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TRANSIT TO THE US?


Edstock

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Either way the Astro was not even in the same class as the the E-Series, You could fit an Astro in the belly of an Econoline

Astro was a mini van, competed with the Aerostar and the Winstar...bloody awful van with a HUGE transmission hup that forced one to splay their feet towards the door...TERRIBLE design....

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Astro was a mini van, competed with the Aerostar and the Winstar...bloody awful van with a HUGE transmission hup that forced one to splay their feet towards the door...TERRIBLE design....

 

A terrible design mini van with a truck frame, a truck engine, and big enough to carry a family and pull their boat. It's a terrible mini van based on a real truck, not a car. The Aerostar is based off a truck too, but was lighter and unit body. The other mini vans are just people movers.

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A terrible design mini van with a truck frame, a truck engine, and big enough to carry a family and pull their boat. It's a terrible mini van based on a real truck, not a car. The Aerostar is based off a truck too, but was lighter and unit body. The other mini vans are just people movers.

 

 

My cargo astro van is awesome, has over 100K miles and hauls around all my tools and equipment. I ve had to replace the rear axle twice and gone through a fuel pump, but engine and transmission have been solid. I easily have a payload of around 1000 to 1200 pounds and the van is perfect for city parking. my boss saw an artticle about the Transit and basically said that would be our next van if our astro can last that long. otherwise he has been look at srpinters. I hope the astro can last a couple of more years.

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A terrible design mini van with a truck frame, a truck engine, and big enough to carry a family and pull their boat. It's a terrible mini van based on a real truck, not a car. The Aerostar is based off a truck too, but was lighter and unit body. The other mini vans are just people movers.

Aerostar was based on the ranger frame, but had a coil sprung live-axle.

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Sometimes market segments just die, or shift elsewhere. It's not always just a matter of keeping something up to date. Conversely, some market segments are rock solid and change very little (like fullsize vans), limiting the need for updates just for the sake of updates.

He is using the same logic that we do on cars and that simply does not apply to comercial vehicles, people buy them for capability period. Also The E-Series will have completed it's refresh by 2009, It looks completely different and is more capable than it's previous model from 05'

Ford did a great job refreshing the E-Series last year. What they missed they will get next year. It is still looks like a 20 year old design with a new grill and new dash. It still won't get customers who want an affordable family van (vehicle), with reasonable fuel effiency, that you can both park and pull a small trailer. It is still no substitue for the Sprinter for Courier and other trades.

Don't you understand that people don't buy them for personal vehicles? :finger: The Mini Van/SUV market separated those customers back in the early 80's. Now they are purpose built, and the purpose is not for a daily family car. Well, unless you want a luxury conversion van! Back in the day everyone wanted a full sized van to cruise in and customize with moonie windows, but them days have been gone for nearly 30 years!

Edited by Furious1Auto
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My cargo astro van is awesome, has over 100K miles and hauls around all my tools and equipment. I ve had to replace the rear axle twice and gone through a fuel pump, but engine and transmission have been solid. I easily have a payload of around 1000 to 1200 pounds and the van is perfect for city parking. my boss saw an artticle about the Transit and basically said that would be our next van if our astro can last that long. otherwise he has been look at srpinters. I hope the astro can last a couple of more years.

 

Needing to replace 2 axles in just over 100,000 miles doesn't sound too awesome to me. :shrug:

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  • 2 weeks later...
Needing to replace 2 axles in just over 100,000 miles doesn't sound too awesome to me. :shrug:

The question is who's axles are being replaced, Ford relies heavily on DANA axles just as every domestic auto manufacturer. If it is a DANA problem does that mean GM, and Chrysler will be doing the same?

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I am very surprised to see all the E series hate in here, The van has to be one of the most profitable vehicles in Ford's lineup and I am not trying to make a Panther car like argument here becuase E series sales have held strong for the past 15 years or so and still manage to outsell the GM vans which actually seem to get a bit of marketing and have been redesigned a bit more often. Wouldn't it make sense that maybe the E series has a loyal customer base if it has managed to continue to sell year after year without much of sales drop if at all and without any advertising and very little in the way of updates? In my eyes it would be absolutely foolish to get rid of the Econoline as it has built a tremendous name for itself across the job sites of america over the past 30 or so years as one of the workhorses of America.

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there is no reason we couldn't design a transit cab to fit onto a Frame.

 

 

What does the Cab have to do with the capability, all i am saying is that within the next 8 years you could replace the e- series cutaway, with a BOF transit cutaway

 

More blasts from the past!!!!!

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