Videokarma.org

Go Back   Videokarma.org TV - Video - Vintage Television & Radio Forums > Things with Motors

We appreciate your help

in keeping this site going.
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #16  
Old 03-29-2018, 08:18 PM
MadMan's Avatar
MadMan MadMan is offline
The Resident Brony
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,217
Quote:
Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
How about using an old Formica countertop as a slide?
Now that's a cool idea!
Quote:
Originally Posted by zeno View Post
I got a new Caravan 2 yrs ago. We also used them for service
at the shop & used a G-20 for big multi deliveries. Caravan will
work great. You can also lay 4X8 plywood etc flat in it & close
it up. And they start under 20K....... They are all the same
drive line so the only important option is fold away seats. The rest is
just crap & cosmetics. Even the cheap radio / CD sounds good.
You will also be surprized with the power. Almost 300 horsies.
You mean the new model ones? As for the older Caravans, some did have 4 cylinders. Which might seem like a better choice over the v6, but I wouldn't. The 4 banger doesn't have enough get-up-and-go for anything, really.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kf4rca View Post
Great ideas. There's a Harbor Freight about 5 miles away.
Saw a GMC Safari for sale for $2K. Gonna check that out today.
Looked like it was already set up for cargo.
Would like to stay with a rear wheel drive vehicle. Those front wheel models are difficult to work on.
Clearly you've never worked on an Astro/Safari before. Miserable. And the vortec v6 is garbage. Give me a caravan any day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chip Chester View Post
Used to own an Astro van, like Safari. Sit in the passenger seat and evaluate if the legroom will work for any passengers you may have.

Make sure the instrument cluster works reliably.

Evaluate the unloaded ride quality. Mine defined the term 'bouncy'.
Bought it brand new, traded it after only 12 months.
^ All excellent suggestions if you're seriously considering the Safari.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zeno View Post
I think all the mini vans are bouncy, the Caravan is.
Well, like most vans in general, all of the weight is in the front, none in the back. So yeah, bouncy by comparison. But a new pair of rear shocks would help any used car's ride quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoogarXR View Post
I have owned about 7 Astro vans (same as Safari). They are easy/cheap to work on, and they can haul all the junk I can stuff in 'em, and pull a trailer too!
I mean... if that's your thing, that's cool. I can't stand them personally. I suppose 'repair difficulty' compared to a Caravan, is not so much that one is 'harder' to work on than the other, but rather a different kind of work. ie - the difference between spending 2 hours fighting to get to each spark plug on an Astro (lifting, removing tire, removing dog house, etc) or spending 2 hours on the Caravan spark plugs (remove wiper tub, remove intake [which you don't even have to do on 01-07]). Really comes down to preference.
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 03-29-2018, 09:49 PM
Eric H's Avatar
Eric H Eric H is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: So. Calif
Posts: 11,565
The first gen Scion B is low to the ground and has a cavernous cargo space with the rear seats removed, 30+ MPG don't hurt either.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 04-01-2018, 09:29 PM
bgadow's Avatar
bgadow bgadow is offline
VideoKarma Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Federalsburg, MD
Posts: 5,814
I had an older full-size GM van; those, & the old Ford/Dodge competitors, are extremely versatile vehicles. Right now my company vehicle is a Transit Connect. It's been reliable enough & the last time I checked it was averaging 29mpg, and that's with it idling most of the day. My biggest complaint is that FoMoCo exerted no effort whatsoever in balancing that engine. You can't leave anything light weight sitting around because at idle it will shake everything until it falls on the floor.
__________________
Bryan
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 04-02-2018, 12:45 AM
MadMan's Avatar
MadMan MadMan is offline
The Resident Brony
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,217
Quote:
Originally Posted by bgadow View Post
My biggest complaint is that FoMoCo exerted no effort whatsoever in balancing that engine. You can't leave anything light weight sitting around because at idle it will shake everything until it falls on the floor.
You may be right, but in my experience, those (ford focus-based models) have very weak motor mounts that always wear out and then the car vibrates annoyingly.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 04-02-2018, 08:07 PM
bgadow's Avatar
bgadow bgadow is offline
VideoKarma Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Federalsburg, MD
Posts: 5,814
MadMan, I had forgotten about that. I remember when Escorts were still showing up in the shop on a regular basis they always seemed to be extremely "buzzy" compared to everything else, and I've seen it with some aging Focus models as well. My T-C is closing in on 100k and, yep, might just be showing its age.
__________________
Bryan
Reply With Quote
Audiokarma
  #21  
Old 04-13-2018, 09:00 PM
Username1's Avatar
Username1 Username1 is offline
Not sure how I got here.
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Orange County NY
Posts: 3,584
I know the title of this thread is best Truck/Van for tv pick up, But I gotta put in a plug
for the good old 1986 Honda prelude as the BEST vehicle choice for picking up those
gotta have tvs.....

