Mini Van set ups

Inside my 2013 long wheelbase cargo transit connect. 

The 2013 came in multiple wheelbase lengths? I thought it was just the one. Curious because the short version never seemed to be quite big enough to want, as I figured I'd have to take a front wheel off and couldn't sleep in it as a tall person.

I have the metris, its pretty rad other than in the colorado snow even with snow tires.
Its been pretty dang reliable too, other than pcv valve issue which isnt too bad at all.
I dont have any pictures but i just throw a ikea futon in the back and can fit a full bike or two with that folded up but you could definitely do a more efficient setup. If you dont care about having a bed in it I've fit up to a kdx200 in the back you can definitely fit hella bikes if needed. 

About 25mpg with the 2.5l engine in the t.c. Pretty sure there was a short wheelbase version, I def confirmed ours was the lwb before buying. Its been a pretty good little van for solo travel. My wife at 5'2" fits well in the fold out bed but It's tight for me at 5'10". Happy to share details of the bed design.

American here so I have a town and country and contrary to popular belief it doesn't actually suck. I get 25-30mpg definitely on the high end if I'm not city driving. It's good for camping, I can fit bikes and sleep inside if I want. The stow and go seats are actually super convenient even if I keep them down 95% of the time. Can load up multiple people and bikes with just the middle seats up. It gets around in the snow pretty good for what it is and I've two tracked mine more than most and it pulls out of the sand or a mud pit fine from the rear axle or other recovery points on the unibody for when you take it too far. I didn't think I would end up liking this van as much as I have, they're starting to get pretty affordable on the used market as well.

2.5 TC here as well, averaging 23.5 mpg driving a little too fast with lots of hills on the freeway. Not awesome but better than anything other than hybrid minivan. I looked into it, the Metris is a chunk thirstier.

I put on a 30mm front lift and beefier tires which makes forest roads easy. 7' x 2' plywood as a bed platform sitting on those black-and-yellow bins from HomeDepot, paired with a long Foamma 5" thick pad. Great little bed for a 6'2" guy with minimal fuss and easy to store. Fits my chonky XL enduro bike with tall stack with about 1" to spare. My 16 has been mostly reliable (front hub bearings at 60k), but the earlier years ('14-15) had disposable transmissions, just ask Zeustman.

Dream vehicle is a Toyota Sienna AWD hybrid with a taller roof and basic 2-row interior. Even better if it was a little smaller, the Toyota minivans are anything but mini. Zero chance they'll ever make that. There's not a lot out there for MTBers who don't want a ridiculous Sprinter but need to haul stuff dry for work.

I'm still waiting for this Ford Maverick based van that's been touted the last few years. A modern mid-size van I can throw bigger tires on with AWD in N/A? Possibly under 50k? Take my money. 

I know its not mini, but we're going to be getting a LWB Chevrolet Express passenger van in the next year or so.  My plan is to keep the front 2 rows of rear bench seats and still be able to put bikes in the back without taking the front wheel off.  I like the Express Vans because they are reliable and relatively easy to work on.

I still haven't figured out the best way to haul bikes in the back securely without taking the wheel off.  I need to be able to fit 7 bikes in the back without hurting each other while navigating rough and curvy roads.  We are currently traveling with either a Suburban (wife's) or Excursion (mine) and a Velocirax.  On the last trip to snowshoe my wife's chainstay got scratched up by pedals while bouncing around on the rack.  The trip back I just removed all the pedals for safety. 

I have an a 2012 LWB  Chevy express van, its been a good budget camper/mtb van, but the mileage does suck. Had to get the transmission rebuilt at like 190K, but im steadily driving into the 200's now. Hopefully it last me another 5 years. 

I got it to do a big 8 week trip in, and have since done two more of those trips, but if I needed something for just weekend/short haul trips I would happily rock a used Sienna. I would love something smaller, but the beast is paid off and the running cost are pretty cheap for the most part. My favorite aspect is even with my camper setup I can keep the bikes in the back of the van. Never worry about bike security because they are locked up, and the van does not have windows/look like it is carrying nice bikes. 

When I worked at a bikepark we had a bike rack in the back of the awd express van for crew rides and test rides. It sounds like you also have that going, loading it tetris style so everything is spaced is a big plus, and just using simple towels or other things on stanchions or parts that may rub was the other big fix. We also ran a strap on longer trips to keep everything in place.

Sounds like you've had the experience I'm looking to have with yours.  The mileage doesn't bother me much because we have 2 vehicles that get terrible mileage already.  One of the main reason for the Express is to be able to have the bikes in the back, out of the weather and secure while towing a camper.

I would hands down rock a caravan or Sienna if it was just me or me and the wife.  But unfortunately I have 3 kids and we go on 3-6 big bike trips a year.  Last year we did a Vermont and Qubec trip and this year we have discovered Snowshoe.  We've been there 3 times this year and have 2 more trips planned before the end of the season.

I've been looking at just using a bike stand or even making something similar to the Bikestow.  I also like the 1up van tray if I could figure something out with that.  I just really want to get the bikes inside.  One for security but also I've had problems on 2 different trip where we've driven through rain and wound up with contaminated brake pads on several bikes.

That 1up van tray is pretty cool. I found some Yakima highroad roof mount racks for cheap and used them inside my van. It's awesome to be able to hold them in good and load super fast. I have a transporter, so I don't think that fits into the mini van class haha. 

Yeah its been a good setup. Since you can't stand in it its mostly built to serve the purpose of gear storage (camping, cooking, clothing, bike related) and sleeping. Whenever we setup camp we basically spend all of our time outside of the vehicle cooking and hanging out, and being inside is kinda just for going to bed. Helps to avoid the money pitfalls of "vanlife" when you're not trying to recreate an apartment inside of a van. 

We have a 2001 VW Eurovan. No full camper interior, we have pulled out the rear facing jump seats and I build a box for the 12v cooler and out chuck box. A 4x NSR on a Kuat swing out handles the bikes. Thule awning is a crank out style. Went with the more expensive crankoit awning as I deploy it just a foot or two in a parking tight space. It's just the right size for us with 2 kids we are not looking for an apartment on wheels. The four of us can eat inside to escape bugs or play cards in the rain, all cooking done outside. I really do wish there were more options in this size and a pop top.