Welp guys... Florida is abuzz with hurricane prep. All the major roads northbound are jammed up.
All the hardware stores are out of lumber (for boarding up windows),
all the gas stations are out of fuel,
people are lined up for miles to get sand bags,
and the grocery stores have more empty shelves than ever before.

And I'm right in the middle of it. I've filled my van tank every day at least once. And I have 20gallons of fuel stored inside it.

Me and my family (me, wife, 22y.o. kid, two chihuahuas) would like to leave but we feel stuck due to the traffic jams. Even so; which vehicle should we take?

-- 2010 Ford Escape V6- gets about 25-30mpg highway but has a tiny fuel capacity of about 13-15gallons. Comfortable, reliable vehicle with fold down rear seats that makes for decent sleeping. Not a good vehicle to bring the four 5gallon jugs of fuel: fuming the place up with my family inside.

-- 2007 Ford E350 v10- gets 13mpg highway, and probably 8mpg during a long traffic jam. Holds 35gallons though. Dangerously bald tires but otherwise good. Cargo area can be easily emptied of everything except the bins. Lots more room for the family and extra fuel. Heavily tinted windshield and front doors, and no windows in the back. Great privacy and Safety overall for camping/sleeping. Also room for the chihuahuas to walk around.

i was thinking of getting one of these (below) to store the extra fuel, so it doesn't stink up the interior.


But realistically we'll probably stay home and ride it out... if you folks never see me post on here after the hurricane then you would be correct to assume the worst

 

I'll take the van.

We did it with Rita in Houston 2005. You have decent clearance and as you mentioned, you can load a lot of stuff, sleep inside bring food and water.
Bring a porta Potty or a little bucket with lid (dishwasher tablets containers work great) we found a lot of lines at the gas stations' bath rooms (which were filthy) and being able to alleviate was welcome- especially for my wife and daughters.
Traveling with dogs you may want to bring a kennel. All the hotels that were taking evacuees were accepting dogs as special consideration but lots of them required for them to be kenneled.

This year we just survived Harvey and the van was our emergency vehicle. water on the roads rose in a matter of minutes.

All the best to all the Floridians and all the Caribbean Islands already affected.

 

van, you can live in it
I lived at Laguna Seca for a week in mine. We were racing there..
I've always liked having a vehicle to bug out with.
My rack is for my Zuma but it would work for fuel if I needed it to. I also have a bumper dumper for pooping.
The rack in your pick is handy. Use chain to prevent the jerry cans from being stolen

GTFO of there, don't be stupid

 

I hope you're on your way out. I'd take the van but sure wish you would have got some good tires on it for hydroplaning and because this would not be a good time to deal with a tire problem.

I've got a number of friends in various places in Florida; news is that most in the worst areas have evacuated; others in Tampa/St Pete are gonna stay but some are moving to sturdier homes with friends.

Prayers for all in the path of the storm. Our local Air Nat Guard base has taken in a lot of aircraft from Key West and Pensacola--lots of stuff in the sky yesterday.

 

Take the van man!! If I wasn't so far away you guys could stay for free!! Hope all is well.

 

We are staying home.

Bored stiff now: beautiful Florida weather today and most of tomorrow. Nothing to do because everything is closed.
Windows are boarded up, got my life savings (about $600) in cash from the bank... plenty of food and drinks. Local authorities say it's unlikely to have water outage for more than a few hours.
My neighbor has an 8,000watt generator that he says I can plug in my refrigerator for a few hours each day...

Maybe be the movie theatre will come to their senses and open up tomorrow.

bored. Bored. Bored.

 

but alive

 

thanks Vettex2

everything was closed yesterday by mid day: walmart, Wawa, publix, everything.

But it then I saw a friend on Facebook complaining about 90minutes wait times at Olive Garden.

I love America.

 

well it was a scary storm but we lived through it. House is unscathed. some trees fell but that's it.
I used the van to pull some trees out of the ground. it did a good job but I think it would have broken something in the drivetrain if I would have continued. I did two trees and didn't like the stress it was under.

interestingly, it spins both rear tires. Nice.

 

Your answer for the trees was in your own signature:
2007 Ford E350 Super Duty 6.8L V10
= = = Vans are like upgraded pickup trucks. = = =
= = = When in doubt; more throttle. = = =
Glad you safely survived the storm.Jeff

 

Pics or it didn't happen! haha

I'm getting ready to do a full floater axle swap and the guy says it's got LS. I wasn't aware the vans came with a LSD but he says most of the Powerstroke vans did. My semi floater is a 32 spline and no one makes a carrier for it.

 

i was trying to toe the line of heavy throttle without wheelspin, and I did not like the "feel" of it. All that V10 torque twisting the torque converter and internal transmission parts, but withOUT forward movement. I suppose Mark Kovalski might chime in here to tell me what part(s) woulda/coulda sustained damage.

But with 310,000 on the ticker I wasn't willing to push too hard. I'm (very) recently debt free and make good money but still in the grey area of not having much $$ to spare. This hurricane has cost me about $550 so far, not counting lost wages.

I ended up succeeding by rolling back for a 3-6" running start on the chain slack. That tree didn't stand a chance against 6,000lbs moving at 3-5mph lol.

 

i don't know if mine is a full floater or semi floater or anything else. Technically I don't know if it has a LSD. I know it spun both rear wheels today on two separate occasions.

also I've had the rear end get loose twice before due to heavy throttle during a turn. (Wet corner, and yes, bald tires). I believe one-wheel-drive wouldn't get the van to fishtail like that.

im trying to think if a open differential would spin both tires in the perfect conditions... maybe with the vehicle just perfectly off-level for weight transfer... and maybe the fact that my van's RR tire has full tread (manufacture date 2010 though) and the LR is worn to death.

 

This site will show how the vehicle was originally equipped and if it has LS rear or not.
Click on "vehicle" in the black stripe and on the next page enter the vehicle VIN:
FordEtis home page

 

but you saved by not racing