pnichols wrote:
oughtsix wrote:
I hate van chassis! They are uncomfortable to drive because of the dog house. And miserable to work on because the windshield is on top of the middle of the engine.
The whole purpose of the van chassis is to keep the overall vehicle length short as compared to the volume of the cargo that can be carried and to make it possible for the driver to get to the cargo area without getting out of the vehicle.
As far as working on them is concerned, once you get the doghouse off I find it easier to get to the rear of the engine and front of the transmission areas than in a pickup. Once you get the doghouse off, you can also work in those areas out of the rain while it's raining, too. ;)
Yes, I know why van chassis are used instead of pickup chassis. The length advantage of a van chassis is real but for the short RV's the OP is talking about I doubt the extra couple feet of the nose on the Toyota will make much of a difference. In the year range he is talking about I know that a van chassis is not a comfortable ride. Not much leg room for the driver and the passenger leg room is even worse.
The Toyota RV's are walk through from the cabin to the living area just like a van chassis.
IMO working on the engine in a pickup chassis is worlds better than a van chassis. The engine/transmission junction you can access through the dog house isn't were maintenance is done and a very unlikely/infrequent spot for repairs. Just changing the plugs on a van chassis is misery. You can access a couple of the plugs through the dog house. A couple more through the midget hood. The rest are knuckle bangers right under the windshield and supporting cross brace. There just isn't the working room in a van chassis like there is in a pickup chassis. Having to work through the doghouse isn't fun or convenient to get to unless you want to take the front seats out first. Going back an forth between the cabin and the hood to figure the best way to contort yourself to get at the middle chunk of the engine is a headache and a time waster. I hate working on van chassis. I don't mind working on a pickup chassis at all. Maybe if your daily job was working on van chassis you might know the tricks for getting at stuff easier but for shade tree mechanics they are simply a headache!
