Holden VR LWB Ute length

[falconboy]

Does anyone know if these lwb ute ex-ambulance utes are really long in comparison to wagons? They look extra long but wondering if its an illusion because of the tray.

[Mr Hardware]

The VR/VS ambulances were not factory - iirc they were modified by Jakab or one of those companies.

Yes they were much longer than a wagon, by a good half a metre or so. If you look hard, you can find ones as new as 2000 models (VSIII).

[falconboy]

Thanks, I knew they weren't factory, just wasn't sure of the length. I assume if that's the case they are a pain to park anywhere and I'm guessing tailshaft is custom too and expensive if repairs are needed? Might not be a great option.

[Mr Hardware]

Remember a standard commodore ute tray is only about 2m long and so to add another half a metre you're only talking as long as a long triton tray (2.6 iirc).

[falconboy]

Good point, not exactly a limo length really. Shame its not a Ford though......

[Smoke Pursuit]

They made similar XH utes for a while...

[Mr Hardware]

Yeah, but apparently the ford utes suffered from large amounts of rust at the seam because they just welded and spatter went everywhere....

[2011G6E]

I've seen a lot of tradies with them around the place...they're a lot longer than a normal ute and would seem to be well made given the massive amounts of crap I've seen guys pile into them...

[Spammy]

10 years ago when I was shopping for a Commy ute I was amazed how many of the LWB things were around and most of them had low mileage (at that time anyways).

Would be perfect to carry around motorbikes with that extra bed length.

[falconboy]

There are a few around and they aren't too expensive. I may be needing a commercial vehicle, and as much as a standard ute will do, these seem extra handy. I'd love to find one of the ambulance bodies to put back on one too.

[xtremerus]

I had a VR model, years ago. Bought it 1.5 yrs old with 60k on the clock.
They are extended 500mm, but it didn't drag its belly too much. It had the red airbags in the rear coils that the Ambos had in it.
Did a center bearing in the tailshaft. The extra 500mm in the shaft must have done wonders for balancing.
Sold it when the computer started to play up, and bought a new AUII V8 1-tonner traytop

[falconboy]

No go, checked this out, it was a piece of you know what. :(

[oceanwave54]

A friend of mine just bought one for his trail bike, very smooth over speed humps, was very surprised, just sort of floats.

Apparently a lot have low mileage due to them being bought just when Ford was awarded the contract, so the Fords came into effect and the extended Holdens just sat around. Not sure of the merit, but it sort of makes sense.