dumb question, but a practical one nonetheless. Guys, what are the Minivans that will hold a 4×8 sheet of plywood. I know some do. I suspect some won’t hold a full sheet. As much as it pains me to drive one, for business purposes…I think they are pretty ideal. Thoughts?
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Replies
I have a Chrysler T&C, '05. It will hold a 2X4 sheet but the front seats need to be almost all the way forward. Works well especially with the self-storing seats.
Toyota Sienna holds a full sheet if you take the 2nd row seats out
I've gotten 3 sheets of ACX plus a 2" rigid insulation in the back of my wife's 2006 Toyota Sienna. I haven't tried to see how much I can get, but I'm guessing you have space for about 6" worth of 4X8. This is one of the main reasons I convinced my wife to go for the Sienna.
I've also gotten a 10' long, 7" wide, 8/4 thk plank in, without taking out any seats.
Hi WoodK
My prerequisite for my buying a minivan was the ability to haul 4 x 8 sheets of plywood. I went with a Chrysler Town & Country because all the back seats have the "stow & go" feature. This allows the sheet of plywood to lay flat and in my case, the front seats remained in their original position. I have gotten as many as 3 sheets in the van (I did have to move the front seats up slightly to hold all 3) but that is probably the limit.
I found the biggest issue to be the overall width of the van. Having a garage with 8' wide doors, the side mirrors just clear the door frame with an 1" to spare on each side. Makes it interesting at night to get the van in the garage!
IMHO the Town & Country is great for hauling lumber and plywood. It works just as well to carry the family! I'm not sure if the Dodge Caravan can haul plywood just as easily (even being made by Chrysler).
Craig
thanks guys...yes I did know that the T & C was a great option. I'm looking at used options and there are tons of Dodge Caravans out there for reasonable prices.
You know, I'm single with no kids but doing a lot of work for people and a Minivan just makes tons of sense. I drive a rear wheel drive Ranger in Michigan at the present time and it is horrible in snow. Don't necessarily need 4 wheel drive...front wheel drive is great in the snow...Like to sit up high...a Minivan makes tons of sense.
thanks for the recommendations, guys.
"I'm single with no kids..."
I believe that disqualifies you from owning a minivan.
-Steve
Steve, OHHHH, man I know. Believe me, this is the only thing holding me back. But I have to say, for cabinetwork and without buying a huge truck, these Minivans would work really well, in my opinion.
I was at Crosscut Hardwoods in Seattle one afternoon, trying to load plywood into my Blazer (47.5" across, sheesh) when the guy who owned the old Volkswagon van next to me came out with several sheets of plywood on a cart. Loaded up sweet as you please. So, if you don't mind driving around in a death-trap, you could check the old VW vans out!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
The old VW vans may be a death trap while on the road, but I have it on good authority these things were also responsible for a net increase in population throughout the 60s and 70s.
As my parents were beating into me:"Familiarity breeds.."
"If this van's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'!!"forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
"If this van's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'!!" Forest I see you are a REAL WOMAN!.. I loved this posty.. You in another mind posted it! LOL.. Loved it ALOT!
I got mine for hauling lumber ( and for being able to carry a pack of kids and grandkids at the same time. It is great when I go up to Armstrongs for lumber, particularly when I can remove the center console and get a 12 ft. length into it.
Initially my wife refused to drive it since she felt that when she would pull up to a light a bunch of kids would jump in and insist on being driven to a soccer game.
I must say that it is one of the most comfortable cars to drive on a long trip. Since it is built on an auto chassis with auto linkages and steering it is much better handling than an SUV>
While driving a mini van may not be "manly" these days with all the trucks and SUVs out there I wouldn't trade my Chrysler T&C with the fold flat seats for any of them. Not only can I get three full sheets of 3/4 plywood in with no problems I can also haul 11' 6" lumber inside and still fully close up the rear. BTW -- It's also great for hauling our dogs to dog shows.
Yep, pickup truck or cargo van for you, bud.---
"I'm single with no kids..."I believe that disqualifies you from owning a minivan.-Steve
My Honda Pilot (SUV) almost holds a 4x8 sheet. About 8 inches sticks out the back and the tailgate comes down on top of it. I hold it down with a bungee cord. It works.
Paul
I have two Astro's, both cargo types with no back seats. Sheets of plywood fit nicely on edge, leaned to one front seat or the other. I suspect it would work with rear seats (two buckets) as well.
