Projects Wheelchair accessible panel truck vehicle choice

I've done some more research on vehicle dimensions with some good direction from folks here on the forum. Thanks to all for the advice. That "GM Heritage" site is awesome. I scrolled back and forth through the years of manuals looking at the evolution of the models and comparing dimensions, mainly headroom. It appears the best hope of getting the roughly 58 inches of headroom I want is to start with a 1-ton panel from the 1940's. Even then you'd have to drop the floor several inches, much like was done to my modern full size van. Just guessing, but it looks like you'd have to drop the floor so much that the chassis might become visible underneath. That's ok by me, but interesting. Are panels of this size rare? Do any of the chassis builders make chassis' for vehicles with this longer wheelbase? Does this sound like the right path?

 

Hey, wc;

Don't know if this may help, or even be of interest;

but I have a friend w/a ~ '42 IH Postal truck. Duallies, & actually rather neat looking. & since I've got ~ 15-20 too many projects already, this won't happen for me. Probably more than 1T. Has a fairly tall top - could walk thru, iirc. Has sliding front doors, & a 3-piece rear door, w/a flat floor, that should be dropable if needed. Should have plenty of room for a wheelchair to roll up into drivers' area & lock down. Body isn't horrible, & other than IHs' typical big schnoze, the body is unique. Price is decent, but I don't want to get into/inbetween folks. I've no interest in "speculating". Would be happy to get you 2 guys together. Truck & I, are in MN.

Any spl reason you have to be only 15" off the ground, or is it only due to a drop-ramp rather than a lift? Brother went through that more than once, but mosetly wanted a smaller mini-van instead of full size. FWIW, I do have a Ricon elect/hyd from my moms' old van, if interested.

Have a few ideas that might help, but easier to do PM or email or ph. I like to see these things done nicely, & you guys getting out & about. Mom was in one, & youngest brother is too. Sucks, but what do you do, but make the best of the situation(s)? Y.B. can only have one van, & can't afford to do a hot-rod, so the late model it is for him.

Hope you get where you want to go, in style... .

Marcus...

 

Thank you for your offers, Marcus. I appreciate that. The 15 inches is to keep some hope of using a ramp instead of a lift. I've been driving full size lift equipped vans since '78. The lifts have served me well but the simplicity of the ramp is appealing. I'm hoping to get a low enough floor to use a ramp and not have to use a variable height suspension. If that's not possible then I'll have to pick between the reliability of a typical wheelchair lift vs. something like airbags. The vehicle itself needs to fit in my garage so it needs to be no more than roughly 85 inches tall. It also has to be my everyday driver so all the "stuff" that wears out or breaks needs to be pretty new. In short, I'm looking for a full replacement my late model full size van. I realize that's a pretty big order to fill.

 

This one is too far away to even think about but it might give you an idea or two. It's long enough that you could put a door in the passenger side that would either lift up or swing out for a ramp. http://yakima.craigslist.org/cto/4274153879.html

I'm no fan of bags or laying the runningboards on the ground but this might be a case where it would make it a lot simpler for you to have and early model truck that you could use a ramp for entry and exit with.

 

Ive read some of your other threads after clicking on your user name then clicking on "post by you",in case you want to go back and comment instead of starting a new thread.
I will be honest with you,I dont know how much you have delt with old cars, maybe a lot more than me,I dont know,but I will say that the few people on here that do actually drive their classics daily,running errands,to work and back,grocerys etc.would probably tell you that its not as easy as it looks,with something always needing attention.
Ive done it, Its not practical "for me".

Thats why I personally would reccomend to anyone to have something a little more modern and dependable for a daily and save the hotrods for leisure time when you can enjoy them.

I do genrally like to have a daily with a cool vibe to it as well even tho it might not be a classic. Ive got to have cool wheels,maybe window tint etc.etc.etc.
The people that know you will know you have something cool at home in the garage and will ask you about it even if you arent driving it at that particular time.

A lowered divco like littlemans on here might be a cool option for a fat fendered rod. I know I like it.

