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  1. #51
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Vacationland
    Posts
    5,911
    I live in New England so the ground clearance isn’t that big of a deal. Out west I’d probably feel different.

    GF and I rented a transit from Wandervans, picking it up in Boise end of August for two weeks. It’ll be a good demo

  2. #52
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    1,572
    Quote Originally Posted by Hott Butt Mud View Post
    The Promaster is super low to the ground. I have to imagine this thing probably sucks balls off-road. I have seen a shit ton of these in Colorado though, so agreed that they are getting lots of traction.

    All the Youtubers pimping these things out and self-promoting them are a big factor is my guess.
    Only the rear axle is low, so if you're careful it does pretty well off road. Only gotten stuck a couple times and it's always been a traction issue.

    They're popular because they're FWD and reasonably priced.

  3. #53
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Posts
    223
    Quote Originally Posted by doebedoe View Post
    Seems like the promaster is getting more and more traction in the van seen. Avoids the Sprinter bling and maintenance costs. Wide enough for most people to sleep horizontally. Lowest floor means best clearance with a high roof. FWD for snow worthiness. Only real major downside I see is the rear suspension design meaning limited clearance.
    I've heard the reliability of the Promaster is atrocious.

    The transit is nice. I've seen the cargo versions for sale for fairly cheap. If you don't need to move anyone else, it would be hard to look past them.

    I have a Sienna and love it. I'm 6'2" and can lay out flat in the back with a cot and multiple surfboards and gear next to me. It has been dead reliable for as long as I've owned it.

    Brother had a transit. Nice van. Friend has a Nissan NV 3500 van and its incredible and exactly what I want. Downside is the gas mileage is awful. I second the used Suburban route too. The value of those trucks falls off a cliff so deals can be had.

  4. #54
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Gaperville, CO
    Posts
    5,844
    Quote Originally Posted by Kailua_Boys View Post
    I've heard the reliability of the Promaster is atrocious. .
    I'd love to see some fleet analysis -- since everything else I see/hear is mostly anecdotal.

    The platform has been around for a long time, just not in the states. My Italian buddy who is a mechanic and just moved over here said he was fine with them. Of course, they aren't going to be a Toyota.

    If Toyota would build its UUV as a market vehicle it'd be game over.

  5. #55
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Park City
    Posts
    5,013
    We’ve had a sienna for 240k hard miles. Drives ok off road if you’re careful. Slow, pick your line. Slays down the washboard gravel roads. We put some airbags and a hitch on ours, handles a load much better. Pulls our raft with a weeks worth of shit as well.


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
    I rip the groomed on tele gear

  6. #56
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Shadynasty's Jazz Club
    Posts
    10,248
    Somebody needs to get a high roof AWD Transit ASAP so I can buy it from them in 5 years.
    Remind me. We'll send him a red cap and a Speedo.

  7. #57
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    champlain valley
    Posts
    5,656
    Quote Originally Posted by El Chupacabra View Post
    I never intentionally camped in a pop-up trailer in winter conditions, but have by, accident. It sucks. It's a big tent without any insulation. You sleep out over the edge, on plywood, with cold air below you. The built in RV furnace cannot warm it sufficiently.

    In warm weather where you want a lot of cross ventilation, they're fine. Or if you get stuck in the rain or in buggy conditions with your family, they're fine. Definite trade offs in setup and breakdown time.
    Thanx

    Good points


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

  8. #58
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    NY
    Posts
    3,301
    Saw this on the highway outside San Antonio, a Ford Transit Custom. It’s a mid-sized transit that’s sold all over the world but not in the US (close to an Astro in size but with more variations, including an available high roof). This one came from Mexico. Very frustrating that we can’t get them because it’s the perfect size for a compact camper. Lots of European companies make campers from them.
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  9. #59
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Gaperville, CO
    Posts
    5,844
    Quote Originally Posted by Brownski View Post
    Saw this on the highway outside San Antonio, a Ford Transit Custom. It’s a mid-sized transit that’s sold all over the world but not in the US (close to an Astro in size but with more variations, including an available high roof). This one came from Mexico. Very frustrating that we can’t get them because it’s the perfect size for a compact camper. Lots of European companies make campers from them.
    We can get everything but the high roof in the US. That's just the new generation of the Transit Connect with the extended wheelbase. See here: https://www.ford.com/trucks/transit-...ger-van-wagon/ . Agree it would be nice to have the higher roof version -- though it's not tall enough stand up in either way.

  10. #60
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    7,447
    ram promaster. high roof. been beating the ever living shit out of mine for the last few yrs, solid.

    fwd. dedicated snows. take it easy.

    nice when your dd doubles as one of your homes.

  11. #61
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Access to Granlibakken
    Posts
    11,184
    Hit 40k miles in my Transit medium roof diesel 4WD, still think it’s the best platform out there. Don’t underestimate the importance of enough width—even with 1” rigid insulation, some 6’3” tall like me can sleep transversely (unlike Sprinter) which then means that the 130” wheelbase version provides enough interior space—which then means you have a van that actually works in any backroad situation you’d take a 4WD F150 in.

    The Promasters initially established themselves as the ‘shitty cheap 1995 Hyundai’ of this market but they’ve apparently fixed some issues (the atrocious transmission) and I know several happy owners. People are putting slightly larger tires on there to provide a semblance of clearance...dunno if they’re changing the front diff ratio to compensate. Easy and cheap to do that in the Ford.

