Van Parts & Commercial Vehicle Parts

Article by Guy Bilham

This article gives a summary of the different types of vans and commercial vehicles that Find-a-Part have found parts for in recent years.

Having researched and viewed various different Find-A-Part requests, it would be safe to say that the most popular parts requested for vans and commercial vehicles would be engines, gearboxes, which tend to be mainly manual gearboxes, and body panel parts (mainly sliding doors, tailgates (glazed or panel), bumpers (front and rear). Water radiators, air condensers and oil coolers have also proved to be popular amongst parts requested via Find-A-Part. Engines and gearboxes tend to be requested more frequently for commercial vehicles than for family cars, this can probably be put down to the type of work that they do, carrying heavy loads, often over long distances.

The majority of Find-A-Part requests that come through our call centre and involve engines or gearboxes will have an engine, gearbox code, number or prefix against the request. This will help in getting the correct part simply because there are many different transmission codes listed. Models such as the Vauxhall Combo, Movano and the Vivaro have proved to be very popular and consistent amongst our requests, as are the Citroen Despatch and Peugeot Expert. The same could also be said about the Fiat Doblo, Fiat Ducato and the Fiat Scudo.

Ford Transit

The Ford Transit has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle in Europe for 40 years, and in some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic term applying to any light commercial van in the Transit's size bracket.

The Transit was a departure from the European commercial vehicles of the day — its broad track and American-inspired styling gave it a huge advantage in carrying capacity over comparable vehicles of the day and revolutionised light goods transport. Most of the Transit's mechanical components were adapted from Ford's car range of the time. Another key to the Transit's success was the sheer number of different body styles: panel vans in long and short wheelbase forms, pick-up truck, minibuses, crew-cabs to name but a few. The Ford Transit made its debut in the American continent in Mexico on September 10, 2007 and over nine different models are offered. This is the only country in the American continent in which it is currently on sale. Ford has stated that the fourth generation Transit platform will be global, also acting as a replacement for the long running E series range in North America. It is expected to be released by 2012. In the interim, Ford introduced the smaller, mechanically unrelated Transit Connect to the U.S. market for the 2010 model year. Due to its four cylinder diesel engines, manual transmission, lower weight and more aerodynamic design, the Transit is considerably more fuel efficient than the E-Series, which is a mainstay with a V8 and automatic transmission. Currently the E-Series competes domestically with the Dodge Sprinter range, which is a badge engineered Mercedes-Benz Sprinter - one of the Transit's main rivals in Europe.

Ford Transit Engine

The Ford I4 DOHC engine was a 4-cylinder inline internal combustion engine with twin overhead camshafts, produced by the Ford Motor Company. First with 2.0 litre 8-valve version, in later models with 2.0/2.3 litre 16-valve version from 1989 to the end of production of the MK2 Ford Galaxy in 2006. It powered various Ford models during this time, but was most well known in the rear wheel drive "Twin Cam" variants of the Ford Sierra, and Ford Scorpio.

Volkswagen Transporter

The Volkswagen Transporter series, also referred to as the Volkswagen Group T platform series, refers to several generations of motor vehicles from Volkswagen Group, starting with the original Volkswagen Type 2. These vehicles are traditionally in the light commercial vehicle sector; and comprise vans, minivans, minibuses, pick-ups, and other derived vehicles, spanning over 55 years of production from 1950. Throughout their generations, they have generally been available worldwide. Though the T1 to T3 generations were named unofficially and retrospectively, the T series is now considered an official Volkswagen Group automotive platform.

1980–1991 — The Volkswagen Type 2 (T3) also known as the T25, (or Vanagon in the United States), the T3 platform was introduced in 1980, and was one of the last new Volkswagen platforms to use an air cooled engine. The Volkswagen air cooled engine was phased out for a water cooled boxer engine (still rear mounted) in 1984.

1990–2003 — The first officially designated "T platform" vehicle, the Volkswagen Transporter (T4) dramatically updated the Volkswagen van line by using a front mounted, front wheel drive, water-cooled engine.2003–present — The Volkswagen Transporter (T5) is the current variant of the Volkswagen T platform. The Transporter T5 range received a facelift in late 2009. Updated power train options include common rail diesel engines, and a world-first usage in a light commercial vehicle of a dual clutch transmission - namely Volkswagen Group's 7-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG).

