I haven't owned a truck for some time now but plan to remedy that soon. I wonder if it is a pipe dream, but what do folks think about putting a truck bed on the new double chassis cab? From some of the product pdf's I've seen, there are pictures of truck beds, but I don't know if these are part of an internal Ford uplifting program and whether it would be more cost effective to to add an after market bed. This would be for hauling mulch, gravel, sand, light towing, and trips to town.
What would be the cost of going this route vs just buying a pickup with the high markup these vehicles have?
Also, what is the durability of the Ford Transit? I keep vehicles for a very long time, and have mostly had Toyotas. I would ordinarily think about getting a Tundra, but the design is still circa 2007, even though they make a nice truck.
I can tell you that the dependability is very good. I’m a HVAC tech/owner and we load these up with a lot of weight and have no issues. I have friends in the business with over 200,000 miles and only maintenance has been performed. They have very good safety ratings as well. I have 65,000 miles and absolutely love mine.
It’s a medium roof T-250 with twin turbo ecoboost. Just did rear brakes and new tires. I think the T-350 dualie with a utility box is about $50,000.00. If just the cab and no bed it’s around $40,000. Now, I haven’t priced out these since 2016.
Read somewhere - can't find it now - that we would be seeing the double cab stateside. Link is from Ford Ireland, with Jan 2019 specs/options. Page has links to brochure, price/options list
The forum won't let me post link, because I only have one post. If you go to the Ford Ireland site, you will find it.
In the brochure on the Ford Ireland site, there are pics of the chassis with truck bed as you suggested. That is actually what I would be looking for. I don't know if such a bed would be available from Ford Commercial up fitters, or whether it would be better/cheaper to go aftermarket.
Not as cool. I saw a Sprinter set up with a truck bed. I loved the look. If I wanted a truck and didn't plan to tow anything serious, I'd be giving it a long think. Then reality would set in and I'd get a Tacoma.
I would think, just get a truck if you wanted a bed. I could see this reasonable if you wanted a pass through option like with a box truck or ambulance.
On the Jan 2019 Ford Ireland brochure where it lists dimensions of the various chassis cab wheelbases, it refers to an "overall length, including float"
Man, that L5 length Double cab is pretty desirable. 4 doors, AWD, heated windshield, charger under the passenger seat, and a 13 1/2 foot long aluminum bed with drop down sides. That has practical written all over it.
Makes no sense unless you look at traffic accident statistics and throughput of vehicles in an intersection.
"Roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or signals were previously used for traffic control, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Studies by the IIHS and Federal Highway Administration have shown that roundabouts typically achieve:
A 37 percent reduction in overall collisions
A 75 percent reduction in injury collisions
A 90 percent reduction in fatality collisions
A 40 percent reduction in pedestrian collisions
Studies by Kansas State University measured traffic flow at intersections before and after conversion to roundabouts. In each case, installing a roundabout led to a 20 percent reduction in delays. Additional studies by the IIHS of intersections in three states, including Washington, found that roundabouts contributed to an 89 percent reduction in delays and 56 percent reduction in vehicle stops."
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Perhaps, but they are far more stressful, and stressing out the entire driving public everyday may have significant knock on effects.
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Changing lanes while spinning around a circle in fast moving traffic, trying to pick out your exit while doing so? Just ugly all around.
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It is like being on a merry go round stuck on triple overdrive.
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It is not fun and I think they did tests to see how much stress hormone people had after the morning circle commute and it was far higher than non circle commuted - that alone could knock off a couole percent of GDP.
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Is the source of the "floats" or flatbeds a Ford-affiliated up fitter? Any idea whether the cost would be cheaper going with a fabricator or company specializing in such beds? We have a great one in the Austin, Texas area - Spillar Hitches (hey do all kinds of things, including boat docks).
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Also, if you are looking for articles, may I suggest the keywords for the query be “roundabouts suck”.
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