Low Floor Vans

This new design from "Marmon-Herrington" offers a new paradigm in thinking about vans.  The conventional van has rear wheel drive and a floor 42 inches from the ground.  The new low floor design has front wheel drive and a floor 14 inches from the ground.

This van body is 19 feet long and the overall length is 28 feet.  The maximum length is 40 feet overall, which could accommodate a 29 foot van body.

The low floor design can accommodate a very low point of entry.  This could be as simple as a side door or more complicated, such as a fold down stage or a slide out option.  The low floor platform opens up a variety of optional components which were just not practical in the conventional design vans.

Here is a prototype example of Marmon-Herrington design for low floor van bodies.  See our links page for more information on Marmon-Herrington, Inc. suspension.

From the rear you can see the floor is only 14 inches from the ground.  The wheel boxes are 6 feet apart, so a car could be carried on board.  The car could be loaded with only a ramp.

Another unique feature is the inside height.  The overall height of the van can be 13'6".  This could allow as much as 12 feet of inside height.  (This is at least 28 inches higher than conventional van boxes.)

Another approach is to achieve a "low profile" and "sleek looking" truck is to keep the van height the same as the cab of the chassis.

This low floor chassis is set up for a 10 to 20 foot van box.  It has an air ride, axleless suspension with 2 wheels. Also available are tandem suspension with 4 wheels.

This picture shows a rear view of the frame rails and transfer case.  The top of the modified frame rail is about 42 inches from the ground.   The new low-floor frame is about 14 inches from the ground.  The key component in this design is the transfer case.  It relocates the drive from the rear to the front wheel drive.