When I first started looking at Pacificas I never considered hauling sheets of plywood/drywall. My biggest concern is damaging the interior. The cardboard seems like it could help....
I load ply in my 2006 Caravan and have once a week for the last 12 years. I'll describe how I load my Stow and Go mini van with plywood or sheet goods, it works great FOR ME. I load 40 sheets all by myself faster than the home store can get me a helper..
Cardboard wrinkles and can catch the side of the ply, plus it's just not slippery enough for my liking.
Just purchase one sheet of 1/8" or 1/4" x 4'x8' sheet of MDF or hardboard and load it in the VAN first. If you want to protect the sides of the interior whatever you use lay it perfectly Flat BEFORE putting in the first hardboard sheet and pull it up on the sides to protect van.
1)Always stack the plywood flat on a flat cart in the store. NEVER on edge.
Stock the hardboard last so it comes off the cart first and into the van first. Use a 4 or 6 wheel FLAT CART. Head to cashier, pay and head to the van.
I can push a cart like this all by myself and can load many more sheets alone than I can on edge(which takes way to much effort and really needs two people to do fast.). The ply I get is normally stored in bays at the height where I can just pull them right on to a flat cart all my myself. At the stores I go to the 4' width is facing us. I just pull them out of the bay right on to flat cart. When I have to pull the stack from the 8 foot edge and side load it's a bit more difficult, still easier using an edge loading cart though .
2) At the car pull both front seats up all the way,
3) Open side doors and keep them open, use Stow and Go.
4) Open hatch , leave both side open. Put rear seats down.
5) Make sure you clip the rear seat belts before sliding in the plywood sheets, my older 2006 van has little clips for this purpose, I just push the belts to the sides most times. As the ply stack gets higher in the van the seat belts interfere less.
6) With stack of ply out to the van line up the flat cart square to the rear van and get it close, don't stand between cart and van.
7) Slip the hardboard in to van. The hardboard first sheet is light and slippery so you could go to the back of cart and just lift and push it into the van,. It will slip right in.
NOTE: Make sure that the rear lip of hardboard sheet is in front of the load line indicator by at least an inch or two. This line is in the plastic on the rear of the van floor near the hatch on most mini vans, It is a load indication line so your hatch will close with a load. Then you can go to the front seats and move them back enough to where you just kiss the hardboard, don't let the seats push the sheet back over the line.
If you place the first sheet on the indicator line and have much more than 5 sheets each sheet will start to creep back on that line becasue of the angle of the front seat. So leave some play or you may have 20 sheets and not be able to close the hatch even though that first piece was right on that load line.
Then go to van side doors and pull in the hardboard to the front and on the sides where it might be caught on the carpet or protective cloth(if you use one to protect interior sides of van). Square up hardboard up just right and head back to the rear of the van to start ply loading(sliding).
Again, pull up cloth on sides(if using one) really tight. I don't use a protective cloth or plastic, it tends to catch the ply, but I use my old van so no worries. In my Limited I would set it up where the protective cloth would be tight as I could get it going up the side of the interior of the van if I did use on though. The ply being able to slide in and float to the front with no binding or having to climb in the van and adjust the sheets is the entire point of my method.
8) Now just slide the sheets in one at a time, one person can do it or one on either side. The ply or sheet goods will slide right across the previous sheet and land virtually right where it needs be, you may never even have to go to sides to adjust at all.
Make sure that the rear lip of every sheet of ply is over the load indicator that in the plastic on the rear of the van floor near the hatch on most min vans so your hatch will close.
I can load 40 sheets in 7 minutes by myself, yes, my wife timed me many times.
My 2006 Grand Caravan is my work hauler for plywood and sheet goods I need for work, too bad I use a lot of 60" wide sheets so that has to be shipped to me.
If this helped great, if you have your way great, I thought I would share.