  12. #62
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    7,447
    brad barlage bought one when fiat came across, checking in w him every yr,

    alex got one, good enough we figured.

    all builds holding up well.

  13. #63
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Bellevue
    Posts
    7,431
    Quote Originally Posted by iceman View Post
    Is there anywhere you could lease a decent van for a couple/few months for not-crazy money? We've been talking about a long road trip for years and I'd rather not have to buy something and then sell it.
    Might be worth looking at this post https://www.adventure-journal.com/20...north-america/
    The Best Camper Van and Overlander Rentals in North America, 2019 Edition

  14. #64
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    NY
    Posts
    3,301
    Quote Originally Posted by doebedoe View Post
    We can get everything but the high roof in the US. That's just the new generation of the Transit Connect with the extended wheelbase. See here: https://www.ford.com/trucks/transit-...ger-van-wagon/ . Agree it would be nice to have the higher roof version -- though it's not tall enough stand up in either way.
    This is the van I saw.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Transit_Custom I think my son’s pic didn’t do it justice- it’s bigger then the transit connect and smaller then the full sized. It said transit custom on and had Mexico plates.
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  15. #65
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Access to Granlibakken
    Posts
    11,184
    Yup lotsa Transit Customs here in W Europe. More mid size. The Connect is built on a Ford Focus platform, smaller all round.

    Lots of VW Transporter 4Motion vans here too with some nice camper options. VW would sell a bunch of those in US....
    Know of a pair of Fischer Ranger 107Ti 189s (new or used) for sale? PM me.

  16. #66
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    1

    FWD okay?

    Thought I'd for sure be getting the Ford Transit 2020 AWD, but did not realize the ground clearance was so bad: 5.6" vs 6.9" with the Promaster. Not to mention the mpg difference. Having no FWD experience, it sounds like these rigs still do fine with deeper snow on the road. Loaded question, but as a ski bum vehicle, how much of a premium should we put on a 4X4 upgrade?
    Last edited by Rosen Talov; 08-05-2019 at 08:41 PM.

  17. #67
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Gaperville, CO
    Posts
    5,844
    Quote Originally Posted by Rosen Talov View Post
    Ground clearance on the new awd Transit is making me reconsider: what's the general opinion again of the Promaster's FWD as a ski rig?
    If it is snowing so hard that a heavy van with FWD and good snow tires won't get you there -- then you should be skiing where you are.

  18. #68
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Splat's Garage
    Posts
    4,185
    Bumping this thread. The Transit 2020 seems pretty compelling with their "4WD", but man they are all pretty pricey compared to the 2WD RAM Promasters.

    Anyone else pull the trigger on a van recently? Care to share how you are liking it?

  19. #69
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    I can still smell Poutine.
    Posts
    24,503
    Does anybody else read Promaster as 'pornstar'. I can't help it.

  20. #70
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Santa Cruz
    Posts
    67
    Get an econoline, you can find them dirt cheap, parts are easy to find. My buddy scored a high roof handicap van that used to carry the criminally insane. High roof is definitely worth the extra bucks if you can spring it, especially in the snow where you'll be spending time inside cooking and getting changed.

  21. #71
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    I can still smell Poutine.
    Posts
    24,503
    Quote Originally Posted by backcountrybummer View Post
    Get an econoline, you can find them dirt cheap, parts are easy to find. My buddy scored a high roof handicap van that used to carry the criminally insane. High roof is definitely worth the extra bucks if you can spring it, especially in the snow where you'll be spending time inside cooking and getting changed.
    That's all great and everything. However, the OP wants something to trip in according to the thread title. So the key metric then is is the interior of the van a nice pleasant place to trip?

  22. #72
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    3,806
    Get a Carfax if you can(see Bobby Stainless) and avoid anything that has spent many winters in the roadsalt belt (upper midwest, upper northeast including adjacent Canuckistan areas) or at least take a hard look at the undercarriage for corrosion.







  23. #73
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    tetons
    Posts
    8,504

    Not Van life. More like Van trip? Need some recs...

    Quote Originally Posted by Hott Butt Mud View Post
    Bumping this thread. The Transit 2020 seems pretty compelling with their "4WD", but man they are all pretty pricey compared to the 2WD RAM Promasters.

    Anyone else pull the trigger on a van recently? Care to share how you are liking it?
    we picked up a promaster 2500 and have had it for 2 yrs now and it’s done well for us.
    We live in Jackson Wy so it gets put to the test as husband’s daily driver and then we take a handful of trips.
    Put some good winter tires on there and it’s pretty heavy since we built it out a bit inside and then added a rack, solar panels etc so it’s got some weight to it (it got flicked around more when we first got it and it was blank inside)
    Haven’t picked up or needed any chains for it yet.
    Some have questioned the clearance of the axels but that also has not been an issue whatsoever and we’ve taken it anywhere we would want to go
    The storage options above the cab area is awesome and that is a standard set up. the only thing I don’t love is that the seats sit up pretty high as they are and then we added the swivels and that sets them up like another inch and so it feels a bit high. altho doesn’t impact driving - just a sense of it being high.

    i’ll try to remember to post a couple pics later this eve

    holler with any more specific questions
    skid luxury

  24. #74
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Maine Coast
    Posts
    4,678
    If you can go small, I would think a Honda Odyssey is the ticket. Pull out all the seats, Limo tint, insulated sleeping platform with plastic box storage underneath and good to go

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