On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 20:15:37 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



My stretch E150 had as much or more ass out behind the rear axle as a
caddy


Same thing with the E-350 I drive. It's a l o n g ass van.
Still rides like a brick though.

This conversation prompted me to look at the build sheet on my F-250
and I discovered why it may be a bit stiffer than others. It has the
factory "plow prep" package. I looked up what that is and it includes
heavier front end springs along with a couple of other things like a 200
amp alternator. It's rated for a plow weighing up to 750 lbs and
a fixed, plow mount assembly of up to 100 lbs. That's a lot of extra
weight hanging on the front of the truck. That prompted me to check
the weight of the plow I have. It's a stainless, medium duty "Snow
Dog". The mount assembly bolted to the frame is 80 lbs and the plow
itself is 450 lbs. So, I am well within the truck's rated capacity.

Hopefully I won't have to use it much this winter ... unlike last winter.


Those stretch vans were used by carpet companies because you could get
a 12' roll in behind the seats and close the door. I got it from a guy
who made a conversion out of a new one. Even with the 4 swivel chairs,
I could still get a full sheet of plywood un there.
It was an interesting conversion because there was a sort of Murphy
bed in the back that folded down from both sides and was pretty
comfortable.. With it folded up the back was open.
With the bed down there was still plenty of storage under it and an
area in the back that was still totally open. They had a portapotty in
there when I bought it but I gave it away.

That thing really had a learning curve to back up with a 20' pontoon
on a trailer. Once I learned the trick I was pretty good with it tho.
All that length behind the rear axle meant you could put a lot of
steering into the trailer pretty fast. The rig was still about 40'
long.
I made it through the Burger King drive through in Key Largo although
it took a few "back up and reposition the trailer" moves.
All of that ass out behind the wheels made it pretty easy.
When I got to the window I said "I bet you don't see a lot of boats
here" She said I was the first one who ever made it. I asked if that
meant I won a free Whopper but that was a "no".

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/5/2015 7:58 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 13:19:58 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 18:59:36 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"

wrote:

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like
... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

An E150 is a truck. A Chevy Van is a van box on a "C" body car
chassis. There is no reason why it shouldn't be able to ride like a
1974 Sedan De Ville. They just had to beef up the springs to get the
half ton rating.


Van does not have the long overhang from the axles in the back or
front, so
will never ride as smooth as a 74 caddie.

The main difference there is just the seating position. The caddy
driver is centered between the wheels and the van driver is almost
over the front wheels. The best ride in a conversion van is in the
seats behind the driver. They called my stretch E150 (AKA Moby Dick)
the limo if you were in the back.


Not the seating but the polar moments of the weight away from the axle.
Harder to move that pendulum of a rear bumper will give a much smoother
ride.

My stretch E150 had as much or more ass out behind the rear axle as a
caddy


Same thing with the E-350 I drive. It's a l o n g ass van.
Still rides like a brick though.

This conversation prompted me to look at the build sheet on my F-250
and I discovered why it may be a bit stiffer than others. It has the
factory "plow prep" package. I looked up what that is and it includes
heavier front end springs along with a couple of other things like a
200 amp alternator. It's rated for a plow weighing up to 750 lbs and
a fixed, plow mount assembly of up to 100 lbs. That's a lot of extra
weight hanging on the front of the truck. That prompted me to check
the weight of the plow I have. It's a stainless, medium duty "Snow
Dog". The mount assembly bolted to the frame is 80 lbs and the plow
itself is 450 lbs. So, I am well within the truck's rated capacity.

Hopefully I won't have to use it much this winter ... unlike last winter.


Is there an airbag shut off for plowing?

On 12/6/2015 12:08 AM, Alex wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/5/2015 7:58 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 13:19:58 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 18:59:36 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"

wrote:

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like
... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

An E150 is a truck. A Chevy Van is a van box on a "C" body car
chassis. There is no reason why it shouldn't be able to ride like a
1974 Sedan De Ville. They just had to beef up the springs to get the
half ton rating.


Van does not have the long overhang from the axles in the back or
front, so
will never ride as smooth as a 74 caddie.

The main difference there is just the seating position. The caddy
driver is centered between the wheels and the van driver is almost
over the front wheels. The best ride in a conversion van is in the
seats behind the driver. They called my stretch E150 (AKA Moby Dick)
the limo if you were in the back.


