Van HELL!!! Any advice very welcome - going to buy a new one.

[Dannypipe]

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder mate. :54::54:

 

[Phil]

I'm really lucky as most of my work is local and mostly bathrooms with the odd kitchen. If I have to drive more than 20 mins I'm annoyed and over 45 mins forget it, £10/15 a week on diesel max.

I take my hat off to you guys who drive all over the place and clock up hundreds of miles a week, I just couldn't do it.

 

[mfgs]

It's funny, when I was van hunting I went into Toyota to enquire about a new Hiace.

Mate of mine has one that's done 200K and still going strong. Well I got told by the very polite girl on reception that the Hiace is no longer sold in the UK but she thinks its still sold in Europe. Wasn't sure.

I said it's a shame as they have a good reputation which she agreed with, but said they just didn't sell enough to warrant selling them here anymore.

They're great vans from what I can gather.

I used to have a Hiace. They are uncomfortable, cold, noisy, not very nice to drive etc etc. They are however indestructible and rear wheel drive which makes for lots and lots of fun. Anyone after a cheap second hand van couldn't do any better than to look at getting one. They are not refined at all, but if you want a van to be purely a van then you cannot go wrong.

 

[Leo21]

I used to have a Hiace. They are uncomfortable, cold, noisy, not very nice to drive etc etc. They are however indestructible and rear wheel drive which makes for lots and lots of fun. Anyone after a cheap second hand van couldn't do any better than to look at getting one. They are not refined at all, but if you want a van to be purely a van then you cannot go wrong.

Couldnt agree with you more. I bought mine new because I got so fed up with vans costing me money in repairs.

 

[SimonG]

My first van was a Hiace, cracking van.

 

[kay-jay]

anyone know about transits? 53 plate they reliable model or not...been offered one cheap ish, good nick,low mileage full electric pack, stereo, silver for a grand, they aregoing on auto trader for around 1500-2k. anyone know if these are prone to expensive faults??

cheers

 

[Leo21]

Mine was a 51 plate and the gearboxes fail in the fwd models around that year.

 

[kay-jay]

Is the 53 plate prone to gearbox failure also then Leo? How much is it it to put right?

 

[Leo21]

Not 100% sure weather if it was resolved. Cost me about £1600. It was six or seven years ago. I took it to an independant garage who butchered it, I could select gears but it was a pig. So I drive it straight to the Toyota garage.

 

[Leo21]

Though to be fair if it's nearly ten heads old, it's either bad a new one or its ok. Just don't change gears over a speed bump. That's what I did and it never left second gear again.

 

[Dannypipe]

I haven't got the photos off the phone yet. But I've spent the weekend racking and loading the new van.

It's almost 100% now. I need to buy one more small box for the racking (for my 22mm pushfit fittings). I've fitted a Rhino roof rack and a Rhino pipe carrier.

I'm actually excited about going to work in it tomorrow. Haven't been excited about going to work in a looooooooong time!!

Going to be a treat compared to the last van. I will get some photos up tomorrow I promise. Thanks for all the help advise and general kind words I've had on this thread!

 

[michael c]

I haven't got the photos off the phone yet. But I've spent the weekend racking and loading the new van.

It's almost 100% now. I need to buy one more small box for the racking (for my 22mm pushfit fittings). I've fitted a Rhino roof rack and a Rhino pipe carrier.

I'm actually excited about going to work in it tomorrow. Haven't been excited about going to work in a looooooooong time!!

Going to be a treat compared to the last van. I will get some photos up tomorrow I promise. Thanks for all the help advise and general kind words I've had on this thread!

Can you not upload from your phone mate?

 

[SimonG]

I was wondering when we would see the pics Danny?

 

[Gerard17]

I had van hell with a transit connect not so long ago and needed 2 grand to fix all the problems. Knew a feller who runs an auction house so he told me to put it in his auction even tho it had a lot of problems an got nearly 2500 grand for it. It was an ex virgin media van with full service history on it so when I bought it thought I was buying good

 

[Dannypipe]

 

[michael c]

bloody hell it does exist

 

[Destroyer2813]

The myth is broken

 

[Dannypipe]

I've taken some new photos today, as the original ones I took just looked too perfect!!

I've now been working out the van for a week or two. I don't intend to drive the pipe freezer and transformer around with me but I have been as it's handy.

I haven't had a chance to label the boxes yet....I will eventually.

I think this van is the perfect size. I can get in the back and grab what I need no problems but I'm not driving around in some huge, LWB monster!

It's so fast too!

The roof rack, pipe rack and ply racking cost me £640 fitted. Which I think is a bargain.

 

[vern]

Nice one Danny too busy to wash it then like me!

 

[SafeGasInstall]

danny good choice ,
just like my but I have the van Vault bolted down to the floor ,
also get secondary locks fitted

 

[mfgs]

That racking does look very good. Makes my attempt at doing mine look awful lol.

 

[vern]

Rhino delta bars and pipe rack with ply lining etc a steal at £640!

 

[Leo21]

Looks half empty to me, mines full to the roof. Nice van, I fancy one of these next.

 

[Dannypipe]

HA!!

Anyway to explain briefly my 'system'.

The big box at the back has loose power tools. (it's screwed to the ply floor).

The F&E tank next to it is also screwed to the floor. That's got tubes of silicon and gas, etc in it.
Against that I normally have my tote bag full of tools I take in on the job. (It was on the job when I took this photo!).

Then is my 'engineers' box. Which has all sorts of crap that I don't use often, like smoke pellets, pressure gauges, glass fuses, water finding paste, the list goes on.

Then I have my 'hop up'.

Then I have my tool box full of hand tools I don't often use.

Then I have my pipe freezer.

On the left hand side racking is useful things like hose adapters, jubilee clips, tape, etc. On the right hand side I have my large plastic tubs. Filled with waste fittings, comp fittings, pumps, valves ect.

Then I have my Makita cordless drills in one box.

Then I have drill bits, jigsaw, crimpers, and all manner of tools. Then on the back I have my benders, formers, hose pipe, cable, kitchen roll, U gauge and the like.

I love working out this van. compared to the old one, my stress level has less than halved!

 

[SafeGasInstall]

go for merc Leo21