 

I sold a 46 GMC 3/4 ton panel last year to some guys south of Dallas..........would have made a great truck for your project...someone came by here before that and inquired..he was in a chair and was driving a late van, convenience equipped..made him a price and talked about the conversion...never heard a thing...sold it a few months later.............

 

Hey, wc;

I understand. I don't know what the height is on my friends' thing. I get the restrictions. Can get "interesting", can't it... .

Mom went through that, but passed before we got her into a newer minivan. Y.B. went through that - *lots* of troubles -, finally got a minivan that worked fairly well. What with depending on the state for the payment/insurance/etc & not mention all of their arcane rules/regs, building one was quite out of the question. Even though it dream-wheeled out much cheaper, & would've been more reliable. I never could figure out how to fund it, as I'm not wealthy, & don't know the folks necessary to acquire donations. It's ok, all is good anyways.

In essence, it'd would've been a streetrod. Or at least: late model driveline & suspension, efi, old body & the frame, aftermarket wiring, new interior, etc. Emphasis on reliability, &, of course, functionality. Looks a close 3rd.

If you're paying out of your own pocket, in a way things get simpler, on an order of magnitude, at least. Just be forwarned, the fold out ramps, if they're powered, will fail, so have a manual back-up available. Most I've seen have this, but I don't think a quad could operate it. A para - "maybe", just maybe, but I'd bet an attendant/friend would be needed. But, they are simple, so that is a plus. Most of the conversions leave a lot to be desired, to say the least, for a number of reasons, which I won't go into. Other than to say: BTDT, got the T-shirt, & close to an ulcer, no extra charge.

Bagging has a lot of merit, & can be real reliable, if done correctly, & for the right reason. Not to mention ride *quality*. A couple of years ago, I'd've never voiced this opinion. Based on what I've seen at work. (Large metro transit bus company).

Depending on what you want to end up with, there are a lot of choices. But there are also drawbacks. I'm sure you've fleshed them out. Since you're in TX, you have a few less issues than we do here in MN. but still...

Hoping you're able to pull this off.

Marcus.

 

I like this body style, full size shorty chevy van that is a little more modern
(same bodystyle 96 back to 71) they have a classic vibe but are too new here but considering the custom paint,cragars etc.hopefully the mods will let me slide if I share this.
Not sure if this interest you but noticed in another thread you were kind of just ready for a change so.............
These vans are cool if fixed rite. Classic style custom vans have made a resurgence.

 

Hey low budget - I appreciate your candid advice about trying to make this be an everyday driver. I'm still open to the possibility that's not a good idea. But, I don't think I can afford to own two pricey vehicles just for my use. If it can't be an everyday driver it probably won't happen.

 

Hey Man,Not tryin to rain on your parade,and Not sayin you cant do it because it didnt work for me,thats just been my experience and I wouldnt say I have exactly owned top of the line stuff either. I also live out in the country and anywhere I go to work etc. is a 15 to 20 mile one way commute, so its more practical,easier and affordable for me to have a modern daily and a hunk of junk.....uh, I mean low budget hot rod in the garage when I can afford one.

If you can make it happen,go for it,but at least keep what you have now for a backup until you see how things are going to work out.

 

No problem - no offense taken - I appreciate any advice. As far as my own experience goes, it's very little. Back in the day I grew up on a family farm in Georgia helping Dad maintain the farm equipment. I also raced flattrack motorcycles for a couple of years and maintained my bikes as much as I knew how. I broke my neck on a racetrack at 16. After that I got a mechanical engineering degree and continued being a gear head, but using pencil and paper instead of wrenches. I think a little of that experience applies to this project. But the big problem is I've never been involved in a car build first hand. So I'm really starting from scratch. That's why I got on the forum - to connect with you guys that have really been there, done that.

 

I realize you are more interested in a 40's vehicle but check out chevy and gmc 1 ton long wheelbase panels. My cousin had one for awhile and that may be a good route for you. Lots of disc brake conversions and drivetrain swap possibilities, a large rear area that may be big enough for your needs.


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Check out this post:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319228

 

A grumman like mine need a 8ft2 inch door to fit in a garage plenty of room and i can get all the part for it at my local napa being a gmc p-100 under it

maybe

 

There first thing I thought of was a Corvair ramp side truck.

