HighPlainsPhotographer
Observer
I'm thinking of replacing my wife's high mileage 4x4 Expedition EL with a van. I have some concerns with a 2WD vehicle and winter driving conditions. I'm looking for opinions and real world experience with a 2WD van in the snow.
We live in Colorado, in the mountains near Fairplay, about 10,000'. We receive quite a bit of snow, but not as much as the I70 corridor where the ski areas are. I commute about 100 miles one way to Denver daily, I see quite a bit of ice and winter driving conditions, I commute in an AWD BMW car with snow tires, never any issues. My wife would use the van for taking our kids back and forth to school and occasional transport for her in-home daycare. The van would be equipped with studded snows in season, and a couple of years down the road (when money allows) converted to 4WD. We are considering a van because the Expedition is too small for us - four young kids, 2 big dogs - and the daycare. We would like to have a vehicle we can equip for family camping and road trips.
I'm leaning towards a newer (2016 or 2017) Chevy/GMC Express 3500 extended wheelbase. I have always been a Ford guy, but prefer the GM 6.0l power train and the more traditional and heavy duty construction vs a Ford Transit. Not to mention newer Chevy Express vans seem to be popular rental vehicles = readily available like new for not too much money. I'm open to other van ideas, the AWD GM vans are out because they hold fewer passengers then our Expedition and I do not want a 1/2 ton based vehicle. 4WD Sprinter's are out of my price range.
Keep in mind my wife will be driving this vehicle in the winter, full of kids. She is an experienced and competent winter driver. I don't want to set her up to have issues getting around. Ideally we would like to wait a couple of years until we can afford a van and the cost of a 4WD conversion at the same time, but we would like a larger vehicle for her daycare and are trying to avoid dumping a bunch of money in the Expy to keep it reliably on the road for the next couple of years.
Thoughts?
We live in Colorado, in the mountains near Fairplay, about 10,000'. We receive quite a bit of snow, but not as much as the I70 corridor where the ski areas are. I commute about 100 miles one way to Denver daily, I see quite a bit of ice and winter driving conditions, I commute in an AWD BMW car with snow tires, never any issues. My wife would use the van for taking our kids back and forth to school and occasional transport for her in-home daycare. The van would be equipped with studded snows in season, and a couple of years down the road (when money allows) converted to 4WD. We are considering a van because the Expedition is too small for us - four young kids, 2 big dogs - and the daycare. We would like to have a vehicle we can equip for family camping and road trips.
I'm leaning towards a newer (2016 or 2017) Chevy/GMC Express 3500 extended wheelbase. I have always been a Ford guy, but prefer the GM 6.0l power train and the more traditional and heavy duty construction vs a Ford Transit. Not to mention newer Chevy Express vans seem to be popular rental vehicles = readily available like new for not too much money. I'm open to other van ideas, the AWD GM vans are out because they hold fewer passengers then our Expedition and I do not want a 1/2 ton based vehicle. 4WD Sprinter's are out of my price range.
Keep in mind my wife will be driving this vehicle in the winter, full of kids. She is an experienced and competent winter driver. I don't want to set her up to have issues getting around. Ideally we would like to wait a couple of years until we can afford a van and the cost of a 4WD conversion at the same time, but we would like a larger vehicle for her daycare and are trying to avoid dumping a bunch of money in the Expy to keep it reliably on the road for the next couple of years.
Thoughts?
