for the hatch struts to fail, but that's what Vise Grips are for.

[jimicrk]

My personal truck is a Ford Ranger with a topper on it. I realized the other day I need a trailer because I have some very large printers and copy machines that I need to pick up.
My company vehicle is a Nissan Versa and I will sometimes pickup some PC's on the way home. I found I can fit 25 PC's in it but I'm always afraid something will crawl out of one and onto me while I'm driving. I hate spiders! I would rather my scrap be in the back of a truck.

[Mechanic688]

I need a car trailer & this truck has the bumper to prove it.

If you go this way then make sure you have great insurance, I would hang a nice hitch under the bumper.

[scrapping]

My personal truck is a Ford Ranger with a topper on it. I realized the other day I need a trailer because I have some very large printers and copy machines that I need to pick up.
My company vehicle is a Nissan Versa and I will sometimes pickup some PC's on the way home. I found I can fit 25 PC's in it but I'm always afraid something will crawl out of one and onto me while I'm driving. I hate spiders! I would rather my scrap be in the back of a truck.

Even worse is when braking something down and out pops a roach! I have had my fare share of spiders come out of stuff. Worst had to be a brown recluse.

[taterjuice]

Depends a lot on what your hauling. Mini van would be prefect for someone more into e scrap, kinda hard to pull a 3 ton load on a car trailer with a mini van. And bumpers are junk, I would recommend nothing less than a class 5 reciever hitch. I bought a b & w, and Love it. I have a draw pin hitch which is pretty handy when I tow farm equitment home whole, and takes just a minute to switch back to the 2" ball.

[jord0690]

I would never trust a bumper hitch... Rust and rot scares the hell outta me. Get one that bolts directly to the frame. Can handle much more weight and is alot more trustworthy.

[cummins]

OK

A pick up is easy to load and easy to keep organized . If your a hunter you will have to drive slow to keep fuel MPG in reach of a mini.
& especially when loaded fuel MPG is not worse .

A mini still with roof use holds plenty & can get around faster then a pickup with out a fuel penalty . That is till you really load it up then a pick up is better .

A pickup loaded gets less odd ball looks from people

The pickup cabin can be kept clean wile all heck goes on in the cargo area

I have found the sweet RPM to be of 1000 to 2000 driving mellow at those ranges delivers fine MPG for the tasks at hand .
not worst then a mini. BUT drive like a idiot and you will pay at the pump , Wile a Mini could care less.

I Love my pick up . Thank God I have a pick up , I need a car trailer & this truck has the bumper to prove it.

i don't know about anyone else but my truck runs better when loaded or towing, shifts nicer and rides like a lincoln. at 1800lbs in the box you almost don't feel the bumps in the road.

[cummins]

I would never trust a bumper hitch... Rust and rot scares the hell outta me. Get one that bolts directly to the frame. Can handle much more weight and is a lot more trustworthy.

its not legal to tow off your bumper anymore here, or at lest that's what i was told at some point.

[Copper Head]

i don't know about anyone else but my truck runs better when loaded or towing, shifts nicer and rides like a lincoln. at 1800lbs in the box you almost don't feel the bumps in the road.

Yea - that would make sense as unladen most any work truck is a kidney buster

[taterjuice]

If that's a rough ride, bob tail, which means w/o a trailer, a semi 200 miles! A rough ride with erratic braking awaits you on that trip!

[WhitesScrapMetal]

I use a Suburban with a trailer. I can lock up any tools I need to carry and if I am loaded and I cannot get to a scrap yard I can always drop the trailer and then drive the Suburban without the load. I pay a gas penalty but I don't fit in a small vehicle. I don't want to pull stuff out of a minivan.

I used a fullsize pickup for years and it was nice but when it was loaded it was loaded. If I picked up a load of a Friday afternoon I was stuck dragging it around till Monday.

My wife has an S10 but I don't fit in it.

[Copper Head]

I have seen scrappers drag a load in a trash can on wheels & few scrappers with a Bike & trailer . So any car is better then on foot. But now that I use a pickup I see a pick up can get more work done then a mini .
The draw back I see is , with a mini & a lite load you get decent fuel economy so the gamble of just heading off to the yard with $30 bucks of scrap with the hope of finding on the way there and or back (good odds) a no loose situation .

The pick up I have I don't see as a gas guzzler but requires you to drive very methodical & very slow or you will use fuel. - - Reducing the (good odds) to a no loose situation

[taterjuice]

Yeah getting upwards of 30 mpg would be nice but I doubt any mini van could tow more than 3000 #, SAFELY. But since I don't do curbco mpg isn't a dire issue for me.

[Sirscrapalot]

I use an love my mini-van. You haters with your pick up trucks, an trailers...pssshhwww!



Sirscrapalot - @<>@
( )

[Copper Head]

I use an love my mini-van. You haters with your pick up trucks, an trailers...pssshhwww!



Sirscrapalot - @<>@
( )

Don't count me with the haters , I see the advantages and dis... of each . If money was not an issue certainly a pickup can be superior as I have talked to many a diesel owner saying 24 25 mpg is what they get ,
I had pushed my van to the limits and it did it . But for sure there were times a auto accident, I would of had an assortment of things taking my head off .

Not sure if there is any perfect scrap auto for all the scenarios.
But to day I picked up some scrap out of a Field that went down a grassy path, my mini would not of pulled it off.
YET when I look at the collection of stock I have ,the pickup will have a hard act to follow

Lets start with 1200 trips to the yard no matter how nasty it looked never broke down I figure 80,000 miles of use
Chevy venture purchased with 99,000 best car ever = brakes tires thats all !!

[andrew1990]

Rather than a mini van, why not a Buick Roadmaster wagon with the tow package? Near 30mpg on the highway, 5000LBs towing capacity, RWD, Lots of aftermarket performance/suspension, Very roomy on the inside, and drives like a cadillac lol.

Im currently looking for one as of now and they seem to be had cheap around $2500 for a good example with the LT1. The older sbc350s can be had for as cheap as $1200.

[sawmilleng]

Um, I had to take a look in Google images to see what you were talking about. Don't want to pi** you off, but when I saw the images I immediately thought about "something only a mother could love....."

J.

[Sirscrapalot]

gah! That roadmaster is so fugly I think it's own mother would've felt that way..LOL.

As to why a mini-van over that ugly thing you suggested..

1. My van is paid off.
2. I can actually almost stand in my mini-van.
3. I have 5 doors to move stuff in an out of.
4. Its not a ugly beast of burden. It's just a beast of burden.
5. My cooler(s) fit right comfy up in between the driver an passenger seats.
6. I can remove the benches in my van, an not worry about ruining my seats, and increase carrying capacity
7. The first roadmaster that pulled up in a google search, was uglier then sin.
8. I already have, and own a mini-van.
9. I don't like station wagons.


CopperHead I was just teasing on my post about ya'll being haters on the mini-van. So no worries my friend.

Far as the Roadmaster..when they make a mini-van let me know.

Now..a pic of the ugly.


People actually turn these into tricked out cars? Crazy. Google it so you all to can be amazed at seeing a slammed roadmaster. haha!

Sirscrapalot - The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. - Albert Einstein

[weeeben]

What exactly is a mini-van up that way?
here a mini van is this..