My van is a 2004 Workhorse Stepvan named Vanderella. A stepvan is the style of van typically used by Fedex, UPS, bread companies, chip distributors, uniform companies, and taco vendors. Also called a panel van, panel truck, food truck, bread truck, pie truck, and mechanics truck. This style of vehicle isn’t made by a single company; it is a body that is built upon a rolling chassis. My chassis is a Chevrolet Workhorse, and the body is built by Union City Body. Because of this, the VIN code associated with the vehicle is often useless for finding information about it. Specifically, replacement parts.
Owning this kind of vehicle requires some homework and detailed notes, as you will need to supply the people who work on it with information that they may not be easily able to determine. It is easiest to consider the body and the chassis as two separate vehicles. There really isn’t much overlap anyway, as the shops that work on the chassis have little to do with the body. Common chassis manufacturers are Chevy/Workhorse, Ford, and International. My chassis is essentially a 2004 Chevrolet 3500 one ton chassis. So in regard to drivetrain, wheels, brakes, and all associated subsystems, I usually use a 2004 Chevy Silverado 3500 for reference.
When talking about stepvans, there are many options and combinations that are made. Here are some of them and my thoughts on the matter:
Engine. Both gas and diesel engines are common. Diesel tends to get better gas mileage, but is more expensive to repair and is louder. Diesel should last for hundreds of thousands of miles easily if maintained. Gas are cheaper to repair and much more common. They don’t do as well on hills and don’t seem to last as many miles as diesel does. My engine is a Chevy 4.8L V8 LS1 engine. That is a small block V8. I would characterize the performance of the engine as underwhelming considering the size and weight of the van, but then again I get roughly 12 mpg on the highway and about 10 mpg around town. I am not getting anywhere fast. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the gas engine and wanted it. Many people have preferences for Cummins Diesel engines and they come highly recommended if you are looking to go that route.
Transmission. Both automatic and manual transmissions are common. In my opinion, automatic is the way to go. I wouldn’t be absolutely opposed to a manual, but I don’t get warm fuzzy thoughts about trying to take off on an incline in a stepvan with a manual. I have an 4L80E automatic transmission. Allison transmissions seem to be one of the highly sought after transmissions for step vans and are often paired with Cummins Diesel engines.
Roof. For almost all stepvans, the bodies are aluminum. The roof can be either aluminum or fiberglass. The roof on Vanderella is fiberglass. I was initially very hesitant to go that route because I knew I would be putting several solar panels on it, and I was afraid that it might not be strong enough. After completing the build, I feel much better about it. I was able to reinforce the areas where the panels are mounted and they are quite secure. Also, I feel like having a fiberglass roof might actually help me get better cell reception for the wifi. If the roof were aluminum, this big giant box could act a lot like a faraday cage and kill the cell signal inside the van. External antennas might be required to get better signal again. So far I am fairly happy with the fiberglass roof. The transparent ability to let sun through is completely pointless, as I have the roof stuffed with insulation that completely blocks out all sunlight. I would also note that the fiberglass is less thermally conductive than aluminum and probably contributes to less chance of condensation inside the van in colder climates. All that said, an aluminum roof still seems badass and part of me just wants one because it would be super sturdy. Oh well.
Body. There are a handful of companies that have made stepvan bodies over the years. Grumman Olson, Utilimaster, and Union City Body seem to be the most popular. Vanderella is a Union City Body. While they are all similar in function, the parts are usually specific to the company and often not interchangeable. The coolest part about a step van is that they are relatively easy to work on and you can still get a ton of replacement parts for the bodies. Mill Supply in Cleveland OH is THE source for step van parts. I have been able to replace many body parts easily with replacements from Mill Supply. If the van is old enough, you might have to do some slight modifications to get the new parts to work, but in general the replacements are usually pretty straight forward. I’m actually not super thrilled with the Union City Body as they are no longer in business. Some parts are harder to get, but in general, any of the three above should work just fine.
