Vehicle Advice For First Tour

[Mikoo69]

We are a 3 piece band who plans on starting to do some heavy touring over the net few years. I am looking to buy a new vehicle that will get us around, for small tours of like 2 weeks to a month at a time. and am currently looking at some 2002 chevy suburban, ford expeditions, yukon XLs, though I am not sure if anyone has better recommendations?

 

we are 3 piece. traveling with a 4 piece drum it (we can put the tom in the bass drum with some blankets for protection, a 1x15 ampeg bass cabinet and a 1x12 fender combo amp, 2 guitars in hardshell case, 2 basses in soft cases, and a pedalboard roadcase. + clothes, bags etc.

 

recommendations for best vehicle would be appreciated. the thing is that i will be using this vehicle as my everyday car as well, so FORD 15 passenger vans are not really of interest to me. nor are minivans.

[Tomm Williams]

I would suggest you consider a trailer for your equipment. This would allow you to purchase a smaller van/vehicle as you are not attempting to place everything inside. Choose a trailer bigger than you think you need as it will fill up faster than you think.

 

TW

[Special J]

I think Tomm's advice is sound, especially if this is your daily driver too. Having the equipment in a trailer is much safer than having it stowed unsafely in a vehicle not meant for that kind of cargo. If you do go with a suburban or something like it, at least install a cage between the cargo area and the back seat. Get something big enough that all three of you can sleep in it, in a pinch. Also, make sure whatever you get is easy to find parts for.

 

Tell your bass player to get some hard cases for his basses if he wants his instruments to survive the road.

[Mikoo69]

a friends band travels with a trailer and says its a huge headache. tolls are more expensive, they cant bring it into most cities and need to leave it parked in a random lot outside of the city. i just figured since we are a 3 piece with less equipment we can do it without a trailer. well bring our equipment inside wherever we are sleeping to prevent it from being stolen.

[W. M. Hellinger]

We are a 3 piece band who plans on starting to do some heavy touring over the net few years. I am looking to buy a new vehicle that will get us around, for small tours of like 2 weeks to a month at a time. am currently looking at some 2002 chevy suburban, ford expeditions, yukon XLs, though I am not sure if anyone has better recommendations? we are 3 piece. traveling with a 4 piece drum it (we can put the tom in the bass drum with some blankets for protection, a 1x15 ampeg bass cabinet and a 1x12 fender combo amp, 2 guitars in hardshell case, 2 basses in soft cases, and a pedalboard roadcase. + clothes, bags etc. recommendations for best vehicle would be appreciated. the thing is that i will be using this vehicle as my everyday car as well, so FORD 15 passenger vans are not really of interest to me. nor are minivans.

 

I'll suggest there really isn't a "best vehicle" for your dual application.

 

I'll suggest the criterion for a good "everyday car" is completely different than the criterion for a good "band & gear tour vehicle".

 

My Tahoe pulling an 8 ft. trailer gets approx. the same mileage as my 40ft. tour bus did while pulling a 20ft. trailer... but with the tour bus, a band does have the option to sleep in their own beds, with their own pillows, and eat, and practice, and do all that domestic stuff that can get very expensive and time consuming to do on the road, while being driven to the next venue. But a 40 - 45ft. tour bus is a lousy vehicle to pop around town in... and can pose parking challenges.

 

Much would depend on your priorities while touring vs. what you deem as desirable in a personal vehicle. I had a neighbor, who commuted approx. 90 miles round-trip daily to work in a late-model Chevy flatbed dually one-ton 4 x 4 crew cab pick-up powered by a 454 and a 5 speed manual transmission. His wife worked within 2 miles of where he worked, and worked approx. the same work schedule; however, she separately commuted basically the same approx. 90 miles round-trip daily in a late-model Chevy flatbed dually one-ton 4 x 4 crew cab pick-up powered by a 454 and a 5 speed manual transmission. I estimated their combined commuting costs were approx. $4K/month. If they'd both been commuting together inna Toyota Camry or similar, I suspect their combined monthly commuting costs would have been approx. $400 (1/10th of what they were spending commuting). I asked them once (just once) about their choice of commuter vehicles? They both got real defensive, justifying their choice because of the horse trailer they NEED to occasionally pull, to trailer the horse they intended to have some day. I said "that's cool, I understand", and I did (understand) since I suspect their clothing allowance was easily $2K+/month to maintain their impressive urban cowboy wardrobe... and it was obvious that image maintenance was a priority to them. I did ask them once (just once) when they were gonna get a horse? They answered: "when we can afford one... a horse is expensive to own & maintain". I had the good sense to NOT ask them what they intended to use their horse for.

