When vans are given their length e.g 21 foot 18 foot etc. Are they measured from the towball hitch or are they just measuring the outside of van itself.
My van was measured inside at bench top level and for some weird reason in feet and inches, why, when we introduced metrification in 1970 and most people retiring now, would not have been taught using the imperial system and they are the ones who are the main buyers of new vans, so why do manufacturers and suppliers still work with an out of date measurement system.
Cheers
David
My van was measured inside at bench top level and for some weird reason in feet and inches, why, when we introduced metrification in 1970 and most people retiring now, would not have been taught using the imperial system and they are the ones who are the main buyers of new vans, so why do manufacturers and suppliers still work with an out of date measurement system. Cheers David
Still enough of us oldies around who can instantly visualise in feet and inches but have to do some mental gymnastics to convert to metric - especially for measurements we don't use every day. Wonder how long tyre specifications will continue to show the tread width in millimetres and the wheel size in inches?
Joe
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I am not aware of anyone measuring their vans from hitch to rear bumper (or the equivalent). The only time you need this is for when you go to a place like Tasmania and you need the total length. Our van is a garden variety 21'6, but from hitch to bumper is nearly 25'.
Regards, Larry
It is 40 years since this country went metric.
The fact that the caravan industry can't seem to do this is indicative of their state of mind and state of development.
Recently while getting insurance quotes I was asked for the internal body length or the external body length and one place even asked for the towing length. Some companies wanted the info in imperial units while others wanted them in metric. You would think that the industry would have a recognised standard for describing vans instead of this mess.
It is 40 years since this country went metric. The fact that the caravan industry can't seem to do this is indicative of their state of mind and state of development.
Cheers, Peter
Tend to agree with Peter, reflects on the industry in general.
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Recently while getting insurance quotes I was asked for the internal body length or the external body length and one place even asked for the towing length. Some companies wanted the info in imperial units while others wanted them in metric. You would think that the industry would have a recognised standard for describing vans instead of this mess.
Could be because in the USA and some other places they still use imperial measurements. As most of our commodities are representations or copies of USA, they come in imperial measurements and as the USA is god here, that's what they follow. It's the same in the marine industry, they still use imperial measurements for boat lengths in lots of cases. I did my building apprenticeship in imperial and went through the transition. Now can work everything out in either, but prefer metric, less complicated and simple to use.
Advertising internal length for a van is a bit misleading and they should be forced to give overall lengths as well. In trucking overall length is the base measurement for planning or operating. can't see why it shouldn't be that way for vans. Have met those who go and buy a van using the internal advertised length, only to find they can't fit it where they wanted to at home because it is much longer than was advertised.
It should be mandatory for overall measurements and weights to be fully advertised and revealed at first sales contact.
When we re-rego'd the van from NSW...to...Qld the transport dept were climbing all over the van...even the height but not once did they enter the van so I can only assume that here in Qld...they are only interested in external measurements.
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