I'm planning a dual duty Ford Transit: towing a single car open trailer and also cycling/camping trips. Researching on fordtransitusaforum.com too. Anybody else have or planning one?
Share pics!

Tentative plan is a medium mileage used or maybe new high roof XLT (longest) Ecoboost cargo (no windows), 2wd. Many question around what options too look for to meet my usage plans.
Not looking for a fully outfitted camper to live in. Just the minimal amenities for wknd trips to bike races but flex space for race spares, tires, fuel jugs etc. Shopping for an aluminum trailer
but I'll get a steel one of the right deal comes along. I'd like to future proof the initial build in terms of power, insulation, HVAC so if I do decide to make a full camp rig, the infrastructure is mostly done.

Function/Features must have
Tow 5k easily
Insulate & panel entire interior
Water tanks for external shower
Cartridge toilet
Portable self contained stove
Simple portable or wall mounted cold water sink
grey water tank from sink
separate house battery system
300w solar on roof
enough AC power to run small microwave
shore power hook up

must have OEM options
Adaptive CC
XM radio

Question marks
Factory rear A/C- heater or aftermarket system running off hose batteries/shore power
Factory "upfitter" elec panel or aftermarket kit
dual alternators
GVWR?

PFA (I don't have one yet)

 

So I've thought about doing something similar, but decided a pickup was the better way to go. I don't do any biking so a van would probably be great for that. I cant speak to it. But the RWD long wheel base high top transit cargo has rated towing capacity of 6500# and GCWR of 12,600#. Id guess the curb weight before adding all of your up -fitting would be 5300-5500# range. So not a great deal of weight to play with if you plan on adding amenities and staying 'legal.' I don't know the laws or penalties regarding driving over weight where you're going.

A Miata on an aluminum trailer would probably tow fine behind it but going for much more may be trouble. I have also been places that assume you're towing max weight and if you have a 7000# trailer hooked to a 6500# rated vehicle will ticket you for it regardless of your actual load.

 

I had a custom trailer built for mass-related reasons. Basically shortened a stock steel car trailer, with no floor. Bought two builders aluminium planks, cut to length for two tracks on the trailer frame and the leftovers became the ramps - came up just shy of 300kg. No winch, 13in wheels, cable over-run brakes.

It has put on a little weight since then (haven't we all!), but the mass imperative also disappeared.

 

I looked into this a few years ago (start of COVID shut down) and I found it difficult to find used ones that were optioned the right way to get the towing capacity high enough. The ones that did have the towing capacity and were a decent price were snatched up fast. Though that's likely due to the spike in the adventure van trend).

 

Like others already, I was very deep into this exact same theorycraft two years ago.
I had a signed Ford custom order sheet and a verbal $1k off the ~$65k MSRP offer from the local dealer, which was a smoking deal at the time(EoY 2021) and sure to get delayed/cancelled eventually.
At the time I recall I was wanting to order a "Crew" van to get side glass and rear interior trim with the intention to DiY finish the back with a sleeping platform, fridge and solar.
The "Upfitter" pkg included the single high output alternator, but not duals at the time.
There was also an "Adventure" pkg that pre-wired the back half for interior lights, roof fans and/or solar prep, with a matching OEM rocker switch panel in the dash.

I learned a lot about single vs dual rear wheel GVWR and tow/cargo capacity. I wanted a dually for the redundancy/safety/towing "feel" but the SRW vans had the same GVWR and weighed less themselves, so for loading up with racecar spares and DiY camper outfitting, the SRW was actually the way to go?


I ended up buying a $20k 2008 Class C on a chevy 3500 van chassis(6.0l LS, 4L80E)
I thing my decision boiled down to storage cost(parking) and whether/when/where the wife and I would actually need to park it in a normal parking space. I still think an older, proper body on frame commercial van E350/450 or Express 3500 is a much better value, even with them being a few years out of production today. I dont think the efficiencies of the modern van replacement products actually pay off without a substantial over-investment for comfort/UI/infotainment or "new shiny cool factor." My vehicle solution does NOT keep the bikes inside with me, which is another major consideration and the primary driver for a bare high roof commercial van upfit IMO.

After 18 months of fairly high Class C RV usage(vs most owners) I still sometimes lust after a proper Winnebago Revel or other Sprinter/Transit based "regular van body" RV, but none of have the tow capacity I need/want. I also have a very redundant Land Cruiser with a sleeping platform in it that carries the same bike rack.

 

Shopping used is tricky because no one posts a pic of the door sticker. So no ide which options, GVWR,etc. I'm leaning more towards a new one. Resale seems to be quite good so new ones aren't that much more.
Also want adaptive cc which very few used ones have. We'll see. More research to do.

 

My cousin just bought a brand new Mercedes sprinter that he plans on turning into a camper van. I was quite surprised how expensive they are for how bare bones it was but the thing is huge! Makes my Sienna look small.

 

Sprinters are great. Only shopping for the Transit though. Cheaper, same or better warranty, cheaper to service, bunch more power.