This is my first, I'm in the process of looking for a lightly used Metris.
I currently own a Dodge Promaster cargo van, which I have had nothing but bad experiences with. I am looking to replace it with a Metris cargo van.
As I am shopping around for low mileage used vans, I am seeing much more passenger versions available. I have a couple questions about the differences that I'm hoping to have answered.
Aside from windows and other obvious aesthetic differences, are the passenger and cargo vans mechanically the same?
Is the passenger version basically just seats and added headliner?
Can the headliner / additional interior trim pieces / seats all be removed to convert a passenger van into a cargo van?
Are there any other considerations when looking at a potential conversion?
I asked these questions of a dealer who was keen to show me a used passenger van, they said it would be as simple as just removing the unwanted pieces and revealing the steel below. I wanted to try and clarify that with van users and see if this was possible.
The cargo only is available 2018-on as a 135" WB. At least one outfitter makes a pop-top for the extended wheelbase. Problem is, there are probably about 6 135s out there, including mine.
The passenger van is available with two suspensions, one is quite similar to the cargo van suspension and lacks a sway bar. The other is softer, it’s known as the comfort suspension, and it has a swaybar. I have the non-comfort passenger suspension. My van is rated at 2084 Pounds of payload, which means ~2250lbs after removing just the rear seats, probably 2400 if you remove interior trim, airbags And the rear A/C, so you’d still lose some capacity relative to a cargo. I believe the comfort suspension brings this payload down quite a bit. You probably do not want a van with the passengers comfort suspension.
I'll focus on cargo versions as I look for a Metris. There are some promising low mileage cargo vans in my area that I plan on looking at over the next week.
allow me to add that I think passenger vans are almost universally specified with the comfort suspension; mine was a custom order and I wanted to use it effectively as a crew van- 2 front seats, a single 3-person rear bench, and a 5-6’ long cargo bay. It does that admirably.
Unless you're a plumber or electrician, or the like, with heavy loads,
these vans are beefier than a 1/2 ton pickup, which many tradesmen
use, so it may work fine. After all, the passenger van does haul a Ton.
Seen here: My 2018 passenger Metris packing up about 1/2 a SCIFI convention's worth of AV gear with the seats removed. Not something I like to do frequently, but for occasional special occasions doable.
So, I headed up to a temporary storage area to pickup the last of the 2023 canned goods for the food bank.
I use banana boxes (Walmart saves them for me) that are about 16x20" and hold about 70lb of cans. Nice and strong with hand holes.
On the way up I weighed the van with just me, some gas, a cart and the back bench seat (total and just the rear axle).
Looks like I can add another 680KG total. Hmmm. 21 boxes, it's going to be close.
As usual I threw 9 behind the bench seat. That's about 300 KG which is OK for the rear axle. The ~16 inch wide boxes just squeeze in nicely and they're secure back there. (I usually fit another couple in crosswise on top when carrying light stuff I can lift easily.) However, this time there were another 12 boxes which went against the back seat between the axles which would add to the rear weight. I went ~1/4 mile to the scales and...
Total weight OK, The back was a 100kg over so I moved 3 boxes from the back to the middle which made it close enough.
I got the passenger van for visibility, carrying more than 2 people and for the rear AC when hauling dogs. It does a great job hauling cargo as well, although it would nice to have the full 4 ft wide floor.
I was thinking maybe European plywood sizes were different but it's actually worse!
Even the cargo van just fits. While American plywood sheets are typically 4'x 8', plywood manufactured for the European market or manufactured in Europe is generally square, with 1250mm x 1250mm (50” square) being the most common size. For commercial applications, plywood comes in sizes up to 3660mm square (144” square).Dec 8, 2021
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