[Mikoo69]

dual application aside....let me phrase it this way...

 

without resorting to a passenger van or a minivan, what might be a good tour vehicle for a 3 piece band. so far considering a yukon XL or a suburban.

[W. M. Hellinger]

 

dual application aside....let me phrase it this way... without resorting to a passenger van or a minivan, what might be a good tour vehicle for a 3 piece band. so far considering a yukon XL or a suburban.

 

If it's any "help"... two weeks ago I sold my raised roof 15 passenger Ford Clubwagon van (with wheelchair lift & 460 motor) and kept my Tahoe & 8ft. Interstate trailer... because: They both get about the same milage and have over-all similar operating costs hauling gear and band personnel (approx. $.60 - $.70/mile). The Clubwagon was arguably better suited for the band rig, but the Tahoe is much better suited for a personal vehicle... and the Tahoe is much more comfortable during long-hauls... and for me, right now, my needs for a comfortable personal vehicle is a higher priority than accomodating the band thing.

 

Also, the keyboardist in our band has a crew cab dually one-ton 4x4 Dodge Cummings diesel pick-up truck. I'll suggest if that vehicle was available in a Suburban style body, that would be a good touring vehicle as it pulls a trailer effortlessly, and according to our keyboardist, it makes considerably better milage than my Tahoe, and both seem equally as comfortable on a long-haul.

 

One problem with hauling gear with a Tahoe or Suburban and no trailer, is the sleeping area is stuffed with gear, so there's no place to stretch-out and sleep while tag-teaming the driving... and circulation in the legs and quality sleep time while logging day after day on the road becomes a real issue... even if you're young. I've noticed over the years as a sound & lighting contractor, that the touring bands with bad attitudes are generally touring in bad tour vehicles, and the touring bands with great attitudes are generally touring in great touring vehicles.

 

And I'll suggest that cloth seats are generally better than leather or vinyl for long-haul driving... although leather has a much higher wow factor. I have leather seats for my Tahoe, and those leather seats are on a pallet rack in my warehouse. The seats in my Tahoe are Tahoe seats for the police interceptor version Tahoe... because those Tahoe copcar seats don't stove me up on long-hauls like the plush leather seats do.

[RoadRanger]

without resorting to a passenger van or a minivan, what might be a good tour vehicle for a 3 piece band. so far considering a yukon XL or a suburban.

Can you "test pack" one? It'd suck if you bought one and everything didn't fit . What about a standard 1/2 ton van?

[madjack]

Can you "test pack" one? It'd suck if you bought one and everything didn't fit . What about a standard 1/2 ton van?

 

+1 on the 1/2 ton van. I've used Ford, Chevy and Dodge vans as combo band/personal vehicles many times. Work great.

[Tomm Williams]

If you absolutely will not use a trailer, then consider a crew-cab (4 door) long bed truck with a camper shell. This will provide you with the same approx. mileage as a Tahoe, All the leg room you will ever need, and more storage than a Tahoe/Suburban type vehicle. You might even find that a short bed is sufficient.

 

TW

[W. M. Hellinger]

It seems like popular band touring times of the year fall in two catagories:

 

1) During the summer festival and fair season, when it's stupid hot.

 

2) During the winter when it's {censored}-miserable driving conditions.

 

Maybe that's something else to consider when spec-ing out a touring vehicle. It sucks waking up at a Holiday Inn in Havre MT at 10:00am, with 400 miles between you and tonights show, and it's -30F and you didn't plug in your mighty diesel powered tour vehicle. It also sucks cruising across I-10 in July in your 1/2 ton Chevy van loaded to the nuts... trying to decide if it's "cooler" with the windows up and the "air conditioner" running and keeping an eye on the engine temp gauge, or the windows down and turn the AC off as you pass Blythe CA... headed east, where it gets truly hot.

