Long or short?

[maria]

Hi all,
I'm on the verge, or closing in on it, of buying my first bedford van. I'm wondering how much you'd notice the difference btwn a swb and a lwb for general driving. Is there any? I've been getting around in a swb '76 transit for eight years but i'd like a bedford now as the rust has beaten me and i must move on. I like the look of a swb but a lwb might be that extra bit handy. Anything you can tell me would help.
thanks

[ben]

maria it depends on what you want to do with it hey..

id say you can almost fit anything you ever need to in a swb.. and they look a whole lot cooler.. but lwb make flippen great tow vehicles..

i wanna mould 2 swb roofs into 1 lwb one day.. i recon it woul dbe the u;ltimate beddy.. but then maybe it may look out of proportion im not sure..

lwb in the city is hard work cause the turing circle is not as good.. swb make great courier type van id say..

yeh the lwb unless modifyed to fit hq on front and rear will never look sporty or 'cool" but if your not going for that thats fine..

you can take a fair bit of extra weight in the back of a lwb..

i towed home (2 hours) with a lwb (The Zebra, Low Ratio diff) one night 1 car trailer with 1 swb beddy on it and about a ton of parts. so probably about 4 ton.. she handled like a normal car.. we drove at 80 all the way.. and climbed a few massive hills as well.. flippen amazed me..

what you specifially want to do with your van?

oh welcome to the site maria! not many ladys on her eh..
cheers
ben

[Adam S]

I'm long




... oh - you were talking about Bedfords ... short then!

[maria]

thanks for the welcome. i was on the old site too but was under the radar, not having the right kind of van, yet.
generally the it would be for a bit of city driving and some getting away in around vic and over to s.a.
I'm used to heavy and poor turning what with the transit i have. i haven't even driven a bedford yet. A lot that I've seen on ebay etc have sports steering and I guess that makes the turn a bit harder. I'm not really too fussed about that. but i do want sporty and cool. well, who wouldn't? but a modified lwb could to this to. no?

[ben]

ok well the only travelling ive done is in a swb.oh i drove from qld in vic in a lwb..

hmmmm

i recon it doesnt matter for you.. just keep looking until you find one you love.. whether it be long or short..

you in melb?


ben

[maria]

i guess you could say i'm in melbourne. and yes, i'm waiting for that moment when i set eyes on 'the one'. it will be a happy day

[ben]

are you coming to our little get together on the 31st of aug?

its in oakleigh.

im coming from yarram.. you east side of melb?

[ben]

http://www.buga.com.au/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=2&topic=102.0

[Shazbot]

Well I have a LWB and am now looking for a SWB for my regular driver. I was going to buy a station wagon to cart my german shepherds around to shows and training, but have decided that a SWB Beddy is far more practical for me.  We go camping in the one we have now and there is plenty of room for the futon and the dogs sleep on the floor at the bottom of the bed. We also picked up a prefabricated cubbyhouse and it fit into the back fine. (I am using the cubby for a doghouse) Check out the pics of my LWB in 'members rides'
Oh and welcome to another female beddy fan!!!
Shaz

[Jock]

Hey Maria,

Unless you really need the room I would go short easier to park, lighter and most were
produced from factory to seat 7 (I think). My long wheel base has only 2 seats and is only
legally allowed 2 seats unless I install more but then i would have to get it engineered.

Most of the time 2 seats is ok but sometimes I would love to throw everyone in and go for a cruise.
The LWB also has 4 rear tyres (2 either side) so replacing tyres would be more expensive.

Most long wheel bases have no side windows while most shorties have side windows.

Thats about all that I can think of! To tell you the truth - when I bought my Bedford I didn't
even know that there was a short wheel base version, I was so gobsmacked by the appearance
of the beast that I didn't pay much attention to what the bloke was saying... I heard him say that
he had 6 spare windscreens if I ever cracked that one and something about the diff, but apart from
that I was in awe 

If you find a good one - long or short, don't let it slip... Not easy to find one in good nic...
No more "under the radar" Welcome to the new site!

Jock