Renault Trafic

Renault Trafic is the name used by Renault for recent generations of its light vans. The current Trafic is the Renault-branded version of a panel van developed in a joint venture with Opel, and also sold as a Vauxhall Vivaro ; it is also sold by Nissan as the Primastar. The Trafic is built at GMM Luton, Luton in the United Kingdom, along with the Vivaro and Primastar. In an agreement between Renault and Nissan, versions of the van are also manufactured at Nissan's plant in Barcelona, Spain. The van exists in several versions, from a 3-seater with all the rear space available for loads, to a 9-seater. Its name is based on the French word for "trade" or "traffic" (depending on the context). The van was designed by Renault in Paris, and both Renault and Opel versions are manufactured by Vauxhall at their plant in Luton. A mild facelift in 2006 saw the orange indicators swapped for clear ones more integrated into the headlamp housings. (On the Vauxhall & Opel models, the indicators moved from the front bumpers, up into the headlamp housings, thus looking more similar to the Renault.)

Renault Master

Renault Master is the name used by French vehicle manufacturer Renault for its upper-medium size van (around the GVW 3.5 tonne segment) — similar in size to the largest models of the more common Ford Transit. Over its lifetime several different body styles have been available, from the standard van to bigger models with an increased load area, height, and longer-wheelbases with an LWB prefix. Panel vans are very common, but pick up's are also available. First generation vans were available with 2.5D or 2.8TD diesel engines. The current generation van received a mid-life major facelift with the headlight area being heavily restyled, resulting in the front end somewhat resembling the smaller Trafic.

Mercedes Sprinter

The first generation Mercedes Sprinter was launched in Europe in 1995 to replace the famous but outdated Mercedes-Benz T1 van (dating from 1977). For its internal combustion engine choices, the Sprinter is currently offered with inline four and inline six cylinder diesel engines; inline six cylinder petrol/gasoline; or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) engines in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. In North America, only the six cylinder 3.0 litre turbo diesel and six cylinder 3.5 litre gasoline engines are offered.

Mercedes Vito

The Mercedes Vito is available as a standard panel van, or with additional passenger accommodation substituted for part or all of the load area. The second generation Mercedes-Benz Vito is more streamlined than its predecessor, but more importantly is powered by a new range of engines and a rear wheel drive (RWD) drive train.

The angle of the windscreen and A-pillar is closer to horizontal; the dashboard is bigger and the hood smaller. The newer Vito is available in 3 different lengths and 4 diesel engine versions being the 109 CDI, the 111 CDI, the 115 CDI and the powerful 120 CDI. Mercedes Vito Engines come in two variants - 2.1L I4 CDI diesel, and 3.0 V6 CDI diesel, with a 7 speed automatic Transmission.

Iveco Daily

The Iveco Daily is a large van produced by Iveco from 1978; it was sold also as Fiat Daily until 1983. It is also available as a minibus. The second generation was face lifted in 1996; it differs only slightly exterior-wise, but the engine was now available in 2.8-litre capacity 76 KW (103 hp). The 59-12 (chassis cabs and panel vans) and 59-13 (minibus) models were launched (GVW 6.4 tons) All-wheel-drive variants were also made available. With third series the Daily got new light groups (wider and lower). The Turbo daily name was dropped as all turbo diesels came with Unijet technology (common rail). Two new versions were released: "Agile", with automatic gearshift, and "CNG", a natural gas version. Also two new load classes were introduced: Daily 65 and Daily 28 (6.5 tons and 2.8 tons).

Iveco Daily Engine sizes are : 2.3 HPI 96 PS (71 kW; 95 hp) and 116 PS (85 kW; 114 hp) 2.3 HPT 136 PS (100 kW; 134 hp) 3.0 HPI 146 PS (107 kW; 144 hp) 3.0 HPT 176 PS (129 kW; 174 hp) 3.0 CNG 136 PS (100 kW; 134 hp)

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