Regards,
Mack
"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
Get yourself an enclosed trailer.
Jeff
My 99 Honda Odyssey will hold a 4x8 sheet with the rear door closed if you remove the middle seats. If you want a mini-van I still think that Honda makes the best and I do think they try harder than Chrysler, Chevy an Ford to make a quality product. I did have a transmission problem and had to have the transmission replaced at 105k, the dealer told me that Honda had extended the arrange to 100k miles so the service manager talked the Honda people to cover 75% of the bill. Anyway mine has 108k of mostly city driving and it still runs well.
Good luck with your search.
Troy
Troy,
This is slightly "off topic" but I've been guilty of a lot worse.
Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT knocking Honda at all, they make a great vehicle and are very dedicated to quality. However, 108k on a good vehicle is barely broken in!!
I have or had within the last year, three Astro vans. All had the 4.3 V-6 engine. The 1989 had 325 K when I sold it; the 1991 has 257K and the 2001 has 121K. None of these vehicles has ever had a trans. replaced or even overhauled. None of these vehicles has ever even had the HEADS REMOVED nor had any engine work what-so-ever. (I do suspect that the '89 is about due for an upper end overhaul.)
Keep clean oil where it belongs and do what the owners manual recommends and most vehicles will last virtually forever.
Hope your van continues to give you good service far into the future.
Regards,
Mack "WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
Sounds like you follow the same oil change regiment that I do. I use synthetic oil and change it and the filter every 5k. The engine still runs like a top. I don't think I will get as many miles as you do because at least 80% of my driving is short trips. I figure mine will be about 10 years old when it hits 150k and I will replace it than, more because the interior will be worn out buy then than the engine. Anyway I am always glad to hear somebody's American vehicle is lasting a long time.Troy
Some are always better than others but I think the 4.3 engine and auto trans. that GM put in those Astros, Safaris and S-10's is one of the best drive trains ever produced in the US.
You are right about the stop and go stuff. It goes cause a lot of extra wear. The '89 that I recently sold had 284K when I BOUGHT IT! Guy I bought it from used it over ten years doing a 80 mile (one way) commute. He never did anything to it himself and had every receipt for EVERYTHING ever done to the van; belts, oil changes, light bulbs; I mean everything! It did not use a qt. of oil between changes (3K miles).
The '91 was purchased brand new by my wife for use in our vending business and is now being driven by any number of guys working in our painting business. It is one UGLY van but at well over 250K it also will not use a qt. of oil between changes. All the guys want to use it because it is nimble and has "more power" than our big 3/4 or 1 ton vans with V-8's.
In case you couldn't tell, I LOVE THOSE VANS!!! LOL
Regards,
Mack
"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
With both rows of rear seats out and the front seats forward,the extended version of the Voyager/Caravan/Town and Country will hold a full 4 x 8 sheets of plywood. In fact it will hold 7 3/4" sheets before the curve of the lift gate starts interfering or you start worrying about the weight limit. That's why I miss my Town and Country since I got a Saturn Vue. The regular-length version will not house a full sheet with the liftgate closed.
Speaking of "load limit"---shortly after we got our '91 Atro for our vending business, my wife drove from Lynnwood to Oak Harbor (70 miles -+) with 100 cases of canned pop plus a box or two of candy, gum and other fat pills. That's 22 lb per case plus the other stuff plus her and a friend. I'm sure the total load was right at 3K lb!
I started going off on her about over taxing the poor mini-van the minute she pulled into the garage. Her response--(priceless), "well, it all fit"!!! Fortunately some saint at Costco had helped her load and put the pop right behind the front seats; had it been put in the back doors, she probably would never have made it home.
Many years and lots of stuff loaded into lots of rigs, she's gotten a lot smarter but I'll never let her forget that one (funny now, then; not so much)!
Mack"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
Not suburu foresters, you cant get it in the back and you need to have it on the roof, very annoying
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
I had 4X8 sheets lying flat in my '99 T&C. In other vehicles, I built a couple of stands to sit at the same height as the rear wheel wells, and could get full sheets in horizontally in a Volvo wagon and Honda Element (but had to keep the hatch open).
