Scuba-friendly automobile suggestions?

[Groundhog246]

Sure, if the stuffs REALLY hit the fan like you said, beside driving a tank, not much you can do about that. But it sure is much better knowing you have 2 layers of sheet metal between you and the stuffs in the truck bed vs having none in a car/van/stationwagon.

Most station wagons have a pretty substantial piece of metal in the rear seat backs, to keep cargo in the cargo spaces. On our little wagon, there heavy metal in the seat back and if you lower the back seat, you raise the seat bottom and you can see the heavy metal bottom under the lower seat which is there to provide protection (it'a a lot more metal than you'd need to provide structure for the seat).

That said, I can agree with you're wanting to keep them out of the passenger area. I occasionally carry them in our wagon or our van to the LDS for fills, but most often they ride in our custom trailer "behind" the vehicle.

I ended up parked beside a guy who'd been tailgating me one day in the spring. I was in a bit of a foul mood, so spoke to him for a moment and pointed out that the trailer he almost ran into when I stopped for a light, contained EIGHT fully filled to 3000 PSI, scuba cylinders and desribed what would happened if ruptured. It was an interesting look on his face. I suggested that any time he saw a dive flag sticker or painted on a vehicle, he should assume it has one or more aboard (I have a 16" flag painted on the back) and leave a little space.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Its all in how you pack

http://www.suprbugman.com/albums/album12/Picture_016.sized.jpg
^^ 4 Door Honda Civic 'Wagovan' ^^

2 Tents, 4 sleeping bags, 4 folding chairs, 4 sets of divegear, 6 tanks, 4 bags of clothes/toiletries, 4 large adults, and a crapload of junk food. This is my buddies daily driver, it gets 35+ mpg regularly and it was getting 29-30mpg with the load described above on a 6 hour trip one way to a camp/dive location.

I drive a Bronco II, it'll hold 3 sets of dive gear, 6 tanks, my 10' Zodiac w/10hp motor/tank/boat-goodies, and 3 people uncomfortably It gets 19-20mpg and I don't like taking it too far. LOL

I bought the Bronco because my '66 Beetle was doing all it could to carry 2 people and 2 sets of dive gear w/4tanks.


I'm thinking about selling the Bronc and getting a Jetta or Passat wagon... Toureg if I strike oil in the backyard.

 

[the_bandit]

Nissan Navara STR for me (or a Nissan Titan if you are in the states)

Sits 4, got a lockable cover on the tray with alarm trigger switch, and when we get back home, just hose it out to lose the salt water!

 

[MyDiveLog]

The perfect combination of a sedan and a 'scubamobile.' I like a smooth, quiet ride, and you get that. You can get a plastic liner for the back that keeps all the salt water from going everywhere. I installed two "tank racks" on each side of the back ... simply bought the 'closing fingers' type that are meant for dive boats and screwed them into the opposing handles in the back. It's big enought to fit a huge rubbermaid tub, where I put all my stuff for beach diving, and has plenty of room for a dive buddies' stuff as well.

 

[Heavy D]

:06:

 

[Heavy D]

PurduEE, what do you mean the back is exposed to the elements? The Avalanche has a hard cover over the bed and you don't have to remove the back window when you do the conversion. I vote for the Avalanche (biased here, my husband owns a Chevy dealership :biggrin.
Ber :lilbunny:

My vote has to go for the Avalanche as well, I've been looking and this seems to be good for many reasons.

1. Seating room for 4 full size divers
2. Covered cargo area to prevent theft and weathering of gear
3. Room for more gear than you'll probably ever need
4. Cargo area is sparate from passenger area preventing wet carpets and having to smell stinky gear
5. Can convert to carry more gear if necessary and have towing capabilities if you want to pull a boat or travel trailer

As a testimony, 2 Instructors and a DM from my LDS have all bought Avalanches in the last 3-6 months

 

[Jacobsen]

I drive a 1996 Isuzu Rodeo. It's become my ultimate dive truck. Lots of room and very reliable.

 

[Sue-ba]

Check out my scubamobile in my profile!

 

[scubapro50]

How about a Ford Explorer Sport-Trac ?

I own a 1996 Ford Explorer 2 dr. Sport ...... has plenty of room to haul all the gear for me and the wife ..... been very dependable ..... after 119,000 have replace the shocks, brakes, battery, tires twice, 2 EPA sensors and the fan belt. Love this SUV because I can change oil with out a problem (filter is easy to reach). Ford treated me right .... had problem with Firestone tires but Ford made it right by reimbursing me for the cost of new Goodyears after Firestone gave hassle.
.

 

[IceBergSlim]

I live in Manhattan. That creates many issues regarding car choice. I must say that my Landrover Freelander has worked out qute well as a NYC DiveMobile. With a decent roofrack I can load up 4 students, gear and myself and bring all to the local quarry in air conditoned comfort. This ride will also get me to hard to reach shore dive locations (especially in the snowy winter) as well as haul the doubles and other crap to the local wreck diving boats during the summer months.
The Gas mileage is pretty ok and the size makes it easy to drive and park in the city. Foto attached (I tink)
Just my 2 pence