Extended Test Drive 2018 Ford Ford Explorer Limited

We took a trip to Vermont. One of the objectives was to drop off an air compressor and a shelving unit we previously cleared out of our storage unit. These do not really fit in the BRZ so we decided to rent something a bit bigger.
It should be noted that we had an issue with the tires on this rental, this is discussed in another post.
Our first challenge was figuring out whether or not a Ford Explorer would have sufficient space with the rear two rows down for a 78" shelving unit piece. This proved really hard to find. Apparently the dimensions with seats folded down were not published for this generation of Explorer. Holly and I spent roughly 1 hour 15 minutes collectively searching for this information and came up with some board dimensions (kind of) off a Ford Explorer forum. Just to contrast we then searched Subaru BRZ cargo dimensions and found full dimensions (rear seats up, down, and removed) within 3 minutes. Funny how difficult it is to find anything except cubit feet of cargo volume for a vehicle that people might actually haul lumbers or other stuff in.

Rear of the SUV loaded, plenty of space for the air compressor. Just enough space for the shelving unit.

Penske Ford F-350 16' Truck

We finally emptied out our Public Storage Unit. We drove from Glen Mills, PA to Chicago, IL in a Penske Ford F-350 16' moving truck. We liked it a lot more than most of the moving trucks we have rented. We moved a lot of parts for Nausicaa, our 1993 Honda Prelude project.
Basically, captain's chairs and cruise control plus a suspension that is not ridiculously bouncy makes for a much better driving experience. We had no problems at all and were as comfortable as we have ever been in a moving truck.

I found this one rather easy to maneuver (going forward or backward). I think I am starting to get used to driving things this big. I am not sure if I like that...

U-Haul Ford F-350 15' Truck

We rented a U-Haul Ford F-350 15' Truck to move stuff from our storage unit to our apartment. It was less bouncy than the International TerraStar 22' Truck we drove as our last moving truck.

A 15' truck was more than we needed, but it was not too unwieldy / drive-able.

Moving with International TerraStar 22' Truck

For our move from FL to MA we rented a 22' foot International TerraStar from Penske.

This time we hired movers to load in FL and unload in MA. Although we did unload some stuff in PA for my wife as she is still working in northern DE at this time. Our FL packers were great and setup the whole front of the truck to be stuff going through to MA and the back being accessible for what was being unloaded in PA.

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of the loaded truck or with the trailer attached. But we towed Cagalli Yula for the whole trip on a car carrier (no leaving wheel on the ground with a rear wheel drive vehicle).

Moving with 2015 Ford E-350 16' Truck

Last in the current large vehicles related to moving series.

Unfortunately no snubbed or slanting nose here so visibility over the front was rather limited and it was rather hard to tell where the passenger side of the vehicle was from the driver's seat.

Test Drive, 2013+ Ford Transit 250

Sometimes owning small cars you need to rent larger cars. This is especially true when you are moving a significant amount of your possessions into storage.

And the van holds a lot of stuff quite well.

Moving and Towing

Upon moving one of the fun things was loading up Cagalli Yula on the trailer.
Being a Subaru BRZ she has a rather low front lip and it protrudes a fair bit past the front wheels.
In order to load her we stacked wood boards at the beginning of the ramps for the car carrier and then drove up very slowly, this was in order to lift the nose up just enough to clear the lamp.
We did similar for the dismount from the car carrier.

Anyways, here are some pictures of the car on the trailer behind the rental truck: