Came across a sweet 2009 van . Has ton of room we need, and is all set up for towing. We have a 32ft bunkhouse that's 6000 pounds. Looking for any feedback from those who have one?? It's really long!

I've towed with vans for years. My latest is a Chevy 3500 passenger van.I remove the seats and can take all my toys with me.How does it tow? Sensational.My previous camper was 27ft and 5,300? lbs; The 6.0L engine has plenty of torque and the transmission is bullet proof. Tows like a dream. Heavy duty brakeswork well.The passenger version has windows (good), insulation (good) and finished inside (good); Mine is a 2008 with 80K miles and has never missed a beat - the wheelbase makestowing super easy;The only downsides:1 - if it's white then eventually the paint will peel on the hood/roof.2 - if you drop a gear or two on hills then there is some engine boom but otherwise no problem.3 - it's a van....... don't expect creature comforts.I'm leaving for a 3,000 mile journey in Jan - I expect the van to behave perfectly.Fee free to ask my other questions.

The biggest problem you have with extended vans, towing or not, is cross wind on the highway. This is made much worse if the vehicle does NOT have dual rear tires AND does have 12+ more passengers !People sit in seats that are about 3' off the bed. This make for a high center of gravity. Add in a driver not accustomed to driving this vehicle and you have a recipe for disaster ! One good gust, the driver over-corrects and the rest is history.

HD vans make excellent tow vehicles, especially if you have a large family, and a big dog or two. You get lots of enclosed storage to keep your gear out of the weather. The long wheelbase makes for a stable towing experience. The ride height is lower than a pickup, making it easier to load gear and passengers.As with most tow vehicles that are not 1 ton duallys, just keep an eye on payload and you'll be fine.

Can't help with the towing. But we had 4 white Chevy Express 3500 15 passenger vans for our business, one 2009, two 2010, and one 2013.. And they were great vehicles. BUT. Check the paint carefully. The 2009 and both 2010s paint peeled badly on the hood, back door, and down the sides under the rain gutter. Two we had to have repainted twice. After a lot of pressure and hassle, GM agreed to cover part of the costs, but not nearly all. If you watch while out driving, you will see a lot of white Express vans with bad paint.

I towed a 6000 lb 32' bunkhouse with a 2001 E-350 extended cab van for over a year. It towed just fine.

Express 3500 12 passenger van ? Towing experience?

trail-explorer
Explorer
Dec 18, 2018
colliehauler wrote:
In the past the short overhang (axle to rear of vehicle) made for a very stable towing platform. I don't know about extended vans.

GM pushed the axle back on the extended vans, so they are a longer wheelbase than a standard van, unlike the Ford vans.
NJ6PACK
Explorer
Dec 17, 2018
Another vote for a Van!

I can't specifically comment on the van you are looking at, my comment is about Vans in general

My Ford V10 E350 Super Duty Ext Van in my signature finaly died after being 20yrs old.... It was an awsome TV

Lots of room, I removed the last 2 rows of seats and used that space for storage

In it's prime it never let me down and it had plenty of power to do the job
ktosv
Explorer
Dec 17, 2018
2010 was the first year for the 6 speed in the vans and I am pretty sure they all come with the 3.42 axle. However, my 2011 Express with the 6L/6A/3.42 did a much better job of towing than our 2004 3/4 ton Suburban with the 6L/4A/3.73. Towing the same trailer the Suburban had to be locked into 3rd and in the van I could use 5th most of the time. It would even tow in 6th but would downshift on every hill.

Unless it’s a really great deal, I would really look for one with the 6 speed.
kw_00
Explorer
Dec 17, 2018
07.5 and up I believe was the six speed, well at least for trucks and yes you want that transmission.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Dec 17, 2018
fitznj wrote:
The biggest problem you have with extended vans, towing or not, is cross wind on the highway

Never had this problem with 4 different vans. The only time you feel
the wind is when a 18-wheeler is overtaking, the side gust hits
the trailer first and you feel a slight wiggle - but this happens
with all the tow vehicles I have towed with.

Gotta remember, some people here would complain about getting mailed a free box of $100 bills. They'd claim it's a pain to cash them and why couldn't they be $20s!

Same people will preach wheelbase, wheelbase, wheelbase and then say a van is not good because it's so long!
APT
Explorer
Dec 17, 2018
I'm not sure which year GM made the 6-spd transmission standard, but it was around that era. I agree - get the 6-spd. The prior 4-spd has wide gear spacing and a tall first first compared to the 6-spd.
colliehauler
Explorer III
Dec 17, 2018
The shorter the overhang the better the tow vehicle. A person can always change the rear end gears from a 3.42 to a 4.10 or 4.30 gears. The other neat thing about a van is you can pick them up dirt cheap compared to a truck and their built to handle lots of weight.
All_I_could_aff
Explorer
Dec 17, 2018
One good thing about the Chevy and GMC extended vans over the Ford extended vans is that the Ford merely extends the rear overhang beyond the axle, while the Chevy and GMC extended vans run a longer wheelbase with the same rear overhang as the shorter wheelbase 12 passenger version.
Oldmaple
Explorer
Dec 17, 2018
We have a 2003 Express 6.0L towing a 30 ft TT. Crosswinds never bothered me much. Don't particularly like towing with a 3.42 rear end which most vans have. Suburbans too (we had one of those also). We also have a pickup with the 6.0L 3.73 rear end and it pulls much nicer with that. Van is OK for flatland towing, fuel mileage is 16 mpg, 9 mpg towing.
valhalla360
Navigator
Dec 17, 2018
fitznj wrote:
The biggest problem you have with extended vans, towing or not, is cross wind on the highway

Never had this problem with 4 different vans. The only time you feel
the wind is when a 18-wheeler is overtaking, the side gust hits
the trailer first and you feel a slight wiggle - but this happens
with all the tow vehicles I have towed with.

Grew up in a large family...full size vans are great tow vehicles.

No worse than towing with a pickup with a cap on it.