I've been associated with "The Dropped Floor Minis" since they were conceived in late 1986. Now, if I line everyone who claims they built the first lowered floor minis and ask them who did it first, I might get a decent answer....... but I'm still waiting. 1988 is when the lowered floor minis started getting the attention of the Mass Transit Industry for transporting people in large areas with smaller vehicles. My first lower vehicle was a 1988 dodge caravan with a standard slide door and a fold out ramp and all manual operation. As the public saw these mass produced vehicles on the road, the request started coming in for personal use vehicles. Technology wasn't much back then and before long several small companies were taking a very serious look on the conversion advantages vs a full size van. Back then the sliding door was wide enough to allow for a powered lift by Braun, CrowRiver and Ricon. In 1995 mid-year the Dodge Mini was redesigned with a much narrower door opening. This meant that Braun, CrowRiver and Ricon lifts could no longer be used and the individual converter has to re-invent the ramps that were used. Manual ramps and powered ramps from light weight aluminum, that was formed. They were 50-50 that folded out 5 ft. Later these ramps were changed to 60-40 ramps. Yes, the mid-ship fuel tank could no longer be used on lowered conversions. They were much too large to place in the back of the van. Most companies, relocated the "crash approved" fuel cell to the back of the van. One or two companies out West chose to place the fuel cell direct under the driver's floor (lol). Most of the conversion companies used the factory original fuel pump that was placed into the fuel cell. The problem was the fuel pump did not touch the bottom of the fuel cell. Some end-users found out the hard way that the fuel gauge was not always accurate and ran out of full, with 1/4 tank still showing on the meter. Also, fuel pumps that are not fully submerged have a habit of overheating and failing when you least expect. Most OEM Dealers would not touch an aftermarket fuel cell to determine if the fuel pump was factory. In may cases the vehicle would have to be towed directly to a conversion dealer to perform the work at around $500, to install a new fuel pump. Apparently, this is what happened to Mr. Henry and I'm really sorry to have heard that. Later, I'll tell you about those powered ramps when the first were designed and the problems in the field. W
In a message dated 6/29/05 3:11:03 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << Yesterday I took an 160 mile round trip to our cabin in the mountains. I got through the first leg of my journey, turned off the hard road, traveled 500 yards and turned into our 1/4 mile drive. The van stops! The motor kept running, I just could not go forward or reverse. When giving it gas, the RPM's did not register, it was like it was on idle. There I was by myself, 90 degrees, couldn't get out of the van and no cell signal. >>
