Talking to some people about my suggestion for what to not skimp on in a build. I had to give them two suggestions as they are both IMPORTANT!! #rv #vanlife #buslife #camper #exploring
😊 So glad I finally found your channel! Wonderful lived experience and great advice. We are just building out a cargo trailer but all of your wisdom applies. Look forward to catching up with your channel 👍
Just an FYI ...many new(er) vans are wrought with issues. This includes Mercedes Sprinter ($150k) was left 500 miles from home to be fixed. And ProMasters are TERRIBLE. My local ambo service bought a fleet of ProMasters.. NIGHTMARE! I know the mechanic that service the 75 vehicle fleet. I have bought every old E Series for the last 10 years (only about 10 vehicles, 4 left in the fleet), the Promasters are so bad they are scrapping two 2019s, and selling 4 for peanuts ...just to start the process of getting away from them. You can have a unit with 110k miles be on engine #2 and third transmission. Just terrible service factor and parts are unavailable. So new isnt always best. They do have some Transits, they are near as bad, but arent even close to the E Series. The rear Dana 80 is mounted to a sheet metal box assembly forward of the rear axle and in our climate that is NOT good. Mechanically they are far better than the Promaster, but still muxh more difficult to work on than the E Series. It takes a LOT longer to swap out transmissions , like 2x. So, you gotta be selective. I do know the Chevy 6.0 is solid engine, but avoid the express 4x4 as its selenoid controlled, give me levers and linkage (Quigley)
I cannot argue. In fact my first choice of a van was a Sprinter, enough said. The closest place for warranty work is 3 hours away from me. PLUS the costs are horrendous for parts. My second choice was a ProMaster. I really like the front wheel drive. One of the forums I'm on I was contacted by a mechanic for a courier company. They have several hundred of these vans in their fleet. He says that at any one time they have over half of them either in the shop or scheduled to go in the shop. Constant breakdowns. The biggest issue here in Canada is rust. Once the rust starts there is no way to stop it. I have seen people do some crazy things to save their van and while it may get them a year or two more the rust still wins.