 

BTW: A good way to have fun touring is to tour in a tour worthy vehicle. One good way to come to hate everything about your life and everyone around you is to tour in an otherwise nice daily driver.

[Special J]

A band I used to work for did their acoustic tour in a suburban. 2 guys and the manager. Acoustic. It looks like you're determined to find out the hard way that the vehicles you're looking at are too small for a tour and too big for a daily driver.

 

The best tour vehicle I traveled in, besides a real tour bus, was an RV. We gutted a lot of it and redid it to sleep 7 and store all of the gear, site unseen. And we had a {censored} ton of gear with us. We had to get rid of the bathroom, which was probably a wise idea anyway, and the back had bunk beds. Plenty of room to chill, you could get away from your band-mates if you needed to. There was extra room for girls. Yeah that was sweet.

 

Do what you will, but you're getting some good advice here. I wouldn't just ignore it.

[Mikoo69]

how about we get a suburban and then:

 

for shorter trips we can keep the gear in the back an take out the 3rd seat.

 

if we get a longer tour booked we can possibly add a trailer that way 2 people can sleep at once. or we can have some more leg room.

 

does this make sense? what would be the problems with this idea?

[BenBroChill]

the band i program lights for just did and acoustic tour with their tour manager and 2 member in a caviler. talk about PITA. But with the extra money they saved in gas and less people, they slept comfortably in a hotel every night and had about 6 grand to drop into some more lighting for me to program and get paid for. they win, i win.

[Mikoo69]

i guess im just confused. i guess i still dont see why a suburban is such a compromise. can you explain this to me? it seems like those passenger vans are essential if you have a 5 piece band, though for a 3 piece, a suburban + trailer would let us sleep 2 in the back while one person drives, or one person in the front can put the seat back and rest. we dont tour with stacks, as i said a fender deluxe reverb, and an ampeg 1x15 cabinet, so we dont need tons of space.

 

i am now considering a passenger van however as it seems everyone is really pushing towards that.

 

p.s. we are unsigned, and trying to get on the road enough over the next 2 years to build a reputation, in hopes to eventually get some label backing. so we just need something to get our start. it will probably be a lot of 2-3 week trips and then come home for a bit i.e. chicago, ohio, pa, NY circuit....sxsw trip down to texas....up to vermont....some weekend trips etc.

 

as i said we are gonna have lots of friends places to stay so we wont have to sleep in the car always.

[boomerweps]

Look at the daily driver aspect with an eye for comfort and towing capacity. Then just rent a U-haul or other to take the gear from town to town. If a place is with inadaquate trailer parking, unload the trailer, turn it in to the renting place and rent a new one and load out of the venue in the morning.

 

I have a Ford Expedition 4x4 and hauled a trailer with it. BUT a 4 door Explorer 4x4 does almost as good a job and a heckva lot better daily driver. I used to tow a 10x6x6 foot box trailer, cut back on gear and use a 8.5x4x4 trailer that I barely know is there unless I panic stop ;>(

 

 

I understand the "don't want a van" mentality, but a couple used minivans would give you far far more in the positives column than any other option. And unless you always use the house sound guy and system, you're gonna need a soundguy. That makes 4 people and easy enough to trade off drivers with two INEXPENSIVE vehicles.

 

Boomerweps

[rhat]

I like the trailer passenger van option. It gives you an option of being able to use the van for transportation duty and not be saddled with what to do with the gear. You do have to be able to secure the trailer when you are in that mode though. way more options with a van plus a trailer. Use it as a gear hauler on local gigs where everyone finds their own way to the gig. hauls the band and the gear on out of town stuff.

[abzurd]

Keep this in mind... If you don't get a trailer your gear is on display. You're going to be out late and staying in hotels where there will be undesirables roaming the parking lot at all hours.

 

For what it's worth I tow a stuffed 5x8 trailer with a 2008 Kia Sedona and 4-5 people in it. No problems and we've played 7 states. For a 3 pc band not carrying PA, that's the route I'd go. It sounds like you'd be far easier on it than we are. The van was $12K with 22,000 miles on it. Is the car I want as my daily driver, not really, my wife drives my old daily driver, a Subaru WRX. I prefer it hands down over the 2WD Trailblazer I had previously. That thing was sloppy and didn't want to stay on the road unless the pavement was dry.

