Funny this topic should arise now...
We have spent the last 8 months building a house, and some
fairly hairy van loads (and Jetta loads) have occurred during
this time, but two stand out the most:

The runner up was a load of 50 16' 2x6s, with a 4x4 placed
along the rear metal edge of the engine compartment to
prevent mattress compression, and the 2x6s extended to the
rear of the front seats. Those were cedar, so weight was not
too bad.

But the winner was a few weeks ago, when I carried *all* the
materials for a 12x16 deck, and a 5x26 front porch in the van.
The list included in order of loading:
50 pcs 16' 5/4x6 radius PT decking
6 pcs 16' 2x10 FIR
12 pcs 12' 2x10 FIR
10 pcs 10' 2x10 FIR
16 pcs 10' 2x8 FIR
This brought the load to within 2 inches of the upper cabinet in
the Westy, and left about 6" on either side, and of course hung
out the rear about 6 ft...
The final items were 8 50lb bags of concrete placed in the
passenger floor area to keep the front end on the ground. If
you're not familiar with Fir lumber, it is approximately the
density of concrete when green. I estimated the 10' 2x10s
weighed in around 50-60lbs each.

Although I worried the rear tires would not hold (old Sears LT
tires), they survived the 15 minute ride just fine, including one
long steep gravel hill. I had to shift into 1st near the top of this
hill, as 2nd wouldn't make it...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Shawn Wright, Systems Manager
Shawnigan Lake School
http://www.sls.bc.ca
swright@sls.bc.ca