Minivan for hauling plywood?

[Michael Kellough]

I checked and it's been a few years since a similar thread ran so...

Which minivans are long enough to carry full sheets of plywood with the lift-gate shut?

I'm about to replace a first gen Ford Windstar. It is a few inches too short. I don't know if the Windstar/Freestar ever grew long enough for the gate to close on plywood but I know some minivans are long enough.

Which ones?

My budget is around $5000 and I'd welcome suggestions.

A couple of good features the early Windstar had are the perfectly flat floor and the lack of a center console so larger long items could pass between the front seats. Some of the newer minivans I've seen have stow-able seats (which sounds great, my rear bench has been in the shed for the last decade) but the floors aren't really flat. Is that an issue in practice?

[Prashun Patel]

I have a Toyota Sienna (2005) that works fine. You have to look for mv's with 'removable consoles' between the two front seats.

[Martin Jodoin]

Dodge Grand Caravan 2005 here, i carry 4x8 sheet no problem.

[Peter Kuhlman]

Older Toyota Previa and all the Honda vans other than the imitation van that Isuzu built for Honda years ago. Most of the newer mini-vans no longer will work for 4x8 sheets.

[Ellen Benkin]

Interesting question. I often bemoan selling my 1988 Toyota Camry Wagon which I thought was the perfect vehicle. I could get a 4 x 8 sheet inside with the tailgate tied down over the end that stuck out. And then the automotive gods decided no one wanted station wagons anymore. I did have a Subaru wagon which was not nearly as sizeable and very expensive to repair. Oh, well, I keep hoping the "small" SUVs will be hybrids someday.

[Rich Engelhardt]

My 2004 Honda would haul as many as I could stack in the back.
IIRC, I hauled somewhere around 10 sheets of 3/8" drywall in it once.
My 2010 Toyota Sienna will only hold about 5 sheets. The front seat mounts get in the way after that.

Both had/have fold down rear seats & removable center seats.

[Joseph Tarantino]

Dodge Grand Caravan 2005 here, i carry 4x8 sheet no problem.

+1. all 4 "chrysler" grand minivans i've owned have had sufficient capacity to carry several whole 4X8 sheets with tailgate closed. always enjoyed watching owners of huge, expensive SUVs trying to do the same thing with their vehicles and winding up tying things to a roof rack instead.

[Art Mulder]

I have a Toyota Sienna (2005) that works fine. You have to look for mv's with 'removable consoles' between the two front seats.

Ummmmm, from my perspective this needs qualifications.

First, I've owned a 2004 Sienna, and a 2010. (Both are from the same series. With the 2011 they changed the body so I have no idea about those units.)

#1 - you need to remove the middle seats. They do not tumble into the floor. Each one is around 50lbs, and they are awkward to remove. Be careful not to strain your back -- bent over in the van it is almost impossible to "lift with your legs" when removing them.

#2 - you will probably need to slide the front seats forward. No big deal for some, but at 6'3" I drive with the front seat almost all the way back. A short trip with some plywood back there is okay, but not a long one.

As a hobbyist I try to always have the project designed so that I can have the lumberyard make the first cut, usually knocking the plywood roughly in half. Makes it much easier to fit in the van and much easier to handle.

[keith jensen]

Our Chrysler minivan (2008) has both sets of rear seats that fold into the floor (second and third row). No problem with longer boards that will fit between the front seats either, you just have to remove the center console. I've done both plywood and 10 ft boards in the van. I think they are rated for something like 1500lbs but I'm not positive on that off the top of my head.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

Dodge Grand Caravan 2005 here, i carry 4x8 sheet no problem.

+3. That's why we keep our Caravan around. 4x8 plywood, Laguna LT18 bandsaw. Unisaw, 14 inch delta RAS. You get the idea.

[Ralph Okonieski]

I have a 2001 Honda Odyssey that can hold full size ply with the rear door closed. Similar to what Art said, the middle seats have to be removed.

[Bob Daniel]

I'm on my third Chevy Astro Van for this very reason. Holds 4x8 between the wheel wells and with the back door closed. after two or three sheets, you start hitting the seats as they slope backward, but that hasn't been a show-stopper for me yet. I believe they no longer make the Astro van, so I'm taking care of this one, still on my first 100k.

[Harlan Barnhart]

The GM vans (Montanna, uplander ect...) will take 4x8 laying on the seats with the backs folded down. The back gate will shut if you move the front seats far enough forward.

[Joe Mioux]

I have owned the following, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2005, & 2012 dodge caravans, Plymouth voyagers and Chrysler town and country's. they all haul 4x'8's

stow and go versions are really convenient!..

correction I haven't hauled in my 2012 yet, but can't see why it won't.

[Bill Geibe]

With the Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth minivans you have to have the 'Grand' version to get a 4x8 in and close the liftgate. With my '01 Grand Caravan, I have to unlatch the front console (easy) and push it forward a few inches, too. Oh, and the seats have to come out of course. With the newer ones ('05 on up) with the Stow&Go seats, just fold the seats into the floor.

When Chrysler designed their original minivan, one of the design parameters was that it had to be able to haul 4x8 sheet goods.

Bill