Not the seating but the polar moments of the weight away from the axle.
Harder to move that pendulum of a rear bumper will give a much smoother
ride.

My stretch E150 had as much or more ass out behind the rear axle as a
caddy


Same thing with the E-350 I drive. It's a l o n g ass van.
Still rides like a brick though.

This conversation prompted me to look at the build sheet on my F-250
and I discovered why it may be a bit stiffer than others. It has the
factory "plow prep" package. I looked up what that is and it includes
heavier front end springs along with a couple of other things like a
200 amp alternator. It's rated for a plow weighing up to 750 lbs and
a fixed, plow mount assembly of up to 100 lbs. That's a lot of extra
weight hanging on the front of the truck. That prompted me to check
the weight of the plow I have. It's a stainless, medium duty "Snow
Dog". The mount assembly bolted to the frame is 80 lbs and the plow
itself is 450 lbs. So, I am well within the truck's rated capacity.

Hopefully I won't have to use it much this winter ... unlike last winter.


Is there an airbag shut off for plowing?


Airbag? There's no airbags on it that I know of.

On 12/5/2015 7:58 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 13:19:58 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 18:59:36 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times. Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

An E150 is a truck. A Chevy Van is a van box on a "C" body car
chassis. There is no reason why it shouldn't be able to ride like a
1974 Sedan De Ville. They just had to beef up the springs to get the
half ton rating.


Van does not have the long overhang from the axles in the back or front, so
will never ride as smooth as a 74 caddie.

The main difference there is just the seating position. The caddy
driver is centered between the wheels and the van driver is almost
over the front wheels. The best ride in a conversion van is in the
seats behind the driver. They called my stretch E150 (AKA Moby Dick)
the limo if you were in the back.


Not the seating but the polar moments of the weight away from the axle.
Harder to move that pendulum of a rear bumper will give a much smoother
ride.

My stretch E150 had as much or more ass out behind the rear axle as a
caddy

More "ass out" translates to more tail wagging the dog when towing.

On 12/5/2015 8:15 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/5/2015 7:58 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 13:19:58 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 18:59:36 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like
... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

An E150 is a truck. A Chevy Van is a van box on a "C" body car
chassis. There is no reason why it shouldn't be able to ride like a
1974 Sedan De Ville. They just had to beef up the springs to get the
half ton rating.


Van does not have the long overhang from the axles in the back or
front, so
will never ride as smooth as a 74 caddie.

The main difference there is just the seating position. The caddy
driver is centered between the wheels and the van driver is almost
over the front wheels. The best ride in a conversion van is in the
seats behind the driver. They called my stretch E150 (AKA Moby Dick)
the limo if you were in the back.


Not the seating but the polar moments of the weight away from the axle.
Harder to move that pendulum of a rear bumper will give a much smoother
ride.

My stretch E150 had as much or more ass out behind the rear axle as a
caddy


Same thing with the E-350 I drive. It's a l o n g ass van.
Still rides like a brick though.

This conversation prompted me to look at the build sheet on my F-250
and I discovered why it may be a bit stiffer than others. It has the
factory "plow prep" package. I looked up what that is and it includes
heavier front end springs along with a couple of other things like a 200
amp alternator. It's rated for a plow weighing up to 750 lbs and
a fixed, plow mount assembly of up to 100 lbs. That's a lot of extra
weight hanging on the front of the truck. That prompted me to check
the weight of the plow I have. It's a stainless, medium duty "Snow
Dog". The mount assembly bolted to the frame is 80 lbs and the plow
itself is 450 lbs. So, I am well within the truck's rated capacity.

Hopefully I won't have to use it much this winter ... unlike last winter.



I saw a snowplow a couple of summers ago, on the Beartooth Highway.
Interesting contraption. :-)

On 12/6/2015 7:01 AM, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 12/5/2015 8:15 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/5/2015 7:58 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 13:19:58 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 18:59:36 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"

wrote:

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like
... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

An E150 is a truck. A Chevy Van is a van box on a "C" body car
chassis. There is no reason why it shouldn't be able to ride like a
1974 Sedan De Ville. They just had to beef up the springs to get the
half ton rating.


Van does not have the long overhang from the axles in the back or
front, so
will never ride as smooth as a 74 caddie.

