one mans cutaway cargo van solution

[Jack_Berry]

spent a couple days in laredo. this fella came in with a 12' rockport box on his e350. he had some interesting ideas.

interior. the rug can be folded up and a third skid can go in the box.

his bed goes up to the ceiling and the computer desk folds down.

one time he had 4 hrs to come up with a solution to an offer for 60" wide frt. he built storage boxes behind the wheel wells to take wider frt.

 

[Moot]

I have been mentally building a similar setup. My plan is to put the bed on garage door tracks and rollers. Any idea what this weighs empty? Is it on a SRW chassis?

 

[Lawrence]

I don't see EO on his laptop monitor - so I don't like it!



LOL!!! JK!

 

[Jack_Berry]

srw is correct. don't know the curb wgt or loaded. gotta be less than 7k.

hey l, at least it wasn't a competing site, okay?

 

[oncedrove]

Jack

Did he happen to say what his mileage was?

 

[chefdennis]

Some interesting ideas there, also the bed on garage door rails and rollers makes sense too. I read this and got out to a 2008 srw chevy from Fedex sittin 2 spots down. so i asked him the 2 questiones here.

2008 6.0 motor, 13-14 mpg / 6850 weight empty..the Fed won't load him beyond 2500 lbs...it is a 9600 gvw chassis.

 

[Jack_Berry]

Jack

Did he happen to say what his mileage was?

no. forgot to ask. must be getting old. it was a 5.4 so maybe what dennis said. guy with a 15' penske 6.0 said 11-13 also.

 

[Dakota]

Awesome setup, maybe with an air deflector on roof of van the mileage could be boosted a little or better yet start off with a unicell/aerocell cube

 

[chefdennis]

The guy i spoke with had an aerocell cube with the overcab extention to deflect the air. He did NOT have the cab roof cut out so he could stand up (something i'd do) and use that open area inside for storage...

I would thin that 13-14 mpg would be about right considering that with a 4.8 V8 in my 05, i get 16-17 all day f i keep it below 70 mph...

 

[Jack_Berry]

the rockport truck had a deflector that was not a stand up cab type. it was more flat than aero wedge.

talked to a fella with landstar who had a 15' aerocell with the 5.4 and he was getting 11-13 mpg. maybe that is good for their rate but for less than a buck a mile i don't know. having your fuel bill go up 25 cents at 70/63/56 cents a mile hurts the profitability.

 

[moose]

, also the bed on garage door rails and rollers makes sense too. .

This is an 'off the shelf' product .
can be found at many toy hauler RV.

 

[greg334]

I am finding that most of these trucks sit in the 12 to 14 MPG range because of two factors, one is the engine and volumetric efficiency and the other is wind load on them.

I forget the numbers for speed and fuel consumption but the GM 6.0 runs better at a specific engine speed down the road. Many of these trucks have 4.x:1 rear end gear ratio that pushes the engine speed up enough to get it passed the point of volumetric efficiency.

Even though Unicell is one of the better aerodynamic boxes, there is that one area between the cab and box that catches the wind and drives up the resistance.

 

[Moot]

Does anybody know if a GM (under 10,000#) chassis is available with a axle ratio higher than 4.10? I believe a 3.73 would get the job done and be more fuel efficient. Equipped with the locking tow/haul transmission, even steep grades should not be a problem.

 

[LDB]

The 3500 van 6.0 is available with 3.73. Mine has it. It turns about 1825 rpm at 60-61 mph.

 

[greg334]

Cargo vans can be ordered with a 4.1:1 or even a 3.42:1 depending on the dealer but come with the 3.73:1 standard.

But we are talking about the cutaways, not the cargo vans and that makes the difference in the mileage.

The 9600/10k cutaway chassis (both 139 and 159 WB) comes with the 4.10:1 standard but you can order the 3.73 for it, even with the DRW package depending on the dealer.

Both of the optional ratios are ordered with the Duramax package and GM says only with that package but I know if the dealer is willing to push the order with GM, then you can get anything you want on the chassis.

 

[Moot]

Thanks for the info Greg. I'm thinking with a SRW, 6.0, 3.73 rear end, 74" height, 72" width and a cab roof fairing a conservative driver (63 mph) could average 15.5 mpg or better. Add some Air Tabs® ....

 

[Jack_Berry]

if you go back to the revs ride 1 thread(still accessible thru advanced search) he mentioned he had the 6.0 gas with the 3.73 rear and was getting 15 to start and was aiming at 17. i think his rpm was about 2100.