There's a reason why this one don't outsell the Ford

We just replaced our well used '94, 15 pax, E-350 Club Wagon with a '03 Chevy Express 3500. We had plenty of experience with the extended cabin Ford and it served us well in heavy service, hauling both people and heavy parts in it's many years service as an aircrew van and aviation support vehicle. The Ford was the second Econoline model we had over an almost 18 year period but the deal on the Chevy seemed very good.

When the all white, with grey interior Chevy Express parked next to the dark blue Ford it replaced, the various differences in format became very evident. The Ford sat high on it's suspension, and the long body had considerable more overhang at the rear. The long wheelbase of the Chevy gave it an unusual appearance and absolutely everyone thought the Ford was much more attractive, no matter which side or end you chose to compare. The front was especially different with the strange 'slant eyed' look of the Chevrolets headlamps drawing comment. I guess it has been modified to match the rest of the Chevrolet truck line, but I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

Opening the drivers door, the imediate impression is that something is wrong with the hinges, the door simply don't open wide enough. When you mount the cab, which is noticable lower than in the Ford, the look is total cheap plastic. Even compared to the 9 year old Ford, the new express didn't fare well. The appearance and quality of assembly (or lack of it) simply was on match for the Econoline series. Besides being a very cheap looking, the hard feel was simply not pleasant to the touch. The '94 Ford had it all over the Chevy when it comes to perceived value. The '03 Ford, which we also comaped, was actually improved over the '94. It was obvious that the cost difference between the Chevy and the Ford was at least partially accounted for in the interior furnishings.

Starting the engine, the 6.0 liter engine fired up willingly, thankfully not exhibiting the all too common 'cold start knock' sound that plagues many of these engines. A short drive demonstrates it has better performance than the 351 V-8 of the Ford. A previous drive in an equivelent '03 Ford (equipped with the 6.8 liter V-10 that is Ford's counter to GM's 6.0 V-8 says that the newer Ford more than matches the 6.0 in size and performance. The GM pushrod has more horsepower, but much lower torque than the slightly larger, OHC Triton V-10. Advantage Ford again.

A couple turns of the steering wheel brings out the one area where the Chevy beats the Ford... The twin Forged steel A-Arm front suspension of the Chevy is a hands-down winner for handling, road feel and cross-wind stability compared to the now venerable Twin-I-Beam design of the old (and current) Ford Econoline.

The long wheelbase of the Chevy made itself known immediately as soon a the vehicle was manuevered in the parking lot. The shorter wheelbase of the Ford simply made the turning radius shorter and made handling in close quarters much easier. Much has been said about the long rear axle overhang of the Ford being a stability issue. Maybe it is but in well over 18 years of driving around in big Ford vans I've never found it to be a problem Persons who load one of these big jobs real heavy behine the rear axle only might experience a reduction in stability and a big van does handle differently than a passenger car, but with a little common sense, the problem is negligable. The handling advantage of the shorter wheelbase is so immediately obvious it is quite evident why Ford has not adapted the long wheelbase design.