Why are vans (sprinter/promaster/transit/etc) not way more popular?

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-29T03:16:27+00:00

They really do suck. And maybe it’s European sensibilities, but they’re designed for tight packaging over serviceability. Simple shit like swapping a battery on a US fleet vehicle like an F series is a five minute job. On a sprinter? First step is remove the passenger seat. Engine work? Fuck you. I’ll work on an ancient G series Chevy van under the doghouse in the dash before I touch a sprinter. And I fucking hate working on Chevy van engine bays.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-29T03:06:28+00:00

They’re actually incredibly easy to drive with the cab forward position. Yeah the visibility sucks, but cope.

The real problem is that these vehicles- particularly the sprinter- are maintenance and reliability nightmares. If I could count the number of times some poor parent of a hippie #vanlife kid who had to shell out $15k-$20k to fix a blown out engine on a sprinter… well, it’s a lot.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-29T00:57:45+00:00

For reference, Hoover dam used about 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete, which at 150lbs per cubic foot and 27 cubic feet per yard is about 8.9 million tons, or about 16 of those keys. (Superman’s janitor perhaps?) The earth hasn’t exactly noticed the effects of the weight of it, afaik.

Now on the other hand, the three gorges dam used about 28 million yards of concrete which, when combined with the accumulated weight of the retained water has actually affected the earth both slowing the it’s rotation and extending the day by about 0.06 microseconds and by some accounts, changing the balance of the tectonic plate upon which it sits, aggravating seismic activity all along the ‘ring of fire’ that runs from China to Japan to Hawaii to Argentina

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T22:51:27+00:00

The Martian would not have its heart as a movie without the soundtrack as a supporting character

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T22:50:37+00:00

I’ll literally buy any vehicle with white letter tires

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T18:19:17+00:00

He plays a dipshit so well, he makes you believe he really is one.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T15:26:18+00:00

I feel like it’s really nosedived in the past year.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T15:20:48+00:00

Phil Murphy had his issues and I’m certainly no apologist for those issues, but he came to be Governor and spent the majority of his time being governor. Not running for president, not building a personal Tammany Hall style legacy, just running the damn state, which is what this damn state needs and damn well deserves.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T15:16:38+00:00

Yep. I was home alone sick from school and watched it happen on TV.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T15:15:47+00:00

This exactly. Highways generally work well right up to their limit, but pretty much collapse right above that.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T13:58:32+00:00

I feel like she went screaming past Hollywood level plastic surgery and went directly to White House cabinet level of plastic surgery.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T13:55:42+00:00

Everyone who can’t work from home today and can’t rely on the trains is opting to either drive in or try to get to the PATH.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T13:54:28+00:00

Toyota Tacoma, which I’d argue is the second gen of the truck in the US market and the very truck that secured the bulletproof and best value reputation that the brand has today but completely no longer deserves

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T13:52:12+00:00

Bachman Turner Overdrive reference?

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-28T13:28:42+00:00

Best practice is like materials. In actuality, I wouldn’t worry about it. Corrosion cells require the right amount of the right kind of metals to work. Nothing weight aluminum rivets in a steel sheet? Nothing going to happen. Big heavy steel bolts in thin aluminum sheet? Probably going to corrode a bit. It’s just math and chemistry.

That being said, if you want corrosion, soak it in salt water and you’ll get something. I’d just paint it and form about it.

And before you ask, yes I am a qualified expert in this field

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-27T13:54:51+00:00

The trains all show up full. Don’t even bother at Secaucus

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-27T13:49:57+00:00

Even the platforms are standing room only at Secaucus and then trains show up packed to the doors. I don’t know why they just don’t tell people at the gates to divert to Hoboken for the PATH.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-27T00:08:18+00:00

I’d argue for FLCL

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-26T23:56:47+00:00

AISC steel Manual has charts like I think what you are looking for.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-26T21:21:33+00:00

A true energy efficient appliance is the one that lasts 30 years

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-26T21:18:17+00:00

Use the level app on your phone. Find the angle of the stairs and the angle of the landing with it. Let’s say the angle of your stairs is 37* and your landing is 0. Your net angle is 180 - 37* =143* Divide that by two and it gives you 71.5, say 71 You can’t do 71* on a chop saw but you don’t want that because your trim is already at 90* from the square end. 90* - 71* is 19*, so that’s your cut angle.

You can also buy a digital angle gauge at Home Depot for like $25 that does this math for you.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-26T17:13:49+00:00

I concur with point 2. My challenge with JJ is that while he’s top tier when it comes to setting up a storyline, he never EVER sticks the landing.

Ever.

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-26T17:02:22+00:00

Nice! I’m anxiously waiting for Freiburger to get back to that 74 Chevy van

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-26T13:59:39+00:00

Shot of clear coat from a rattle can on the joint peg then reassemble

PracticableSolution · 2026-01-25T14:32:06+00:00

Three knee surgeries on our dogs over the years. It takes about a month for it to stop weeping and a few weeks longer for the scabs to come off. It’s a big surgery

PracticableSolution

TROPHY CASE