Plain white Ford Transit Needs Exterior Re-do. Vinyl wrap? Paint?? ???

[brianjwilson]

In all seriousness, I would personally just leave it. It's nice having something doesn't attract extra attention when you want to blend in. Just my opinion though. I've had a couple rigs that attract way too much attention, people would pace me on the highway and take pictures, follow me to ask questions when I stopped. Constantly bug me when I'm out camping etc.

 

[Haf-E]

I would still argue that a plain looking "people mover" window van looks less attractive than a now window cargo van. I'd go with the black vinyl on the window openings. Should be fairly cheap to have done and is easily reversed if you don't like it or change your mind later.

I would also coat the white rocker panel areas with some black DIY truck bed lining as it doesn't need to be perfect since it will usually be covered in road dirt and grime. Probably would use Monstaliner from what I've heard.

 

[F451]

I would still argue that a plain looking "people mover" window van looks less attractive than a now window cargo van. I'd go with the black vinyl on the window openings. Should be fairly cheap to have done and is easily reversed if you don't like it or change your mind later.

I would also coat the white rocker panel areas with some black DIY truck bed lining as it doesn't need to be perfect since it will usually be covered in road dirt and grime. Probably would use Monstaliner from what I've heard.

I've been checking out cargo style van's vs passenger style vans as I've been driving around and I think the passenger type vans look better and fit in better in suburban neighborhoods like where I live.

I stopped by a couple of places to get quotes on tinting the windows and adding stripes and "window look" vinyl in the window spaces and its pretty spendy. I think I will start with the window tint at one place and see how they do. If I'm happy with the work I'll consider the window treatment and possibly stripes.

And yes, for the rockers, going to spray on some black Plasti Dip I have leftover. When it gets trashed I'll just touch it up, or remove completely and re-spray.

And I never even heard the term "creeper van" until my wife and daughters started in with it. It's actually annoying me now and I told them to stop with the comments. Next time I'm outside fiddling with the Transit my neighbor, female of course, makes a comment about it being a creeper van. ******?!

I know its childish to let it bother me, but I couldn't be anymore "not creeperish" if I tried. The jokes get old after a while and now I'm driving around wondering if every female that eyes my van is thinking I'm some type of creep.

I can't wait to get out on some weekend get aways, I need to get into some nature.

 

[philos]

No tips for how to style your van really, but I had to ask if you were a Bradbury fan. If so, I guess you've already thought of fire engine red...


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[outdoor_funguy]

Hey guys,

I just picked up a very plain, very large, very white Ford Transit 250 cargo, long wheelbase, medium roof, and I have to agree with the wife, its looks kinda plain, which never occurred to me that its not ideal, Lol. The wife and kids keep mentioning it and they've infected my brain with their propaganda and I'm now wondering if anyone has done any interesting treatments to the exterior of their vans like a re-spray, wrap, racing stripes, graphics?

And yes I know I could have purchased any number of Transits in whatever colors they offer but I didn't, so we can skip that discussion (please).

Here's the White Whale now, it will slowly be converted into the ultimate moto van. Well, maybe not ultimate.

I kinda like this look and think it would be relatively inexpensive to order up some stripes on the interwebs, or have a local graphics place make them for me. Maybe in dark blue, or the gray/silver look like this one. When I showed this to the wife she pointed out that my van will still have gigantic white sides with nothing on them. Dang it.

This is interesting, adds some visuals to the sides. I think I would skip the numbers, don't want to advertise that I'm carting bikes and gear around:

Another idea I had was to look into the cost of a full vinyl wrap, less the roof. Change the color to something like silver or gold, leave the top white to help out with keeping the temps down in the summer and lower the cost of the wrap a bit. A full wrap is unlikely (too many negatives, too expensive for what you get, etc), but I think I will stop by one of the local shops that does them to see what they say.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to make the White Whale less generic, I'd love to hear them, thanks. -Eddie

Ps: I should add, I'm planning on installing 30" tires soon, probably Bridgestone AT T/A KO2, for the dirt roads and fields I'll be negotiating while out riding the dirt bikes. Later if the budget allows I'd like to look into a 2" or so lift.

In my opinion, a vinyl wrap is much more practical and gives awesome look to your car. My vinyl wrap project was installed by Gatorwraps and I am very satisfied!

 

[Bikersmurf]

A fully custom wrap on an Ambo (up to the gutter) runs about $2k + design time. Graphics can be as simple or complex as desired. Installation could be a bit more on a transit because it isn't as flat.

Most are Warrantied for 5 years, but will last much longer.

With a white back ground, some basic graphics and vinyl could be for a couple hundred bucks.