We got a good choice of large vehicles at our little piece of heaven, a Big Van, I got a
pick-up, a sedan of pretty ample size - tv speaking.... But I got some pretty neato
deals showing up in my Maaco special.... I mean try negotiating a lower price on a
$50. simulated-wood grain covered must have when yer stepping out of a $40K
Almost new Suburban might be hard....... Turn that around and show up in a rusty
old Honda and you might just get that "awe this poor guy" sympathetic "Oh, I'll
take xx" even if you didn't even ask.... Happened to me once...... Not sure if the Prelude
was the reason though.....

Then you know, the "I just don't have room for that" thing, and then there's the all
too common Wife Objection to another set.... Even if for the most part the stuff is
outa sight. Well at our parking lot, viewing from the front window I usually keep
"the little car that could", behind the van, or behind the pickup - as viewed from the
front window, which overlooks our vast parking expanse.

If by some chance a tv appears on CL and It's a Sharp Linytron, or some other -
otherwise non collectible set with a too good to pass up price tag. I can always
keep the wife up late the night before, and run off real quick one morning in the
prelude early, while the wife sleeps late, and be back before anyone knows what
just happened.... Ahhh. And if she did happen to get up and walk past the front
windows, all looks normal cause you can't see the prelude from the window
anyway...... Just leave a radio on in a room she ain't going to venture into
I use the garage.... Also good to keep a stable full of 20+ year old cars on hand,
that way you can be out in the garage a lot, or at least pretend to be.....

And with the humble prelude, you'll most likely never run into that temptation
to pick up something either too heavy to lift by yourself, Saving your back, or
too big to fit the car..... And thus save that valuable space at the cassa.

I was able to get my 25" 1985 Sharp Linytrons with Simulated Wood Finish,
( Plastic cabinet portables you know...) and an RCA 9-T-240 into the passengers seat with
no problems...

Just food for thought on this good tv void night.......


.
__________________
Yes you can call me "Squirrel boy"

Last edited by Username1; 04-13-2018 at 10:29 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 04-13-2018, 10:12 PM
MadMan's Avatar
MadMan MadMan is offline
The Resident Brony
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,217
Quote:
Originally Posted by bgadow View Post
My T-C is closing in on 100k and, yep, might just be showing its age.
Motor mounts are not terribly expensive / hard to change.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Username1 View Post
Turn that around and show up in a rusty
old Honda and you might just get that "awe this poor guy" sympathetic "Oh, I'll
take xx" even if you didn't even ask....
LOL I gotta remember that one!
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 07-21-2018, 03:36 PM
KentTeffeteller's Avatar
KentTeffeteller KentTeffeteller is offline
Gimpus Stereophilus!
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Athens, TN
Posts: 791
And the T-C fleet get the motor mounts changed around 90K, standard habit with us. The Focus Wagon left got us in that habit.
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 07-21-2018, 06:36 PM
Electronic M's Avatar
Electronic M Electronic M is offline
M is for Memory
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Pewaukee/Delafield Wi
Posts: 14,758
I like my Suburban a lot... It is part way full with a Sylvania slide scanner/color TV console as I type.
__________________
Tom C.

Zenith: The quality stays in EVEN after the name falls off!
What I want. --> http://www.videokarma.org/showpost.p...62&postcount=4
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 07-21-2018, 07:51 PM
old_tv_nut's Avatar
old_tv_nut old_tv_nut is offline
See yourself on Color TV!
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Rancho Sahuarita
Posts: 7,184
Excuse a quick off-topic, but are you planning to restore the slide scanner? Would love to see that.
__________________
www.bretl.com
Old TV literature, New York World's Fair, and other miscellany
Reply With Quote
Audiokarma
  #26  
Old 07-22-2018, 10:44 AM
mr_rye89's Avatar
mr_rye89 mr_rye89 is offline
VideoKarma Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: The Luna's
Posts: 428
I recently acquired my parent's 1985 Peugeot 505 wagon (North American Spec) and have been working on getting it road worthy. The cargo area is roughly 7 1/2" by 3' with the rear seats folded down and you can throw over 1000lbs of crap in it (according to the owners manual), not to mention it is RWD with a live axle, semi trailing arm/coil spring rear suspension, and a limited slip diff. It also floats over bumps in the road unlike my W250

The drawback is being a passenger car based vehicle, there might not be the clearance needed for some console TVs
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 07-22-2018, 04:30 PM
Electronic M's Avatar
Electronic M Electronic M is offline
M is for Memory
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Pewaukee/Delafield Wi
Posts: 14,758
Quote:
Originally Posted by old_tv_nut View Post
Excuse a quick off-topic, but are you planning to restore the slide scanner? Would love to see that.
Likely, depends on what is wrong with it. I have some family slides to use it with if I do.
__________________
Tom C.

Zenith: The quality stays in EVEN after the name falls off!
What I want. --> http://www.videokarma.org/showpost.p...62&postcount=4
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:19 AM.



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
©Copyright 2012 VideoKarma.org, All rights reserved.