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Transit T250 as shop truck

AndyF

Stainless
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Location
Phelps, NY, USA
Anyone using a Transit T250 as their shop truck?

I'm looking at a 2016 corporate fleet return and wondering about the good and bad, especially handling in gnarly weather. The one I'm looking at is ~15,000 miles, very clean inside and out and very basic - 3.7L engine, 6 spd auto, am/fm radio, 2 seats up front and nothing in the back.
 
Just saw one the other day zipping down the road.

It had an aluminum bed, looked just like the ones on the Home Depot
rentals, with fold down sides.

I see that in the UK they come with duals on back, must be the t-350 version.

FWIW the one I saw, didn't look like it had much ground clearance, not as much as the comparable
f-250, nor the e-250 van.

The front end clearance looked more like from a Dodge minivan.
 
Looks like they don't offer 4 wheel drive.

Might not work well for the dump bed models that landscapers like.
( a large market is f-250/350 with a 10' dump bed for landscapers)

And no provision for a snow plow might break the deal.
 
I have one I use for personal use. Have not driven in shitty weather with it but I will say they are very light in the rear. If grass is just wet the thing will spin. If there's any saturation in the soil (mud) I will get stuck. And that's loaded down with 3 motorcycles and gear. Tires might help that though. Otherwise I love mine. I have the eco-boost 3.5L. Check the guibo drive shaft thing and make sure it has been repaired. There's a recall on the rubber piece. They'll replace it every 25k or something like that until they find a permanent fix. Also you will need to go to Wally World and by a 12 qrt plastic tub to fit over the air filter box. Dumb ass engineers designed the lid to fit inside the lower box and the rain water from the windshield channels right on top of the airbox. Easy fix. Guys say the rubber o-ring on the filter will seal it but it doesn't.
 
Looks like they don't offer 4 wheel drive.

Might not work well for the dump bed models that landscapers like.
( a large market is f-250/350 with a 10' dump bed for landscapers)

And no provision for a snow plow might break the deal.



Google is pretty convinced that this thing is a van.

Where are you getting pick-ups from?


-------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
Google is pretty convinced that this thing is a van.

Where are you getting pick-ups from?


-------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

The transit is the full size van available in 3 lengths and heights. The Transit connect is that little puddle jumper of a van. I don't believe there are any trucks with the transit name in them. I may have misunderstood what the op is asking.
 
To all wondering "van" or "truck".

I just saw it this week, tooling down the road, got a good look at it.

It's a "t-250" take the transit van, lop off the "van" part, and add an aftermarket
bed.


If you would all just go over to ford.com,
and drill down thru "commercial" and thence onto "transit"
you will find they are offering "cab & chassis".
 
And have done since the mid '60s when the Transit first came out...

Mark, with all due respect.

The Ford "transit" series, just hit the USA about 7-8 years ago, and that was the tiny litte
thing, looks much like a Dodge minivan. It's been only a couple of years that they started with the
larger models.

Ford USA has always made the "Econoline" series of vans for this market, called the "E-150 thru E-350",
and these came with a integral van body (optional windows and seating for 15 people), or a cab & chassis
for aftermarket boxes (popular for motorhomes too), but never a dump or flatbed body.

People have taken the e-250 and removed an aftermarket box, and made a flatbed, but it's usually homemade.

FWIW there is a manuf of "rear panels" to box in a e-350, if you removed the box.

Personally, I don't think the t-350 with a dump box will sell much at all here.
Most every f-350 with a dump box I see has a snowplow on front, and usually they are 4x4 as well.
 
The local plumber has one of these things, must be one of the longer ones, and tall. I saw it in the mechanic's shop; he was saying 25,000 miles and it needed brakes. He wasn't impressed.

Dennis
 
Mark, with all due respect.

The Ford "transit" series, just hit the USA about 7-8 years ago, and that was the tiny litte
thing, looks much like a Dodge minivan. It's been only a couple of years that they started with the
larger models.

Ford USA has always made the "Econoline" series of vans for this market, called the "E-150 thru E-350",
and these came with a integral van body (optional windows and seating for 15 people), or a cab & chassis
for aftermarket boxes (popular for motorhomes too), but never a dump or flatbed body.

People have taken the e-250 and removed an aftermarket box, and made a flatbed, but it's usually homemade.

FWIW there is a manuf of "rear panels" to box in a e-350, if you removed the box.

Personally, I don't think the t-350 with a dump box will sell much at all here.
Most every f-350 with a dump box I see has a snowplow on front, and usually they are 4x4 as well.