Here is a Chevy I found a couple weeks back. All aluminum body. NFS from what I can tell.

 

I suppose the vehicle choice will also be influenced by what's available. Between Chevy, Ford, and Dodge, generally speaking which make produced more panel trucks in the '40's and maybe early '50's? Are the 3/4 and 1 ton varieties lots harder to find than the half ton?

 

Yup and this one:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=389666

Search for threads by KripFink and the terms Kripple Kart. He doesn't drive his but he would probably be able to give you a ton of info on how they did the mods to his '54 Ford panel. Paul seems like a super nice guy so I am sure he would be more than willing to help in any way that he can.

 

The San Diego Auto show had a special section on accessability vehicles. I talked to the builder of a early '60's two door suburban that was off the charts. Built a tube frame with a Caddy FWD engine. The rear doors were made into a single hatch with a ramp and he rolls right into the driving position. Sorry I didn't get photos.

 

Panels must be very popular in Texas,where you are, I looked at some of the bigger cities on Texas craigslist and saw sevral,some done, some projects.
I was just wandering if their might be a posibility of building a custom chair that could be lowered etc. instead of dropping the floor in a vehicle.

Just a thought,not sure if anything like that would be possible or not???

 

The special chair is a good idea. I know some guys that do that for special activities. Unfortunately the the nature of my disability is such that transfers are a fair amount of work. If I had to transfer to use it I suspect the truck would get driven a lot less.

I looked at the cutaway picture of a truck and the EZ Swap S10 chassis kit on the EZ Swap website. It looks like the truck floor is lots closer to the transmission and drive shaft than I thought. The idea of dropping the floor several inches may not be possible after all.

There was a pic of a Studebaker pickup converted to front wheel drive in one of my earlier posts. Anybody know how they approached that?

Another thing I've wondered about is finding a FWD body-on-frame vehicle and using it as a donor chassis. What do you folks think?

 

If you wanted front wheel drive an early olds toronado would be a good choice. Take the front clip and install it on the chassis of your panel truck. It would be a ton of work and the rear suspension would have to be figured out as well if you didn't feel like dragging around the dead weight of a rear end that wasn't serving a mechanical purpose. You would be sort of limited to picking a vehicle that would be wide enough to use the toronado clip but also tall enough up fit your chair in the back.


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You might think im crazy but what about an old school bus?

 

First thing I thought of was a Corvair van. The side door would be simple enough to convert to a ramp or similar set up. If it was bagged, it would make it even easier to get in and out of. With the engine location, basic maintenance would be pretty simple due to easy access. They even made 8 door versions which are pretty bad ass. -dd

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i've always wanted to mount a bigger late model fwd power train in an older pu to use as a small car hauler should not be any harder than changing a clip, you would have to add upper strut mounts a little more planning and by using a bigger car, caddy, chev, buick you would have bigger brakes.

 

Thanks for the ideas. All good. I saw a school bus conversion in Georgia once. Not a radical conversion, more functional. Seemed to work pretty good.

I see where grafting on a FWD drivetrain is tricky and takes extra planning. Does anyone have pictures of a conversion like that in progress?

 

I dont really like the end result myself but still may give some idea


http://jeremylawsonblog.com/post/56...rvester-metro-delivery-van-thats#.Uv6bl_ldWPc

 

Not much info on it!!
found in farce book on the page vintage van compagny - vinvanco

 

That's an impressive adaptation. Hats off to whoever made it happen.

At the moment I'm leaning towards something simpler.

A 1-ton, long wheelbase Panel to have room inside comparable to my van. I think it also allows plenty of room for adding a side door or doors for ramp entry.

A stretched S10 chassis to more easily accommodate modern brakes, duspension, drive train, etc. I realize that's about a foot of stretch for the longest S10, but I'm not sure there's a better option that's affordable.

An airbag suspension to lower the whole thing while I'm getting in and out.

 

very cool setup!

 

FWD conversions are pretty basic and will give you the height reduction you need. olds toronado and caddy are sister setups. you can use a GMC motorhome front suspension as it's a toronado setup using adapters to use 1 ton wheels. built a 49' chevy COE using toronado gear and it works great.