Height. Stepvans come in different heights. Mine is about 82″ inside. I personally would like it to be a couple inches higher as I am so tall. At least I can stand up completely as most RV’s are not tall enough. This is definitely a contributing factor for me to end up choosing a stepvan. Some are taller inside than mine, others are shorter. A taller vehicle will definitely drive a little more top heavy than a shorter one.
Length. Stepvans come in many lengths. Technically I think those small vans that the USPS use are stepvans and that is like 6′ cargo? Vanderella has 16′ of cargo space behind the driver’s seat. Initially I was hoping for a bit longer, but 16′ is fine. Actually it’s already hard enough to maneuver in a parking lot, A couple feet longer would only make it worse. I wanted a longer truck to have room for a full desk, storage, solar, and a kitchen area. There is a good chance the average person might not need as much room. My lower limit was 12′ of cargo, but 16′ is good for me. The overall length is about 24′, which is too long to fit in a single parking spot. I can make it work by backing in and letting the rear end hang over a curb if absolutely necessary. In general, I just take up two parking spots long.
Rear Door. The two big choices here are rollup doors and barn doors. I have barn doors and that is exactly what I wanted. I did not want the reduced headroom from the rollup track on a rollup door. I probably would have ended up taking out the rollup door and closing off the end with something that didn’t quite look stock. Which is the other reason I wanted barn doors. I want my van to look like just another work van. I don’t want it to stick out at all. I also like the fact that the whole rear end doesn’t’ have to be open. I can open just one door.
I happened to be parked next to a very similar van in a parking lot one morning. As I got out to find a bathroom, someone walking in the parking lot stops me and points to the other van and says “I think someone is living in that van.” Which really blew my mind because I had just stepped out of an ALMOST IDENTICAL van (very strange actually). It somehow didn’t occur to this lady that I too might be living in my van. The other van? It had a custom rear door / wall replacing the old rollup door. It just makes it look too obvious for my taste.
If you decide that you want a stepvan, it’s probably going to involve some work to find the one you want. In addition to all of the stuff above, you still have the usual stuff like mileage, wear and tear, rust, accident damage, maintenance performed, location, and price. There usually aren’t a ton of stepvans available in any one area. If you have a bunch of specific demands, you could be looking far and wide for a while to find what you want. The longer distance you are willing to travel to get it, the better your chances of finding one. Vanderella wasn’t EXACTLY what I was hoping for, but all of the important stuff was there. In the end, I’d say that unless you have a ton of money to spend on one, there will almost certainly be some concessions.
I have driven full sized Ford vans for many years as I fit pretty well in them. Comparably, Vanderella gets a little bit worse gas mileage than my normal vans did, but then again it is way bigger with way more stuff. In terms of overall driving experience, a normal sized van is much easier to drive and maneuver. There is however something to be said for being able to stand up in the living space of the vehicle though. I would say that this is a defining feature that makes it feel more like home and living space than just a vehicle. If you can do that in a van and don’t need the extra space, perhaps a normal van would be great. If not, I would at least entertain the idea of a stepvan. They don’t have to be way bigger and some even fit in a normal parking spot. I think it is worth checking out.
One thing that did take some getting used to was the actual driving style of the stepvan. It is large. It doesn’t accelerate fast, or stop fast. I have modified my driving habits to accommodate this. In general, if I see a red light up ahead, I simply take my foot off the gas and coast. There is no point in accelerating towards a red light just to stop and wait at it. What usually happens is that by the time I coast to the light, it has turned green and I can start accelerating again. I didn’t have to use the brakes and I didn’t waste any gas racing to a red light. Around town, it results in a more constant average speed of about 30 mph. Of course other drivers don’t get this and end up going around me. I don’t care. It is way better on the van and makes a ton of sense. I drive almost exclusively in the right lane. I typically drive 55 on the highway as I get the best gas mileage that way.