Yabbut the little one was a Transit Connect, derived from the Ford Focus car, not the Transit, which was always a van/light truck. The Transit has been in production since 1965. The one that got to the USA in 2007 was the Mk 4 version of it. All through that time they have been available with a bewildering array of options and payload carrying styles and sizes. In Europe, they have accounted for something like 10% of Ford's total sales and 80% of their profits, even at prices lower than most mid-range cars.

Do you folks have the front wheel drive larger (as opposed to car-derived) Transits as well as the rear wheel drive options? Reason for asking is that they handle better lightly loaded on slippery roads and the cargo space is closer to the ground, no prop shaft...

Had my first ride in one in '65 and have driven quite a few moving stuff to and from power stations for work. Owned one for several years when building my workshop.
 
Yeah, I'v never heard of them before.
Up until a few yrs ago we didn't have anything like that.

.... OK ... there was that Corvair based Van-up - right?


Still, how much different is that than a stripper cargo mini-van?
That's all it is eh? Name plaquard?


---------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
The coment about no traction even on wet grass when empty can not be overstated. Have pulled several of them out of what more or less anything else on the planet can drive through. Loaded no issue, but rear wheel drive theres no weight back there at all and wet grass a 1" of snow or even a sandy track will stop em in a instant. Theres just so little weight empty back there the rear wheels dont get enough traction to push the heavily laden front up out of there own holes if forward motion stops.

Driven like a van should be they will hold up great, thrashed like a boy racer in a works truck, then yeah they won't especially if driven hard whilst laden. Takes a lot of friction to stop 3 tons and thats were your brake life goes!

Lots of people underestimate the strap down of the load in the back if your moving small heavy bits on pallets, a half ton pallet load and a tight roundabout will go clean through a side door if the driver tries.

Now driven sensibly on good roads there a great work horse for a whole bunch of industries, just don't go even remotely off tarmac or drive in a snow storm and your fine. Space wise - body style you need to match it to the type of size product you want to shift. back door, some of them depending on model have a raise up door, thats a instant fail to try and load with a forklift! But a great temporary roof for sorting odds and sods and ideal on a hand ball on - off van!
 
Still, how much different is that than a stripper cargo mini-van?
That's all it is eh? Name plaquard?


---------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Details I suppose. The Honda Odyssey has more horsepower and better fuel economy than the transit connect. Also a higher price tag. Mini vans typically have hatches on the back, transits typically have barn doors and a bit more head room making them more friendly to getting cargo in and out. Price probably the biggest factor. I don't think you can buy an Odyssey with a sheet metal interior for example, its a people mover so the price tag is higher. As far as the RWD thing, yeah gets stuck easier but always more fun to drive RWD.
 
Yes, I know that.

However you still don't seem to get it thru your head
that FORD DIDN'T SELL %$#@! TRANSIT VANS OVER HERE UNTIL
JUST A FEW YEAR AGO, NOT 1965.

Thick As A Brick (Part 1) (1997 Remastered Version) - YouTube


Ok, to get the point across in a way that you might be able to understand:-
Even though the Transit wasn't available in the US market until just a few years ago, that self-same range has always been available with flat bed, tilt bed, box van, delivery van, mini-bus, camper van and other versions in the areas where it was developed, manufactured and sold for its entire production history of over 50 years.

The phrase 'first came out' did not imply 'first becaume available in the US market' it implies 'ever since they designed and started building the things'. That flexibility of options is the main reason why they were the most popular medium sized commercial vehicle in the UK and Europe for most of those five decades.
 
Since Daimler-Chrysler had lead the US market in utility vans with the Sprinter van and their discontinuation of the Dodge Ram Van (B-series), Ford finally caught on and stopped producing the Econoline in 2014. A Transit van should be an ideal shop truck, with all the same caveats as (what we North Americans know as) a conventional van. Horrible to drive in the winter/rain when empty.

Better fuel economy than a pick-up, lower to the ground, far more cargo space. Other than the sticker shock, it would seem a good candidate. It is NOT comparable to a mini-van in any way other than drivetrain configuration.

FordT250.jpg
 
Worth adding over here in the UK the transit whilst a new take on things back when it came out, was very much a style of delivery - trade transport going back to horse and cart were the cart was little more than a simply boxed in flat bed. Bedford and various others pre ford all had vans of similar style - function, just my understanding transit was one of the first monocock's of the style, both practical and at a price point that made it readily affordable. Do to our miserable weather, the open carry of a pick up style bed has always had far less mass market appeal here.
 








 
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