I once had 18 sheets of 3/4" OSB on top of my 
van(killer roof rack to support all that 
weight!)  and I would deem that a tad too much 
weight.  The springs agreed with me.  I only 
drove it 4 miles home and didn't go any faster than 35 mph.

If you've got reinforced sidewall tires on your 
van, I say you're good to go.....

DM&FS

02:26 PM 3/26/2011, Ed Lloyd wrote:
>The local High School is selling 3 cubic foot 
>bags of mulch, with an additional delivery 
>charge of $20.  My neighbor and I always buy 
>some, and I offered to pick it up in the Vanagon to save us some money.
>
>At about 54 cubic feet (18 bags), I believe I 
>can get them all in the Van.  Last year I bought 
>10 bags by myself and got them all in with no 
>problem.  This time there are 18 bags, which I 
>believe will fit, but the neighbor tells me that 
>there is too much weight and he doesn’t want me to damage the van.
>
>Looking in the driver’s manual talks about 
>gross weight, weight per axle, etc, but doesn’t tell me how much I can carry.
>
>If the bags are 40 pounds each that would come 
>to about 720 pounds of cargo, and we only have 
>about 2 miles of side streets to travel.
>
>What cargo weight limit do you think is 
>maximum?  If the bags are wet they could be 50 pounds or more.
>
>Ed