The main difference there is just the seating position. The caddy
driver is centered between the wheels and the van driver is almost
over the front wheels. The best ride in a conversion van is in the
seats behind the driver. They called my stretch E150 (AKA Moby Dick)
the limo if you were in the back.


Not the seating but the polar moments of the weight away from the axle.
Harder to move that pendulum of a rear bumper will give a much smoother
ride.

My stretch E150 had as much or more ass out behind the rear axle as a
caddy


Same thing with the E-350 I drive. It's a l o n g ass van.
Still rides like a brick though.

This conversation prompted me to look at the build sheet on my F-250
and I discovered why it may be a bit stiffer than others. It has the
factory "plow prep" package. I looked up what that is and it includes
heavier front end springs along with a couple of other things like a 200
amp alternator. It's rated for a plow weighing up to 750 lbs and
a fixed, plow mount assembly of up to 100 lbs. That's a lot of extra
weight hanging on the front of the truck. That prompted me to check
the weight of the plow I have. It's a stainless, medium duty "Snow
Dog". The mount assembly bolted to the frame is 80 lbs and the plow
itself is 450 lbs. So, I am well within the truck's rated capacity.

Hopefully I won't have to use it much this winter ... unlike last winter.



I saw a snowplow a couple of summers ago, on the Beartooth Highway.
Interesting contraption. :-)


Funny guy.

On Thu, 03 Dec 2015 13:54:26 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 13:12:10 -0500, Keyser Söze wrote:

My wife's new car gets 30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.

===

My wife's diesel gets 34 mpg at a steady 90mph on level road. The
engine is only turning a bit over 2,000 RPMs at that speed.

Don't know what my wife's diesel gets at 90mph. I don't think it's ever been driven
that fast. At 70 it's getting about 45mpg.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

On Saturday, December 5, 2015 at 4:06:10 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/5/2015 3:33 PM, True North wrote:
Mr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
"That was the Century ... likely on it's way to your house for repairs. :-)

That thing was a heavy boat. Probably water logged. The trailer had
surge brakes that didn't work. I was leaving Scituate, coming down to
the stop sign at the end of the Driftway (before they put to rotary in)
and tried to stop. Fortunately I wasn't going fast because the stupid
boat pushed the Ram halfway out into the intersection."


A couple of years ago when I was towing my new boat, which was 500 pounds over the RAV4's rating, I was attacked and ridiculed by a number of the motley crew in here. One especially short one threatened to kill me if I injured one of his family members, even though I lived over a thousand miles from him and hadn't been over the border in at least 25 years.
Quite the bunch of dandies we suffer in this group.


I don't know of anyone who hasn't broken some rules once in a while in life.

In the situation I described (above), I had no clue the
surge brakes weren't working. They don't actuate without the weight of
the boat on it, so I didn't notice anything was wrong on the drive to
the marina to pick up the boat. Even if I had known though, I probably
would have still taken a chance to get it home or where ever I was
taking it. It's not like I was towing it a hundred miles.

Gosh, 'attacked and ridiculed' ...such heartrending melodrama!

There's a difference between unknowingly doing something dangerous, and tempting fate by purposely exceeding limitations. I could never get the surge brakes on the trailer with the ProLine to work properly. That's another reason I went to a much lighter boat. No surge brakes to worry with.

On Sun, 6 Dec 2015 06:54:19 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

On 12/5/2015 7:58 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 13:19:58 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 18:59:36 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times. Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

An E150 is a truck. A Chevy Van is a van box on a "C" body car
chassis. There is no reason why it shouldn't be able to ride like a
1974 Sedan De Ville. They just had to beef up the springs to get the
half ton rating.


Van does not have the long overhang from the axles in the back or front, so
will never ride as smooth as a 74 caddie.

The main difference there is just the seating position. The caddy
driver is centered between the wheels and the van driver is almost
over the front wheels. The best ride in a conversion van is in the
seats behind the driver. They called my stretch E150 (AKA Moby Dick)
the limo if you were in the back.


Not the seating but the polar moments of the weight away from the axle.
Harder to move that pendulum of a rear bumper will give a much smoother
ride.

My stretch E150 had as much or more ass out behind the rear axle as a
caddy

More "ass out" translates to more tail wagging the dog when towing.

I never had a problem dragging my pontoon boat around, even at
interstate speeds. Just be sure you have the tongue load right. I
always towed with the nose down so I got extra tongue load at speed.
That deck is quite an air foil.