2011 Nissan NV

Jack_Berry · Mar 15, 2010

piper1 said:
What we really need is a GM or Ford van, 6 feet high, 14 to 16 feet long inside with a real frame, standard readily available parts (read cheap), with real truck suspension and axles in it, and a smaller fuel thrifty diesel or gas option.

Is anyone in Detroit listening?

call a limo conversion company. find out how much to stretch a chev/ford van about 6 feet..
put the tall roof and swing doors on the back. slider on the side.
at the same time get the extra batteries installed on the frame and outlets put in the truck.
hvac for the rear.
add some yellow and red led markers.

get back to us soon.

piper1 · Mar 16, 2010

Slide outs are just too much headache Jack. I'd tow a travel trailer behind me first

.

Jack_Berry · Mar 16, 2010

you mis-understand me. not a slide out. stretch the chassis and add body panels. make an american chassis sprinter lth.

piper1 · Mar 16, 2010

Gotta remember Jack, I work for the "professional RV'er" expedite company (as I've heard it called) so I always think leisure first!

I have pondered the stretch, although I'm usually thinking of a Unicell type body on a stretched frame. Maybe I need books on tape as I have too much time to think of stuff like this.

greg334 · Mar 16, 2010

What Piper, you change companies?

Jack,

It's been thought of and the calculations have been done.

There isn't any mechanical issue, the only real issue with the present platforms are moving the rear axle back and ensuring the frame stretch is done with the right materials and welded correctly.

The real issue after that is the change in the CG and the added weight - adding an estimated 400 to 600lbs to the empty weight.

The advantage that the sprinter has is;

Unibody design
Thinner sheet metal and less of it
Better engineering for weight (admitted by both Ford and GM engineers)

Jack_Berry · Mar 16, 2010

greg, the cg thing i had thought about. the added weight i wasn't sure of but that hurts. well back to the drawing board.

asaik the aerocell is not a stretched chassis. their list of demo units all have std wb.

MSinger · Mar 27, 2010

What's so innovative about this? Ford was doing this 50 years ago. Check out the ultimate expediter 1960 style. : )

Ford : F-100 : eBay Motors (item 140393392710 end time Mar-29-10 14:35:42 PDT)

FIS53 · Mar 28, 2010

Nissan and Toyota both have small delivery vehicles in their home markets that enjoy a small diesel engine. Isuzu also has several small diesels and a load of small delivery vehicles. None of these are slated for NA introduction but for the city delivery boys several of these would be ideal. I think Nissan should definitely bring in the NV with a diesel option as I agree their gas engines all guzzle fuel (same with Toyota).

So with this buggy, the Sprinter, the Transit (full size) and the possible introduction of the Fiat commercial lines it looks like in a few years we'll have a choice of vans and small commercial vehicles with decent capacities. About time as NA has lagged in this area for decades as American vehicle mfrs have no concept of how to make sensible vehicles.
Rob

greg334 · Mar 28, 2010

Panels are nothing new, been around for 75 years or so as a factory vehicle.

There was a company here that built bodies for them starting in 1903 which they took Olds and Packard chassis and put them on. The USPS had a lot of them from 1905 on.

FIS53 · Mar 28, 2010

Quite true Greg as I used to run one years ago with a 3 in the tree. We used to throw all kinds of goodies into that thing.
Rob

Jack_Berry · Mar 28, 2010

MSinger said:
What's so innovative about this? Ford was doing this 50 years ago. Check out the ultimate expediter 1960 style. : )

Ford : F-100 : eBay Motors (item 140393392710 end time Mar-29-10 14:35:42 PDT)

i like!!! one of my imagination projects is an excursion with a raised roof and the diesel option. i remember a friends father who on his off days from the firehouse delivered paint in a windo van vw in the early 60's.

RLENT · Mar 28, 2010

LDB said:
I am getting 17-19mpg in my gasoline Chevy and it's the 2009 with 4sp and 3.73. The 2010 with 6sp should do better I'd hope. I'd have to get 21-23mpg with diesel to have the same cpm for fuel.

I had the luxury of lots of time on my current load (pickup at 17:00 Friday evening in Laredo, deliver 09:00 Monday morning in Plainfield, IN) so I took my time and really tried to maximize fuel mileage, driving at 55 mph all the way.

First tank = 27.35 mpg

Second tank = 26.66 mpg

One thing that helped was that I had a 20 to 30 mph tailwind when leaving Laredo, at least all the way up past Texarkana ...... maybe further .... and the load only weighed 857 lbs.

Of course, ideal conditions don't always present themselves ...

rdtrpn · Nov 30, 2011

I drive one of these brand new, a 2012, it is a shorter body but it is a better driving and handling van than a sprinter. Bigger tires and better engine. pretty comfortable drive like a car really.