I drive a 99 T&C. 4x8 sheets go flat. 10' 1x8s fit up the middle between the front seats. 12' moldings go from the back corner behind the driver to the top of the dash in front of the passanger. 16' MDF molding gets strapped to the top when I must go with 16' stock.
New guy at work has a 2500 extension van. Now that's got room in it...
My '93 Plymouth Voyager will hold 4x8' sheets on edge with the rear seat out. Maybe 2 or 3 at a time. It is by no means easy to load them, but it works. Plus, if you don't hang your ego on what you drive, it is VERY comfortable on long trips. Dual air, nice stereo, great captain seats...
I suspect the Dodge would be similar, but different years may not work the same.
Personally my ego is tied up more in my job, my family, and my ...wood.
I've had a couple dodge caravans - a 1996 will hold a 4x8 with alot of moving of the heavy seats- our second caravan was a 2007 with stow and go- It is a breeze.
good luck
How about 4' by 8' sheet goods delivered to your shop rollup door by lumberyard delivery vehicle and back to work?
Save the money for the convertible Saab you've always wanted.
Saab.............????? Come on, Boss!! You need a Dodge Viper, not a Saab!!
Jeff :>)
That would work.
As much as it pains me to drive one, for business purposes...I think they are pretty ideal.
It's really not all that bad. My wife and I have to have one to transport all our dogs to shows, the vet, etc. We have the full size Town & Country. I actually enjoy driving it. The only places I feel "out of place" are places like Beverly Hills, but I don't really care. Yes, it will hold a few sheets of plywood.
Another advantage to the mini van is that I could swear law enforcement thinks you are going slower than you are on the freeway. Given the choice of pulling over the red corvette or the mini van I think they always go for the vet:) Maybe they feel sorry for us.Troy
My dad has a Honda Odyssey and it'll hold a 4x8 sheet flat in the back. All the guys at the lumber yard trying to secure plywood to the roofs of their SUVs look on in wonder as we throw sheets into the Honda. Ha! I don't know why more people don't drive mini vans. They're decent on gas and have more space inside than most SUVs.
ok, you can all laugh if you want but you wouldn't believe the wood I can fit in my bmw 330i. No, you can't fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood but I have my supplier cut it into 2x8's and in they go. I never use a full sheet. I have loaded 100 bd. ft. of 8/4 walnut. And God know what else. Sure I get weird looks from the contractors when loading stock into my bimmer, but I don't care. I drive a great car and it transports stock when necessary. PMM
Somebody put a photo on one of the other forums a few years ago. It showed one of those little tiny cars at a Home Depot. The customer bought a whole bunch of lumber and other building supplies and insisted that the HD people put it all on top of his car. After that was done, somebody took the picture of his car low to the ground on its trashed suspension system. It was funny to anybody who wasn't that guy.
Ingenuity and determination can accomplish a lot. I'm reminded of a co-worker of mine a couple of decades ago who rolled into work after a trip to the wrecking yard with the entire exhaust system for a Ford truck tied to his motorcycle. Another co-worker was hauling wet rice hulls home as a soil amendment and had a problem with the rear springs bottoming out; he installed a set of railroad freight car inner springs inside the truck coils. Might as well have just used solid bar-stock!
Get a 350 Ford pickup!
Just an observation: oversized melamine (4x8 = 49x97) doesn't fit flat in a grand caravan. No problem with plywood, though.
We used to have a Dodge Grand Caravan, now a Jeep Patriot - more civilized! Anyway, it will take 4x8 DRYWALL if the seats are removed and the front seats pulled forward a bit. Needed 20 sheets and it did well.
Cheers
Plumo,
Not sure if I read the message right, a Jeep Patriot can handle 20 sheets of drywall?
Bob
maybe on the roof, haven't tried yet! Not a whole lot of room in a Patriot for stuff. Only about 4' with the seats down and not that much wide.
the caravan fits the drywall
My 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager 3.3L (essentially a Dodge Grand Caravan with different trim) carries 4x8's (except melamine) flat; easily.
-You just can't get that today, certainly not for $2K - not that I will ever be able to afford even another used car, in what remains of my life. This car is IT, and will be put back into shape one way or another. There are two of us on one fixed, below-average SS-only income. so, it'll be a $2k repair here, a $2k repair there.
I bought it, used, for $2K, from a mechanic; with a rebuilt motor & tranny in it; to haul my 'laydown' enduro racing go-karts, and can't let the Grand Voyager go, no matter HOW many trannies I have to replace! It's a joy to be able to build say, a table insert, to haul two karts, using an unaltered 4x8.