[Mikoo69]

so whats the real benefit of getting a 15 seater passenger van for all the gear and the 3 of us vs. a suburban with the option of adding a trailer for longer trips?

 

thing is all these suggestions are cool and i'd obviously like the "most comfortable situation" but i need to be realistic.

 

i need a car that can work for my everyday life and for touring with my 3 piece band for the next few years. i'd love to get the ideal tour vehicle, but i have about a $12,000 budget and can only get one vehicle....so i need to do what i can with that.

[blkmonday]

what about a full size conversion van? this is what i use

its a very comfortable ride..these vans can be had used fairly cheap as there isnt much of a market for them these days. i took out the bed in the back and it has plenty of cargo room for a properly packed drumset and guitar rigs and has 4 captains chairs. ive actually taken out the captains chairs now to haul my full p.a. rig in. a little tint on the windows and its locked up nice and tight. when unloaded i love driving this thing..its like driving my couch. the tv and dvd player is a nice touch when im running early to gigs. its not anywhere as close to being as big and hard to park as a 15 passenger van..yet has plenty of room for my gear. the only drawback is this dodge SUCKS in the snow and the v-6 struggles when its fully packed with gear..try to grab an 8cyl and that shouldnt be a problem

 

i retired an chevy astro van that i loved..but outgrew. those vans are actually worth a look at too..all wheel drive was nice in the winter and they hold a hell of a lot more than any other mini van on the market.

[Mogwix]

Rent a van. Factor the cost of van rental into the touring logistics.

 

Spend your money on a vehicle you can drive around in comfortably. If you need to carry your band members and equipment to gigs all the time anyways, then perhaps you should just buy a damn van.

[jgthatsme]

I've had a few vans over time, including nicely finished passenger vans and cargo vans. I've also owned a full-size Chevy Blazer and now drive a GMC Yukon. I know nobody is crazy about driving a full-size van, be it a passenger van or cargo van, but as far as I'm concerned that's the way to go.

 

If I'm carrying just my drums, the vehicle isn't critical, but if I'm hauling drums, PA, and musicians too, a full-size van is by far the way to go in my opinion. I have a couple racks that just won't fit into my Yukon (or Blazer). The van offers much more vertical space. I would never, ever recommend a mini-van for hauling band members and equipment. The suspension isn't made for it and the handling gets worse when overloaded.

 

I have a trailer that I use when necessary, but when we do some overnight work, I'm always worrying about gear. Guitar player, keyboard player, and horn players can drag their stuff into the hotel. I can't really do that w/ my drums and PA. Someone can break into a van just as easily as a trailer, but I feel the equipment is safer inside a van. When you have a trailer, you're telling people 'hey, I got something of value inside of this box.' I know a few bands that have magnetic signs advertising the band which they put on the trailer. However, when they play overnight somewhere, they have phony signs to slap on the trailer. I forget exactly what they are, but it has nothing to do with music and everything to do with something most people would not be interested in bothering with - 'Joe's Diaper Service' or 'Joe's Perk Testing' or something like that.

[W. M. Hellinger]

 

as i said we are gonna have lots of friends places to stay so we wont have to sleep in the car always.

 

 

Been there, done that. Based on my experience, I've found if you need to get some sleep and log some miles, it's best to get in the rig and head down the road, and tag-team sleep and drive... but you've gotta be set-up for tag-team sleeping and driving.

[jgthatsme]

 

Rent a van. Factor the cost of van rental into the touring logistics.

 

 

I've looked into renting vans for personal reasons, band reasons, and for professional reasons (my day job). The rental agencies rape you. Renting a van is not at all like renting a passenger car. They charge a hefty fee plus a per mile fee. If you're traveling appreciable distances, it can be very expensive.

[Mogwix]

 

I've looked into renting vans for personal reasons, band reasons, and for professional reasons (my day job). The rental agencies rape you. Renting a van is not at all like renting a passenger car. They charge a hefty fee plus a per mile fee. If you're traveling appreciable distances, it can be very expensive.

 

Mmm. I've never rented a van myself, but on the tours I've been on I had nothing to do with the planning or payment of it. The promoter just gave us a van and said "don't flip it over".