So far it's broken a camshaft, now needs suspension work (shocks and?) and needs the first tranny since I bought it in 2004.
Add up the math - It's WORTH getting the work done, over buying a similarly aged 'pig in a poke' for FAR more money!
By the way - it gets 23mpg on the road, even across the mountains and loaded with thousands of pounds of steel. (That was before the camshaft. As it started hard in wet weather for a long time previously, I assume even better now.)
I see a surprising number of these 90's MoPar SUV's on the road everywhere I've lived. They're a wildly popular used car; and in today's economy, I suspect few are buying new cars compared to fixing their old one, especially considering what's available.
TV shows on Speed Channel (like "Truckin', Truck-U, Gearz or Hot Rod TV ) need to educate us about longevity modernization methods, and products for the 1990's Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth 604 / 41te tranny, and I DON'T mean just simple temp gauges and coolers.
I mean, beefed up clutches and converters, common specific failure modes and fixes, etc.
Maybe a show on the complete INNER workings of the 604/41te, explaining the modern replacement inprovements. (And yes, most of us can take a fully technical show!)
My 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager 3.3L (essentially a Dodge Grand Caravan with different trim) carries 4x8's (except melamine) flat; easily.
-You just can't get that today, certainly not for $2K - not that I will ever be able to afford even another used car, in what remains of my life. This car is IT, and will be put back into shape one way or another. There are two of us on one fixed, below-average SS-only income. so, it'll be a $2k repair here, a $2k repair there.
I bought it, used, for $2K, from a mechanic; with a rebuilt motor & tranny in it; to haul my 'laydown' enduro racing go-karts, and can't let the Grand Voyager go, no matter HOW many trannies I have to replace! It's a joy to be able to build say, a table insert, to haul two karts, using an unaltered 4x8.
So far it's broken a camshaft, now needs suspension work (shocks and?) and needs the first tranny since I bought it in 2004.
Add up the math - It's WORTH getting the work done, over buying a similarly aged 'pig in a poke' for FAR more money!
By the way - it gets 23mpg on the road, even across the mountains and loaded with thousands of pounds of steel. (That was before the camshaft. As it started hard in wet weather for a long time previously, I assume even better now.)
I see a surprising number of these 90's MoPar SUV's on the road everywhere I've lived. They're a wildly popular used car; and in today's economy, I suspect few are buying new cars compared to fixing their old one, especially considering what's available.
TV shows on Speed Channel (like "Truckin', Truck-U, Gearz or Hot Rod TV ) need to educate us about longevity modernization methods, and products for the 1990's Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth 604 / 41te tranny, and I DON'T mean just simple temp gauges and coolers.
I mean, beefed up clutches and converters, common specific failure modes and fixes, etc.
Maybe a show on the complete INNER workings of the 604/41te, explaining the modern replacement inprovements. (And yes, most of us can take a fully technical show!)
A 4x8 sheet of plywood will fit in my 99 Honda Odessy. I am pretty sure it will in the new ones as well.
2004 Dodge Caravan
I can haul some sheets IF I take out the middle, and back seats. There is also the lugage rack on top, for regular lumber. With the seats in, all I can get in is a few boards, UNDER the seats. A 1/4" plywood sheet will fit, IF I bend it a bit, by going over the folded down back seats. The sides curve in way too much.
carrying sheet goods
2005 T&C with stow-and-go seats will handle 4X8 sheets of Melamine,which are actually 49X97 inches, with the rear door closed and the front seats in close to normal position.
4x8 in Mazda5
4x8 plyood/dryall fits in a Mazda5 station wagon with the gate open!
They don't fit in most (any?) Subaru wagons.
sheet goods in a Chrysler van
I've got a 2005 Town and Country, and it will hold a sheet of Melamine, which is actually 49X97 inches. This with the seets "stored" in the floor. The seat belts have to be held flat against the wheelwells for the sheet to pass which is a bit of a nuisance, but it's nice to be able to carry a few sheets of oversized sheet goods. For the 97 inch length you'll need to slide the front seats forward a bit, and you'll only be able to carry three or four sheets of 3/4" material. And hats off to Chrysler for marking on the floot where the back edge of the load will allow the back door to close.
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